Jay Gallentine - Infinity Beckoned: Adventuring Through the Inner Solar System, 1969–1989

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton

When Curiosity landed on August 5, 2012, I celebrated one of the most meaningful moments in my life. Looking around the control room, I saw the faces of men and women I had spent the last nine years with, helping to design, build, test, and operate a spacecraft to the surface of Mars. I cried tears of joy, not just because of the hard work I had put in, but because I knew that all of us had done it together. The accomplishment of landing a one-ton rover on the surface of another planet took thousands of people, long hours, and many personal sacrifices. Theres a singularity of focus that comes with such a challenge, but that doesnt mean there arent moments of disagreement or personalities that dont mesh. Nevertheless, in that moment, in the control room, watching the telemetry tell us we had a happy rover on the surface of Mars, we were a perfect family, rover and all. Exploring the cosmos, after all, isnt just a robotic endeavorit is ultimately the people who make it happen.

Jay Gallentines Infinity Beckoned tells the story of how the world went from peering from the surface of our planet to sending robotic explorers to the surface of planets like Venus and Mars. More refreshingly, it tells the story of the people behind the missionsthe people who made the giants happen, that missions like Cassini and Curiosity stand on today.

Its a fascinating insight into the kind of people who have the willpower and patience to spend decades of their lives turning a dream of understanding the cosmos into a mission that can answer those questions. Its something we can all learn from: these incredible accomplishments take people and personalities who have a vision, but more importantly, have the strength of character and tenacity to turn that into a reality.

Infinity Beckoned gets into the experiences of these men and women who send robotic proxies to explore the solar system. The story delves into their lives and the stories surrounding their adventures. It describes the challenges they face personally and professionally, the woes of failures and the highs of achieving their goals.

As someone who has been inspired by these missions and the people who toil to make them a reality, I was fascinated to realize the parallels between the pioneers and our Mars rover. What was especially intriguing to me was to read about the Soviet space programand the people behind it. As a student of history, I know a little about the Soviet robotic exploration programthe many setbacks and incredible accomplishmentsbut it was fascinating to read about the people behind the projects for the first time, to see the tremendous hurdles they had to overcomedifferent from ours. Often pressed by their government to perform firsts in space exploration, with short deadlines and resources lagging those of their American counterparts, sometimes with reluctant and corrupt industry partners, these men and women came up with innovative solutions that are impossible for me not to admire, particularly as an engineer.

I was also fascinated by the parallels to my experience with team members on Curiosity. Like the folks in Infinity Beckoned, the space bug bit members of the Curiosity team at different times in their lives. For me, it was the moment I saw the Mars Pathfinder mission in the summer of 1997. While I had always loved science fiction, the realization that we were driving cars on Mars meant that the future had already arrived, and I wanted to be a part of it. Eventually Id get to work with the men and women who made that happen. Our brilliant and fearless leader during entry, descent, and landing, Dr. Adam Steltzner, often talks about seeing the night sky while driving home one night and realizing that it was not the same as beforethe question of why led him to a career in space exploration.

The flip side of that token, of course, is the sacrifices to make these missions happen. The missed events or dinners with friends due to testing, sometimes the working through the holidays to ensure the spacecraft or rover has an eye on it, can be difficult for relationships. I wont purport to speak for everyone and say that its worth it, but I will say that few things in life result in a more satisfying experience. If you havent seen the footage from the