LRTPublicityLouise Rhind-Tutt

On Aug. 6, 2012, after travelling 254 days and nearly 352 million elliptical miles, NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down in Gale Crater on Mars and began its journey across the surface of the red planet. Timed to the second anniversary of Curiosity’s dramatic landing, National Geographic will publish MARS UP CLOSE: Inside the Curiosity Mission, written by Marc Kaufman with an introduction by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.

In this comprehensive and visually stunning book, Kaufman shares the excitement, science, challenge and eye-opening wonder of the most ambitious space expedition ever undertaken.

Kaufman, a veteran science journalist, spent two years embedded with engineers and scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, observing the Curiosity mission. This intimate access has allowed Kaufman to provide an exclusive inside look at the mission thus far as well as a look ahead. In MARS UP CLOSE, he shares the perspectives of the people who are making the mission happen and brings readers alongside Curiosity as it makes its 6-mile trek to Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-high and 60-mile-wide mound at the centre of Gale Crater. Mount Sharp is layered with exposed minerals and rocks that can tell the story of Mars.

Kaufman brings us into the laboratories and control rooms and shares the challenges and triumphs of operating the most sophisticated rover ever created on a planet 150 million miles from Earth — explaining the complex science of the mission in a way that’s accessible to all readers.

Accompanying Kaufman’s descriptions of the mission are astonishing images of Mars — some never seen before — as well as detailed satellite images of the planet’s surface, revealing seasonal shifts; the most advanced maps of Mars ever created, with intricate layered views of remains of ancient bodies of water; original artwork of the red planet; and maps of Curiosity’s path across its surface.

In “Mission Makers” features, readers meet the key scientists and engineers who planned and continue to execute this remarkable undertaking, including “sky crane” engineer Adam Steltzner; project systems engineer Jennifer Trosper, who set the rover in motion on the red planet and is now second in command of the mission; and project scientist John Grotzinger, a geologist guiding the rover’s path.

Throughout the book, a special icon on certain images denotes the inclusion of those images in NASA’s free Spacecraft 3D app, a tool that allows users to view a three-dimensional experience of Mars on their smartphone or tablet.

MARC KAUFMAN writes about NASA and space science for NationalGeographic.com and The Washington Post, where he was a reporter on the national staff for 10 years. A veteran journalist with 35 years of reporting on science and international affairs, Kaufman now writes and lectures on astrobiology and space exploration. Kirkus named Kaufman’s book “First Contact” one of the best nonfiction titles.