Review - Mars 3-D

Mars 3-D: A Rover’s-Eye View of the Red Planet by Jim Bell; Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ; New York, New York; $19.95 (Hardcover).

Until you get to Mars in person, this is the best way going! Your eyes are in excellent hands thanks to the author, Jim Bell – an astronomer and leader of the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) color imaging team on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover missions.

Bell has picked 120 3-D and color images shot by the still-rolling Mars robots. While the imagery tells the story, so does the writing style as Bell gives the reader a personal tour of rover exploration achievements.

This book is an excellent holiday gift for all ages – and Martian unreal estate that you can keep an eye on, literally. A tip of the space helmet visor to the folks that came up with the novel design of the book, one that incorporates the 3-D glasses into the volume itself.

As the author notes, the twin rovers have opened our eyes to an engaging Mars – one that cries out for further exploration. The red planet as seen through the eyes of machine vision is captured here, “and there appears to be nascent thirst among people to voyage there,” Bell writes.

Thanks to this book, you’re virtually standing on Mars – with boot prints to follow.

For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/catalog?isbn=1402756208