With unparalleled access to NASA’s archives, this stunning volume pays tribute to 50 years of Mars exploration.

Thanks to the latest exhilarating Mars expeditions, all eyes have turned to the once-mysterious red planet. This illuminating book traces our history of Mars exploration, from the earliest telescopic viewings, through NASA’s first flybys in the 1960s, to the landers in the 1970s, and the increasingly sophisticated rovers and orbiters now exploring every region of the planet. The elaborate plans for the human exploration of Mars are also shown in exquisite detail, including NASA’s ambitious designs for crewed missions and some compelling alternative mission plans by experts such as Buzz Aldrin. With breathtaking photographs and rare images of plans, maps, schematics, and more, including insider documents from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the story of mankind’s fascination with Mars jumps off the page.

Rod Pyle has written widely about the history of space exploration and the inner workings of NASA. He is a consultant for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has worked at Caltech and the Johnson Space Center. Rod has written for the Huffington Post, WIRED, space.com, LiveScience, and many other science periodicals and websites. He is a frequent radio guest on major networks in the USA and UK. Previous books include Missions to the Moon and Destination Moon.

Dr. Jim Green is the former head of the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), NASA’s largest space science data archive, at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In August 2006, he became the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, and in May 2018 he was appointed NASA Chief Scientist.