Astro Turf

The Private Life of Rocket Science

Author: M. G. Lord
ISBN: 9780802714275

A daughter's journey to rediscover her father and understand the culture of space engineersDuring the late 1960s, while M. G. Lord was becoming a teenager in Southern California and her mother was dying of cancer, Lord's father-an archetypal, remote, rocket engineer- disappeared into his work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, building the space probes of the Mariner Mars 69 mission. Thirty years later, Lord found herself reporting on the JPL, triggering childhood memories and a desire to revisit her past as a way of understanding the ethos of rocket science. Astro Turf is the brilliant result of her journey of discovery.Remembering her pain at her father's absence, yet intrigued by what he did, Lord captures him on the page as she recalls her own youthful, eccentric fascination with science and space exploration. Into her family's saga she weaves the story of the legendary JPL- examining the complexities of its cultural history, from its start in 1936 to the triumphant Mars

Publisher: Walker
Publish Date: 2005-01-01

Subjects: Transportation / Aviation / General, Technology & Engineering / Aeronautics & Astronautics

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: STEM)