Why read Managing Martians?

Book cover of Managing Martians

Book description

The leader of the team that created the revolutionary Mars Sojourner rover chronicles her trailblazing career in space exploration and tells the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the celebrated Mars Pathfinder mission.

Donna Shirley's 35-year career as an aerospace engineer reached a jubilant pinnacle in July 1997 when Sojourner--the solar-powered, self-guided,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Managing Martians as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Marianne J. Dyson

Author

I first heard of Donna Shirley when Pathfinder landed on Mars in 1997. How did she become the first woman to manage a planetary mission? First, she was inspired by science fiction and got her pilot’s license at 16. Then she went to college.

But wait… she almost flunked out and spent years in a dead-end job. That’s not what I expected to read! She eventually faced the challenge of getting her degree and went to JPL. Once there, she proved herself as good or better than the men.

I ate up her stories about finicky robots, engineers tinkering in…

From Marianne's list on The best biographical stories of women in space.