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Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth
In 2013, Kate Greene moved to Mars. That is, along with five fellow crew members, she embarked on NASA’s first HI-SEAS mission, a simulated Martian environment located on the slopes of Mauna Loa in Hawai'i. For four months she lived, worked, and slept in an isolated geodesic dome, conducting a sleep study on her crew mates and gained insight into human behavior in tight quarters, as well as the nature of boredom, dreams, and isolation that arise amidst the promise of scientific progress and glory.
The book is a story of the author, a science journalist and her personal life, her brother’s disability, her marriage and the food and isolation of pretending to live on Mars.
The book is a story of the author, a science journalist and her personal life, her brother’s disability, her marriage and the food and isolation of pretending to live on Mars.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published July 14, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
December 14, 2022
The author doesn't seem to know what to concentrate on. She is less than expansive about life in the geodesic dome - I know what they eat and where they sit, but what do they do for fun? Similarly about her marriage that is breaking up. I know who she is married to and where they live(d) but not really why they've broken up. Then there is her brother who is disabled from birth but it didn't stop him at all. But all I know of him is how she describes him and mostly his illness, I don't know him at all.
I like to be able to think I could go to lunch with a character in a book, especially a non-fiction one, and after a few minutes feel at ease with them, because I 'know' them. But there is no one in the book I know at all except the author and she is not a happy person, not at all.
Interspersed with all the personal and semi-personal geodesic stuff, is facts and figures about the space program in the US. This is the best bit of the book; it's not self-indulgent, it has plenty of facts and figures and you can see her views quite clearly, she puts them across very well. I wish all of the book was at hard-edged as this but it's still a good 4 star.
I like to be able to think I could go to lunch with a character in a book, especially a non-fiction one, and after a few minutes feel at ease with them, because I 'know' them. But there is no one in the book I know at all except the author and she is not a happy person, not at all.
Interspersed with all the personal and semi-personal geodesic stuff, is facts and figures about the space program in the US. This is the best bit of the book; it's not self-indulgent, it has plenty of facts and figures and you can see her views quite clearly, she puts them across very well. I wish all of the book was at hard-edged as this but it's still a good 4 star.
March 31, 2021
Q:
Quantum mechanics backs this up. What if time is less a fundamental property, and more an emergent one, arising from its interactions with other aspects of the universe? In other words, what if time’s forward march of cause-and-effect is just dependent on your perspective, the way the night lighting in a room makes it look like a monster in the corner when it’s really just a pile of clothes? (c)
Q:
Time, and the related perception of space, is relative and evolving. (c)
Q:
That’s memory, which can, depending on how closely you’re paying attention, sometimes feel nearly the same as experiencing a now or fantasizing a future. Simultaneity. A collapsing of all possible timelines. Did my brother die yesterday or three years ago? Am I still partnered with Jill, as in my dreams? How long has it been since my own death? Is it possible that my parents never met? (c)
Q:
People older than forty report that time moved more slowly in their childhood but sped up in their teenage years and into early adulthood. The reason for this may be that our brain writes new experiences to memory, but not familiar ones, and the longer we live, the more familiar it all can seem. Another study shows that the experience of terror, true fear for our lives, can also slow our clocks. The neuroscientist David Eagleman tested this by using an amusement park ride that drops people from a height, eyes skyward, onto a net 110 feet below. He asked them to gauge the length of their fall. On average, they overestimate it by 36 percent. (c)
Q:
I was a quiet and strange child who sensed that something about my true self was perhaps unknowable or if knowable, then possibly undesirable. A friend once told me that she senses something of a fugitive in me—one who’s always aware of the exits, whether or not she uses them. (c)
Q:
I sought refuge in those science stories of faraway places operating under strange but knowable physics. Places that you could almost imagine if you just think about them hard enough and in the right way. I identify fourth grade, when I was nine and soaking up as many scientific concepts as my young mind could grasp, as the year when my desire to place myself within a vast elsewhere truly engaged. (c)
Q:
... in the shared spaces, I had a hard time focusing. (c) Everyone has. That's why open spaces are hell.
