Our Worlds: The Magnetism and Thrill of Planetary Exploration

I enjoyed this book. For me, it brought to life the intense joy of exploration. There are worlds enough in our own Solar System to keep us humans busy for generations to come. It is so sad that the USA chose to turn its back on manned space exploration after the triumph of the Moon landings. Twenty more years of effort and the English-speaking people of the world would have been gathering energy and mineral resources from space instead of the history that happened instead - futile wars, climate degradation and social collapse. Instead the dream was carried forward by only a precious few dedicated scientist/technicians. "Our Worlds..." takes us into their lives, it details how they learned about the dozens of worlds up there - planets, moons, asteroids, comets - and gives us a hint of what could have been, what could still be but not for most of us alive today. For the baton of Solar System exploration, settlement and resource management will now be carried forward by others....