She took us into the world of cadavers and examined the anatomy, physiology and psychology behind sex. Now, Mary Roach discovers the surreality and weirdness of space.
For example, what happens when you've been in space for a year? And is it possible for a human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? From the space shuttle training toilet to NASA's crash simulation tests, Roach explores the strange universe.
Bio
Jeff Greenwald
Oakland-based writer and performer Jeff Greenwald is the author of five best-selling travel books, including Shopping for Buddhas and The Size of the World (for which he created the first international blog). His stories and essays have appeared in many print and online publications--including the New York Times, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Afar and Salon.
Greenwald is also the executive director of Ethical Traveler, a global alliance of travelers dedicated to human rights and environmental protection (www.ethicaltraveler.org). His critically acclaimed one-man show, "Strange Travel Suggestions," premiered in San Francisco in 2003. Greenwald's new book, Snake Lake, will be released by Counterpoint Press in Fall 2010.
Mary Roach
Mary Roach is the author of the national bestsellers Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.
Her writing has appeared in such publications as Salon, GQ, Vogue, and the New York Times magazine.
Person trained to pilot a spacecraft, operate any of its systems, or conduct research aboard it during spaceflights. The term commonly refers to those participating in U.S. space missions; cosmonaut is the Russian equivalent, and taikonaut is the Chinese equivalent. Astronauts undergo an intense training program that includes classes on spacecraft systems, guidance and navigation, and orbital dynamics, as well as training in land and sea survival, space suits, and weightlessness. With longer stays in space on board the International Space Station, training emphasizes general spaceflight and problem-solving skills, rather than the specific tasks to be accomplished, as in preparation for shorter missions. See alsoEdwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.; Neil Armstrong; Guion S. Bluford, Jr.; Yury Gagarin; John H. Glenn, Jr.; Mae Jemison; Sergey Konstantinovich Krikalyov; Shannon Wells Lucid; Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov; Sally Ride; Alan B. Shepard, Jr.; Valentina Tereshkova.
Independent U.S. government agency established in 1958 for research and development of vehicles and activities for aeronautics and space exploration. Its goals include improving human understanding of the universe, the solar system, and Earth and establishing a permanent human presence in space. NASA, previously the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), was created largely in response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957. Its organization was well under way in 1961, when Pres. John F. Kennedy proposed that the U.S. put a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s (seeApollo). Later unmanned programs (e.g., Viking, Mariner, Voyager, Galileo) explored other planets and interplanetary space, and orbiting observatories (e.g., the Hubble Space Telescope) have studied the cosmos. NASA also developed and launched various satellites with Earth applications, such as Landsat and communications and weather satellites. It planned and developed the space shuttle and led the development and construction of the International Space Station.
About the talking delay... did no one read it Issac Asimov story about the old ladys tea talk system ? It would work very well as is work really well when we use msn or any other chat system in which we talk about 3 or 4 things at the same time with the same person but the respons are flowing in different time moments because we are doing other stuff or talking to other people.
Why waste all this money on useless space travel when there are so many poor, hungry and homeless people on earth. Future generations will ask why we didn't care about those people or the environment.
Maj, how much do you think the governments of the world spend on their respective space programs? Take NASA for example. Compare NASA's budget with the Military budget. Its pathetic how little is spent on the space program. NASA - 20 billion, Military - 685 billion. So before you criticize NASA criticize the military, constantly building and dismantling nukes, building new fighter planes when the old ones function just fine etc... This is the kind of stuff to criticize, not NASA.
Our precious planet is changing in ways that will not make life on Earth very pleasant for humans...or other living things. To care about going to Mars right now, seems stupid and a distraction from the issues we face. Have scientists and budgets to reforest the planet and develop alternative energies, just solve some very immediate problems on this once Beautiful Blue Planet.
member. 