Q:
Quantum mechanics backs this up. What if time is less a fundamental property, and more an emergent one, arising from its interactions with other aspects of the universe? In other words, what if time’s forward march of cause-and-effect is just dependent on your perspective, the way the night lighting in a room makes it look like a monster in the corner when it’s really just a pile of clothes? (c)
Q:
Time, and the related perception of space, is relative and evolving. (c)
Q:
That’s memory, which can, depending on how closely you’re paying attention, sometimes feel nearly the same as experiencing a now or fantasizing a future. Simultaneity. A collapsing of all possible timelines. Did my brother die yesterday or three years ago? Am I still partnered with Jill, as in my dreams? How long has it been since my own death? Is it possible that my parents never met? (c)
Q:
People older than forty report that time moved more slowly in their childhood but sped up in their teenage years and into early adulthood. The reason for this may be that our brain writes new experiences to memory, but not familiar ones, and the longer we live, the more familiar it all can seem. Another study shows that the experience of terror, true fear for our lives, can also slow our clocks. The neuroscientist David Eagleman tested this by using an amusement park ride that drops people from a height, eyes skyward, onto a net 110 feet below. He asked them to gauge the length of their fall. On average, they overestimate it by 36 percent. (c)
Q:
I was a quiet and strange child who sensed that something about my true self was perhaps unknowable or if knowable, then possibly undesirable. A friend once told me that she senses something of a fugitive in me—one who’s always aware of the exits, whether or not she uses them. (c)
Q:
I sought refuge in those science stories of faraway places operating under strange but knowable physics. Places that you could almost imagine if you just think about them hard enough and in the right way. I identify fourth grade, when I was nine and soaking up as many scientific concepts as my young mind could grasp, as the year when my desire to place myself within a vast elsewhere truly engaged. (c)
Q:
... in the shared spaces, I had a hard time focusing. (c) Everyone has. That's why open spaces are hell.
Q:
September 14, 2020
Kate Greene, a science journalist and physicist, and five other people spent four months living in a geodesic dome on the red, rocky slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. They were chosen to participate in a NASA-funded 2013 research project which simulated some of the challenges faced by astronauts in a Martian environment. The participants had to wear space suits if they ventured outside the dome. There was limited electricity and water in their tight quarters.
They were surveyed each day about the different types of astronaut food they ate, crew bonding, and their reactions to boredom, isolation, and delayed communication. Each crew member had special jobs to perform, and they all spent time doing chores in the dome. They also tested various types of clothing. Everyone had to exercise daily, although they found it led to increased carbon dioxide in the air.
The author wrote a series of essays with the research project as a jumping off point to information about the space program, and musings about her personal life. Although this book was written before the pandemic, the essays on boredom and isolation certainly had a ring of truth about them. Her disabled brother was confined to a hospital bed for a year which gave another view of the psychological effects of isolation.
Greene also writes about the amount of food needed on a long mission. The largest men need twice as many calories as the smallest women. Perhaps more small women and small men could be chosen for the long Mars mission someday. The human urge for exploration through the ages, private versus public-funded exploration, and space tourism were also interesting topics. She also tells about the emotional reactions of astronauts as they viewed Earth from space, and some dangerous situations they experienced on space walks.
The essays are based on themes, rather than chronological order. It sometimes seemed like the author jumped from one idea to another. However, her reflections fit the themes and provided lots of food for thought about space exploration and everyday life on planet Earth.
Thank you to St Martin's Press for a copy of this interesting book.
They were surveyed each day about the different types of astronaut food they ate, crew bonding, and their reactions to boredom, isolation, and delayed communication. Each crew member had special jobs to perform, and they all spent time doing chores in the dome. They also tested various types of clothing. Everyone had to exercise daily, although they found it led to increased carbon dioxide in the air.
The author wrote a series of essays with the research project as a jumping off point to information about the space program, and musings about her personal life. Although this book was written before the pandemic, the essays on boredom and isolation certainly had a ring of truth about them. Her disabled brother was confined to a hospital bed for a year which gave another view of the psychological effects of isolation.
Greene also writes about the amount of food needed on a long mission. The largest men need twice as many calories as the smallest women. Perhaps more small women and small men could be chosen for the long Mars mission someday. The human urge for exploration through the ages, private versus public-funded exploration, and space tourism were also interesting topics. She also tells about the emotional reactions of astronauts as they viewed Earth from space, and some dangerous situations they experienced on space walks.
The essays are based on themes, rather than chronological order. It sometimes seemed like the author jumped from one idea to another. However, her reflections fit the themes and provided lots of food for thought about space exploration and everyday life on planet Earth.
Thank you to St Martin's Press for a copy of this interesting book.
