The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission.

NASA launched two Voyager probes in 1977, hoping to explore Jupiter and possibly Saturn. The wildly successful mission continued to Uranus, Neptune, and beyond; in 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space. Voyager 2 should traverse the ill-defined edge of the solar system soon, possibly even this year. With warmth and gentle, self-deprecating humor, planetary scientist Bell (The Space Book: From the Beginning to the End of Time, 250 Milestones in the History of Space & Astronomy) recaps Voyagerís surprising discoveries, notes how the mission has influenced subsequent research and exploration, and summarizes recent observations from the boundary between the solar wind ìbubbleî and the rest of the Milky Way. The book offers a brief bibliography. (Unfortunately, while the finished title will include color images, these werenít available for review.) Some older books about Voyager cover more thoroughly technical details and specific findings, but the substance of this work is its focus on the human side of the story. Bellís interviews of friends and colleagues illustrate the uncommon devotion of the mission personnel and their strong emotional ties to the project.