Carl Sagan said that mankind would have to explore space to survive. Yet budget and programme cuts are such that NASA has to pay Russia $62.7 million per astronaut they carry to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz vessels. Written from an American point of view, but ultimately the view of humanity's future, this factual book presents the benefits to be gained from space exploration and the ways in which it may be done.

MANKIND BEYOND EARTH admits that robots are cheaper and easier to send as explorers than to send all the support system that fragile humans require. Yet manned space missions have resulted in many spinoff benefits, such as the famous Teflon, better prosthetics, telemedicine, better preserved foods, better kidney dialysis machines and advances in aviation safety. Space science has given us better satellites, so better communications, forecasting and views of changing climates - and detection of near- flying asteroids. And pure research will benefit humanity, whether in the field of physics or seeing if a biodome can grow enough food to support life on the Moon.

One of Claude Piantadosi's agendas is returning to the Moon, as a testing ground for the survival systems we will need to explore Mars. He analyses the delays and problems at NASA, explaining that when innovators get stifled by red tape and budget cuts they skip off to private industry. We have come an awe-inspiring distance since the start of the twentieth century, when heavier-than-air fight was first achieved. We have landed a robot on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and Mars Rovers send back data.

Biomedicine tells us how we can live under stressful conditions, such as a year in space. We see comparisons with Tibetan and Andean populations, each of which has found a different adaptation to altitude. Polar explorations and undersea experience are all steps along the journey. Space exploration to date is of course reprised, including the tragic accidents. Living off local and recycled resources is the only way to establish a stable home of any size beyond the Moon, as the cost and difficulty of resupply would be prohibitive. The current technology for space travel is explained from solar power to nuclear power. Recycling and discovering water and oxygen are top priority for any new base. Growing food and consuming nutrients will be vital. Away from sunlight our vitamin D levels drop, and combined with microgravity our bones will become brittle. The author explores the currently understood physiological alterations of space travel on astronauts. Radiation is a major hazard. And what to do with the trash, from human waste to food packaging and shredded clothing? Start a waste dump on Mars?

As to where we can go, Venus is a hazardously hot environment so Mars is the obvious challenge. We see how this may be accomplished and some of the possible issues. We could also visit small bodies such as asteroids or some moons of larger planets, such as Titan and Ganymede. Further away are other stars but we would need fast propulsion to reach those in any reasonable timeframe.

I was astonished to see that Piantadosi still thinks Mercury is tidally locked to the sun (page 56). Maybe this was just badly phrased? We know now that due to orbital factors we happen to see the same face each time it comes around, but each 'day' on Mercury lasts two of its 'years'. A certain level of astrophysics is required to get the best out of this book, but even looking up the Lagrange points on a site like Wikipedia will give clear helpful diagrams and astronomers from teens to adults will be fascinated. So many combined sciences are represented here that we can see biologists, medics, engineers, chemists and mechanics will all be needed if Earth people are ever to call another world home. If one section is outside your experience the next section may prove easier to read, and no area is too long drawn out for there are so many factors to consider.

As a lifelong science fiction fan I enjoyed catching up with the latest science in MANKIND BEYOND EARTH and seeing how we may finally live those dreams.