July 27, 2020
This is a collection of essays organized around themes inspired by Greene’s time as a volunteer in one of NASA’s simulated Mars missions. Since the experiment itself was mostly focused on the dietary needs of a Mars crew, it would have made for some pretty dry reading if she had chosen to go with a straightforward memoir but, while I appreciated her conversational tone and clear enthusiasm, the structure felt a little messy. The anecdotes and observations within each essay shared a common theme, but there seemed to be no segue way between them, so it all felt jumpy and disjointed. Additionally, some of the information is already dated. I know it takes time to produce a book for publication, but would it have been impossible to update information, especially when it was about such high profile projects as the SpaceX Crew Dragon? My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy.
November 26, 2020
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars has whetted my appetite for space-themed non-fiction. In twelve essays, Greene discusses everything from food to isolation to space funding, pulling material from her own experiences and other literature to create a very readable book.
A career in science journalism aside, Greene’s credibility comes from taking part in the 2013 Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). For four months, Greene lived in isolation with five other pseudo-astronauts on the slopes of Mauna Loa, guinea pigs to any number of experiments which hoped to fine-tune preparations for living in Space.
I admit, starting out, I was expecting one coherent volume on Greene’s experiences here, with particular emphasis on the importance of food and food preparation on long-haul space missions. I was imagining Mark Watney eating nothing but potatoes and ketchup in The Martian, and Elma York baking on her way to Mars, and wanted to know what the reality was likely to be like.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that the book was a series of essays upon a theme. Part of the problem may have been that I was reading an ARC copy without finalised formatting, meaning that I missed the cues that later readers might see. However, part of the problem was also that Greene has an erratic style of writing. Without any clear linking language, she jumps from one topic to another within chapters/essays, something I found both confusing and frustrating.
That aside, I was interested in what Greene had to say. She’s collected some fascinating material on topics I’d never thought to research and has some interesting opinions and insights into experiences we all share and structures we usually take for granted. Of particular interest to me was her discussion of the standard astronaut. It had never occurred to me that, logically, an all-female astronaut crew makes more sense that an all-male crew, or that an astronaut without legs actually has advantages over an astronaut with legs. As each topic was only briefly touched upon, and only the tastiest morsels presented, it’s left me eager to seek out some of her source material for more in-depth reading myself. First port of call I think has to be Scott Kelly’s Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery.
Unfortunately for Greene, I think she’s brought this book out at the wrong time. Had this book been published in 2019 I think it would have gotten a bette reception than it will now. After all, we’ve all had almost a year of some sort of isolation with Coronavirus, and yet the book mentions it only twice. A lost opportunity really, as the public can neither take examples from Greene’s book on how to cope, nor read how Greene feels the public’s experiences might have compared to her own earlier experiences.
I would recommend this book to those who, like me, are interested in how science fiction compares to the real thing but who don’t want to be weighed down by a doorstop of a detailed manual. It gives you a taste of a number of topics and provides the source material should you want to read more.
A career in science journalism aside, Greene’s credibility comes from taking part in the 2013 Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). For four months, Greene lived in isolation with five other pseudo-astronauts on the slopes of Mauna Loa, guinea pigs to any number of experiments which hoped to fine-tune preparations for living in Space.
I admit, starting out, I was expecting one coherent volume on Greene’s experiences here, with particular emphasis on the importance of food and food preparation on long-haul space missions. I was imagining Mark Watney eating nothing but potatoes and ketchup in The Martian, and Elma York baking on her way to Mars, and wanted to know what the reality was likely to be like.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that the book was a series of essays upon a theme. Part of the problem may have been that I was reading an ARC copy without finalised formatting, meaning that I missed the cues that later readers might see. However, part of the problem was also that Greene has an erratic style of writing. Without any clear linking language, she jumps from one topic to another within chapters/essays, something I found both confusing and frustrating.
That aside, I was interested in what Greene had to say. She’s collected some fascinating material on topics I’d never thought to research and has some interesting opinions and insights into experiences we all share and structures we usually take for granted. Of particular interest to me was her discussion of the standard astronaut. It had never occurred to me that, logically, an all-female astronaut crew makes more sense that an all-male crew, or that an astronaut without legs actually has advantages over an astronaut with legs. As each topic was only briefly touched upon, and only the tastiest morsels presented, it’s left me eager to seek out some of her source material for more in-depth reading myself. First port of call I think has to be Scott Kelly’s Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery.
Unfortunately for Greene, I think she’s brought this book out at the wrong time. Had this book been published in 2019 I think it would have gotten a bette reception than it will now. After all, we’ve all had almost a year of some sort of isolation with Coronavirus, and yet the book mentions it only twice. A lost opportunity really, as the public can neither take examples from Greene’s book on how to cope, nor read how Greene feels the public’s experiences might have compared to her own earlier experiences.
