Eight people head to Mars. A meteoroid strikes the ship. A political decision must be made to devise a rescue plan or let them die space. Meanwhile the astronauts force the hands of the politicians. A happy ending ensues. That is the crux of the story. This is Weir's The Martian Ben Bova style. I liked the book but glad I didn't buy the book.Bova's books generally have an anti religious theme that is missing from this story line. There is also more politics in this book than his previous works.I honestly hated the feel good ending to this story. One day a science fiction writer is going to a write book about colonizing or where some attempts land on Mars and its a total failure and writer tells story of the aftermath of such a failure.That book would be worth reading. This isn't that book. Nor am I the person to write it. Ben Bova could have done it in this book and given his abilities it would have been great.This book is an ok read but lacked a soul. ( )

Good, realistic story about the first manned and womanned expedition to Mars, imagined to be internationally organized but NASA-managed, in 2035. The mission is plagued with problems technical, collisional, medical, hydrological, and political. While the story's "bad guys" are opposers of crewed space exploration, in real life many good scientists hold that position.

This book reminded me strongly of Apollo 13. In the future, man has begun space exploration. We have people on the moon collecting resources. A recent visit to Mars has indicated that there is likely to be life. A push is made to send astronauts to Mars to further examine what life may be present. The crew run into numerous difficulties far from home, both technical and political. Ingenuity and persistence and help from home see them through.

It was an interesting read and touched on some new and some upcoming technology.

What it did not do was leave me with that good book hangover...you know the one...where you have to allow a book to pass through your system before you can pick up another one? I was ready to get right to the next read.

I give this book a B. ( )

An interesting interviewee on Science Friday from Huntsville, AL, April 23, 2015. Another book by same author: "Back To the Moon."