The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk
explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel
and life without gravity.
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live
and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce,
privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an
exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a
person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What
happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex?
smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet
during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to
survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these
questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and
startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach
discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever
leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a
crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in
for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining
trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth. . .
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