I would recommend this book to those who, like me, are interested in how science fiction compares to the real thing but who don’t want to be weighed down by a doorstop of a detailed manual. It gives you a taste of a number of topics and provides the source material should you want to read more.
February 24, 2020
In this under-edited memoir, author Kate Green describes her experiences as a test subject for NASA, living in a simulated Martian colony for several months. This would have been fascinating if not for Greene's self-pity and her repetitive laments about the end of her marriage and search for self following her break-up with her wife. Greene's account skips from topic to topic, not all of which she makes relevant or interesting in relationship to the rest of the book, and her apparent lack of interest in the other crew members makes this come across as an exercise in self-ego-stroking.
January 26, 2021
The easily-overlooked key words in the title of this book are 'Once Upon a Time'. Because Kate Greene's memoir is doubly redolent of that fairytale opening that puts us in a world that is somewhat removed from reality. First, her book is concerned not (of course) with actually living on Mars, but spending four months in an environment that partially simulated what it would be like to be on Mars (but was actually on Hawaii). And secondly, although there is quite a lot about what happened on that experiment, this is not so much a book about exploring outer space as inner space: it's far more a narrative of how Greene feels the experience affected her than it is a conventional narrative.
What it reminded me most of was something that seems (literally) worlds away from a space mission: Down in the Valley, the posthumous set of recollections by Laurie Lee of his early life in Slad, a Cotswolds village, in the 1920s. Lee's book (taken from recordings) is about life in an isolated location, and gives us scraps and reminiscences, rather than a structured memoir - and, similarly, Greene does not give us the linear story of life in the HI-SEAS mission, where six pseudo-astronauts lived in close proximity and isolation, but rather snippets that dart around in time, driven more by themes and feelings, and incorporating a considerable amount of material about Greene's family life outside of the experiment.
Along the way we hear more about the importance of food on the 'expedition' (one of the main themes of the experiment), boredom, what makes an astronaut, being a guinea pig, isolation and the effect of being on the mission on her subjective experience of time. Greene shows us how much the four months changed her - not always necessarily for the better. In parts it's quite raw: this is mostly not a book about the science and NASA (though both feature). However, if you are interest in insights into what it is to be human it's a fascinating and sometimes moving account. There are several parallels drawn in the text with Shackleton's disastrous Endurance Antarctic expedition - in one sense, HI-SEAS had none of the peril, but certainly plenty of the impact of close confines, isolation and boredom.
At times, the author's introduction of philosophical material can feel to be verging on the pretentious. We get, for example, Roland Barthes' comment on the Apollo 'Earthrise' image 'The photograph is violent: not because it shows violent things, but because on each occasion it fills the sight by force, and because in it nothing can be refused and transformed.' which makes me more inclined to snigger than be impressed by its depth. I felt Greene was also a bit heavy on SpaceX, taking a negative view on the use of a Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload for their Falcon Heavy test - of course it was a publicity stunt, but it was brilliant and far better than just putting up a lump of bland metal. (The book also incorrectly suggests the Roadster is orbiting the Earth - it's actually orbiting the Sun in an orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars, which is much more interesting.)
There's a lot packed into Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars. Come to it with an open mind, and a strong awareness of how much the gaze is inward, not looking out to the red planet, and it should be a truly interesting experience.
What it reminded me most of was something that seems (literally) worlds away from a space mission: Down in the Valley, the posthumous set of recollections by Laurie Lee of his early life in Slad, a Cotswolds village, in the 1920s. Lee's book (taken from recordings) is about life in an isolated location, and gives us scraps and reminiscences, rather than a structured memoir - and, similarly, Greene does not give us the linear story of life in the HI-SEAS mission, where six pseudo-astronauts lived in close proximity and isolation, but rather snippets that dart around in time, driven more by themes and feelings, and incorporating a considerable amount of material about Greene's family life outside of the experiment.
Along the way we hear more about the importance of food on the 'expedition' (one of the main themes of the experiment), boredom, what makes an astronaut, being a guinea pig, isolation and the effect of being on the mission on her subjective experience of time. Greene shows us how much the four months changed her - not always necessarily for the better. In parts it's quite raw: this is mostly not a book about the science and NASA (though both feature). However, if you are interest in insights into what it is to be human it's a fascinating and sometimes moving account. There are several parallels drawn in the text with Shackleton's disastrous Endurance Antarctic expedition - in one sense, HI-SEAS had none of the peril, but certainly plenty of the impact of close confines, isolation and boredom.
