Mars Research, Books, and Inspiration

Contrary to popular belief, the science and engineering ideas for the Martian Agora game I'm working on do not spew forth from my undiluted genius. I've done and will continue to do lots of research. While making a fun game is my top priority, making it accurate and thus educational is a close second. I've had a ton of fun learning about Mars these past few months and I hope my game will pass on some of that fun.

My interest in Mars started a few months ago when I spent a couple hours in a book store combing through all the books in the science section. I didn't know what I was looking for at the time, but one of the books I got that day was "The Case for Mars" by Robert Zubrin. This book showed me so much that I didn't know about Mars exploration. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a scientific soul.

After finishing the book I found myself looking online for more about Mars and space exploration. I found this Mars rover simulator made by NASA and this Canadarm2 simulator made by the Canadian Space Agency. Both games were made with the same game making tool I use. So I thought: hey, making a Mars game might not only be fun, but could help me get my dream job of making education games and software.

After sifting through reviews on dozens of Mars books, I just ordered these four:

• A Traveler's Guide to Mars
• Martian Outpost: The Challenges of Establishing a Human Settlement on Mars 
• On to Mars: Colonizing a New World
• On to Mars 2: Exploring and Settling a New World 

Since this blog is all about Mars and science, I will write quick reviews as I read them, starting with "The Case for Mars".