Have you ever thought about living on another planet? And if you did, which planet would you choose? Mars has been the most explored planet in our solar system other than, of course, Earth. And we are told that it is much closer to us than any of the stars, taking us about seven months to get there by spaceship but 73 000 years to get to the nearest star. But Mars is further away from the sun, so a Martian day is 24 hours and 40 minutes long in Earth time. This means less solar energy reaches Mars. So temperatures are lower, far too low, down to -140C on a frosty winter day.

As we turn the pages we begin to understand that it may be possible to reach Mars. We made it to the moon so why not Mars? We start by learning how to find Mars in the night sky by following just four steps in the first activity in this book.

There are nine exciting chapters in this book, all divided into different sections. For instance, the second chapter, rockets and space travel, show the multiple parts of a rocket, how rockets land safely and, something for you to try, how to design a rocket using just a straw, a ruler, some paper, a sharp pencil, scissors and sticky tape. And every chapter has a ‘Martian Profile’ of a famous scientist, incredible full-page photographs and fun activities.

Don’t miss it!

Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 8+