At times, the author's introduction of philosophical material can feel to be verging on the pretentious. We get, for example, Roland Barthes' comment on the Apollo 'Earthrise' image 'The photograph is violent: not because it shows violent things, but because on each occasion it fills the sight by force, and because in it nothing can be refused and transformed.' which makes me more inclined to snigger than be impressed by its depth. I felt Greene was also a bit heavy on SpaceX, taking a negative view on the use of a Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload for their Falcon Heavy test - of course it was a publicity stunt, but it was brilliant and far better than just putting up a lump of bland metal. (The book also incorrectly suggests the Roadster is orbiting the Earth - it's actually orbiting the Sun in an orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars, which is much more interesting.)
There's a lot packed into Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars. Come to it with an open mind, and a strong awareness of how much the gaze is inward, not looking out to the red planet, and it should be a truly interesting experience.
July 19, 2020
Review first published on Curious Reader!
In this freshly published essay-collection, Kate Greene takes her starting point in space exploration in general as well as her own experiences from being part of an experiment simulating Mars on Earth. This environment is pretty much as close as you can currently get to actually being on Mars, as Mars exploration has long been in the planning stages but not yet been realised (will we see this change in the next decade?). The essays often open with discussing any theme related to space (either the experiment or in more general terms) to branch out into other neighbouring questions and topics relevant to the wider public. It’s quite stream-of-conciousness styled in the way the author jumps from one thing to another; which either work to make new and interesting connections or else leave the fragments hanging like individual stars without a common orbit.
One of the themes explored is isolation – particularly interesting to read during an international pandemic and forced lockdown in many countries being either ongoing or recent to have strong poignancy. The Mars experiment Kate Greene was part of included 4 months of total isolation with her fellow teammates in very tight quarters. The experiment itself (HI-SEAS) was intended to test out various things related to a potential Mars trip – clothing, food, social life, much of the tests being somehow related to the psychological challenges for the team. Greene talks about the emotional toll of being shut off from family and friends as well as the world in a wider sense, while also looking at the frustrations of living so closely with the team within. Even small irritants can become full-blown conflicts with little else to distract or space to walk away from the situation. One of the things I particularly loved in her exploration of isolation was the way she explained the sense of time passing, how everything kind of “smoothed over” – nuance and texture filed down like rocks in the ocean, every day eventually losing its individuality. Time doesn’t behave in predictable way in such a place where normal signposts of the passing (like the sun) is non-existent; sometimes it seems fast – like a night of sleep, other times slow – the amount of months spent inside the ship. While one type of struggle with isolation can be the lack of communication with the world ‘outside’ – the author also points out a certain sense of relief from being cut-off from social media, time to detach and turn the gaze within and beyond.
Another ‘theme’ she writes fervently about is space and place, both in the physical and mental; in regard to everything from space-ships and space-suits, our place as earthlings in the universe, having a home in a literal sense, belonging in a metaphysical sense, the body itself as a home and vessel. In this discussion she blends space exploration with personal anecdotes from the experiment and private life particularly successfully, as it becomes a sort of Russian doll-layering – moving both further inside (from the general to the personal, the public to the private) and externally to beyond earth itself (earth to universe, universe to mars, mars to earth). Greene doesn’t always have the answers to the questions she raises but takes you through thought experiments and ponders at the potential to see connections to otherwise seemingly separate questions. This makes it sound as if this book is overtly philosophical – it’s not really although there’s a sense of evaluating what the more scientific or technical innovations, experiments, data, and events mean to us beyond the immediate. What does it mean for example to be able to go to Mars? What would we gain from such a mission? How would human habitation of Mars look like? Would it mirror a familiar class-structure or would it be entirely different? She also points a critical gaze at the monetisation and financing of space exploration in general and Mars exploration particularly – private vs public money and what sort of consequences we can expect this to have for the exploration itself. Science has of course long been made possible through private funding but it also always comes (or should come) with considerations of ethics – despite this possibly being obvious, it does well as a reminder of what we are prepared to give up in the name of progress and whether or not the things we lose are worth the gain.
Kate Greene explores many interesting topics related to space and to wider public life, but like with many essay collections there is some repetitiveness running through it as the same point is being made in several essays as if it’s the first time the reader comes across it. While it isn’t a major detriment it does mean the book peters out slightly in its strength towards the end when the reader is already fairly familiar with Greene’s background, family and personal life; much like the space theme too feels mostly exhausted by the last few essays. If you’re someone who is already a space geek, I don’t know that this book will teach you much new although it might force you to reckon with new angles – thanks to the authors’ literary background I think she manages to give a different perspective to one you’d likely get from a purely scientific background. On the other hand if you, like me, have a more general interest in space you will likely find much food for thought and information to ponder; questions related to living in a space-ship like what they eat or how they keep up hygien, but also things you wouldn’t necessarily think to question like -how annoying is it when someone is exercising – creating a change in oxygen levels in a very packed environment? And perhaps more weighty questions with less clear answers – how much debris have humans already put out in space – how will we deal with all the junk we are already responsible for in future exploration? I found it fascinating to follow this author’s journey, as Buzz Lightyear would say, ‘to infinity and beyond’.
In this freshly published essay-collection, Kate Greene takes her starting point in space exploration in general as well as her own experiences from being part of an experiment simulating Mars on Earth. This environment is pretty much as close as you can currently get to actually being on Mars, as Mars exploration has long been in the planning stages but not yet been realised (will we see this change in the next decade?). The essays often open with discussing any theme related to space (either the experiment or in more general terms) to branch out into other neighbouring questions and topics relevant to the wider public. It’s quite stream-of-conciousness styled in the way the author jumps from one thing to another; which either work to make new and interesting connections or else leave the fragments hanging like individual stars without a common orbit.
One of the themes explored is isolation – particularly interesting to read during an international pandemic and forced lockdown in many countries being either ongoing or recent to have strong poignancy. The Mars experiment Kate Greene was part of included 4 months of total isolation with her fellow teammates in very tight quarters. The experiment itself (HI-SEAS) was intended to test out various things related to a potential Mars trip – clothing, food, social life, much of the tests being somehow related to the psychological challenges for the team. Greene talks about the emotional toll of being shut off from family and friends as well as the world in a wider sense, while also looking at the frustrations of living so closely with the team within. Even small irritants can become full-blown conflicts with little else to distract or space to walk away from the situation. One of the things I particularly loved in her exploration of isolation was the way she explained the sense of time passing, how everything kind of “smoothed over” – nuance and texture filed down like rocks in the ocean, every day eventually losing its individuality. Time doesn’t behave in predictable way in such a place where normal signposts of the passing (like the sun) is non-existent; sometimes it seems fast – like a night of sleep, other times slow – the amount of months spent inside the ship. While one type of struggle with isolation can be the lack of communication with the world ‘outside’ – the author also points out a certain sense of relief from being cut-off from social media, time to detach and turn the gaze within and beyond.
Another ‘theme’ she writes fervently about is space and place, both in the physical and mental; in regard to everything from space-ships and space-suits, our place as earthlings in the universe, having a home in a literal sense, belonging in a metaphysical sense, the body itself as a home and vessel. In this discussion she blends space exploration with personal anecdotes from the experiment and private life particularly successfully, as it becomes a sort of Russian doll-layering – moving both further inside (from the general to the personal, the public to the private) and externally to beyond earth itself (earth to universe, universe to mars, mars to earth). Greene doesn’t always have the answers to the questions she raises but takes you through thought experiments and ponders at the potential to see connections to otherwise seemingly separate questions. This makes it sound as if this book is overtly philosophical – it’s not really although there’s a sense of evaluating what the more scientific or technical innovations, experiments, data, and events mean to us beyond the immediate. What does it mean for example to be able to go to Mars? What would we gain from such a mission? How would human habitation of Mars look like? Would it mirror a familiar class-structure or would it be entirely different? She also points a critical gaze at the monetisation and financing of space exploration in general and Mars exploration particularly – private vs public money and what sort of consequences we can expect this to have for the exploration itself. Science has of course long been made possible through private funding but it also always comes (or should come) with considerations of ethics – despite this possibly being obvious, it does well as a reminder of what we are prepared to give up in the name of progress and whether or not the things we lose are worth the gain.
Kate Greene explores many interesting topics related to space and to wider public life, but like with many essay collections there is some repetitiveness running through it as the same point is being made in several essays as if it’s the first time the reader comes across it. While it isn’t a major detriment it does mean the book peters out slightly in its strength towards the end when the reader is already fairly familiar with Greene’s background, family and personal life; much like the space theme too feels mostly exhausted by the last few essays. If you’re someone who is already a space geek, I don’t know that this book will teach you much new although it might force you to reckon with new angles – thanks to the authors’ literary background I think she manages to give a different perspective to one you’d likely get from a purely scientific background. On the other hand if you, like me, have a more general interest in space you will likely find much food for thought and information to ponder; questions related to living in a space-ship like what they eat or how they keep up hygien, but also things you wouldn’t necessarily think to question like -how annoying is it when someone is exercising – creating a change in oxygen levels in a very packed environment? And perhaps more weighty questions with less clear answers – how much debris have humans already put out in space – how will we deal with all the junk we are already responsible for in future exploration? I found it fascinating to follow this author’s journey, as Buzz Lightyear would say, ‘to infinity and beyond’.
November 17, 2024
For 4 months in 2013, Kate Greene (and a "crew" of 6 people) lived in a geodesic dome in Hawai'i, contributing to NASA-funded research on how to support people living on Mars. Greene's cohort were involved in any number of experiments, ranging from dietary exploration, antimicrobial clothing, sleep studies, olfactory testing, and more.
1. The thing is: I'm not sure what Greene's goals were in writing this book. There is absolutely some of the traditional non-fiction elements I'd expect from someone who was involved in scientific study, but there was also...so much other stuff packed into Once Upon A Time [...] that it feels more autobiography than report.
And for some readers, that's fine! Greene has things to say, and perspectives on the world she inhabits (that we inhabit?) that are interesting and thoughtful and absolutely worthy of consumption—but that's not why I picked up Once Upon A Time [...], and my rating reflects that.
I do think that the attempts to be both non-fiction and poetic memoir ultimately detract from the thing: if this was more fact-based around the particulars of her HI-SEAS mission, this would have been a fascinating "peek behind the curtain" of being a "guinea pig", of building camaraderie with other test subjects, of having to deal with evolving experiments and changing norms, of existing as a piece of unfinished research set apart from the world intentionally, for the purposes of science.
(For transparency: that was the book I thought I was going to be reading.)
But it seems Greene's interest was more in the creative fiction / essay / memoir side of the thing: if this had gone full "collection of essays about the life of a psuedo-astronaut-turned-space-test-dummy", it could have broken with some of the rigidity of the non-fiction norms. It could have leant into the literary quotes and allusions and played with structure and narrative flow to allow for the philosophical bent Greene seems to want to pull into her topics.
But, as it stands, Once Upon A Time [...] is just kind of...stuck with parts of both genres, leaving it hung out there in a strange limbo that doesn't quite stick the landing anywhere.
2. BUT WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE OVERARCHING EXPERIMENT THO. Per Wikipedia, "Mission commander Angelo Vermeulen with his colleagues recommended more spices and higher fiber foods as well as comfort foods."
3. In all honesty, it's difficult to write this review because Once Upon A Time [...] is so clearly a glimpse at Greene's beating heart, with the amount of personal pain and frustration and evolution tied up in it. I'm only sorry that I, a nosey space nerd, misunderstood the scope of the thing and am now saying hard things about it.
1. The thing is: I'm not sure what Greene's goals were in writing this book. There is absolutely some of the traditional non-fiction elements I'd expect from someone who was involved in scientific study, but there was also...so much other stuff packed into Once Upon A Time [...] that it feels more autobiography than report.
And for some readers, that's fine! Greene has things to say, and perspectives on the world she inhabits (that we inhabit?) that are interesting and thoughtful and absolutely worthy of consumption—but that's not why I picked up Once Upon A Time [...], and my rating reflects that.
I do think that the attempts to be both non-fiction and poetic memoir ultimately detract from the thing: if this was more fact-based around the particulars of her HI-SEAS mission, this would have been a fascinating "peek behind the curtain" of being a "guinea pig", of building camaraderie with other test subjects, of having to deal with evolving experiments and changing norms, of existing as a piece of unfinished research set apart from the world intentionally, for the purposes of science.
(For transparency: that was the book I thought I was going to be reading.)
But it seems Greene's interest was more in the creative fiction / essay / memoir side of the thing: if this had gone full "collection of essays about the life of a psuedo-astronaut-turned-space-test-dummy", it could have broken with some of the rigidity of the non-fiction norms. It could have leant into the literary quotes and allusions and played with structure and narrative flow to allow for the philosophical bent Greene seems to want to pull into her topics.
But, as it stands, Once Upon A Time [...] is just kind of...stuck with parts of both genres, leaving it hung out there in a strange limbo that doesn't quite stick the landing anywhere.
2. BUT WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE OVERARCHING EXPERIMENT THO. Per Wikipedia, "Mission commander Angelo Vermeulen with his colleagues recommended more spices and higher fiber foods as well as comfort foods."
3. In all honesty, it's difficult to write this review because Once Upon A Time [...] is so clearly a glimpse at Greene's beating heart, with the amount of personal pain and frustration and evolution tied up in it. I'm only sorry that I, a nosey space nerd, misunderstood the scope of the thing and am now saying hard things about it.
July 1, 2020
Kate Greene was one of six people who spent four months living in a geodesic dome in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, simulating a Martian environment. The 'almost' astronauts were human guinea pigs in the Hi-SEAS project focused on the domestic challenges of privacy, food, and shared resources in space.
This book is the result of Greene's struggle to find a way to talk about those months and how they changed her.
Greene travels across a broad range of philosophical questions that arose from her experience, discussing food, finding a balance between solitude and sociability, boredom, and isolation, applying her insights to daily life.
I appreciated her thoughts on the privatization of space technology and the lack of oversight in the data collection and use of social media by tech companies, influencing users without their knowledge or consent.
The Space Race arose from a quest for military and political dominance. Greene asks, is it possible for space exploration to transcend "nationalist pride, capitalist power, and ordinary ego?"
"I've come up with more questions than answers," Greene writes.
Entertaining and informing.
I received a free egalley from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
This book is the result of Greene's struggle to find a way to talk about those months and how they changed her.
Greene travels across a broad range of philosophical questions that arose from her experience, discussing food, finding a balance between solitude and sociability, boredom, and isolation, applying her insights to daily life.
I appreciated her thoughts on the privatization of space technology and the lack of oversight in the data collection and use of social media by tech companies, influencing users without their knowledge or consent.
The Space Race arose from a quest for military and political dominance. Greene asks, is it possible for space exploration to transcend "nationalist pride, capitalist power, and ordinary ego?"
"I've come up with more questions than answers," Greene writes.
Entertaining and informing.
I received a free egalley from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
February 23, 2021
As a series of 12 related essays, the structure of this book is quite loose and meandering, all moving around the focal point of Greene's time in NASA's HI-SEAS project. I think this could be a little off-putting to some but I really enjoyed how meandering it was. It gives Greene the opportunity to talk about a lot of things about space travel/exploration and the history of it that wouldn't necessarily have come up if she'd stuck strictly to her own experiences, but I really appreciated that they were in there. Especially when someone thinks highly of the work NASA and other organisations like that do, it would be easy to sugarcoat it, too.
One example that really stands out to me is her discussion of the people paid by NASA pay to take part in essentially 'lying down for months' studies, and the socio-economic factors that go into who would agree to do that. Likewise, her discussion of the "ideal" astronaut and all the ways society has played into that, and how different space travel and exploration would look if we'd never been tied to those kind of arbitrary ideals. I'm really interested in the history of space exploration but not hugely knowledgeable, so this kind of broad, meandering primer was really great for me personally.
I've always thought of astronauts and astronaut-adjacent people as really interesting but honestly probably a bit unrelatable to someone like me (fascinated with space but terrible in an emergency, deathly afraid of even the regular sort of flying, and not from a science background at all) and honestly I was probably more drawn to Greene's book where others haven't tempted me purely because she's LGBTQ, and it was definitely great to read something like this by someone like that. Despite that, after finishing this, I'm really interesting in reading more of this sort of book (in particular Scott Kelly's book, which Greene mentions quite a few times.) which I definitely didn't expect!
One example that really stands out to me is her discussion of the people paid by NASA pay to take part in essentially 'lying down for months' studies, and the socio-economic factors that go into who would agree to do that. Likewise, her discussion of the "ideal" astronaut and all the ways society has played into that, and how different space travel and exploration would look if we'd never been tied to those kind of arbitrary ideals. I'm really interested in the history of space exploration but not hugely knowledgeable, so this kind of broad, meandering primer was really great for me personally.
I've always thought of astronauts and astronaut-adjacent people as really interesting but honestly probably a bit unrelatable to someone like me (fascinated with space but terrible in an emergency, deathly afraid of even the regular sort of flying, and not from a science background at all) and honestly I was probably more drawn to Greene's book where others haven't tempted me purely because she's LGBTQ, and it was definitely great to read something like this by someone like that. Despite that, after finishing this, I'm really interesting in reading more of this sort of book (in particular Scott Kelly's book, which Greene mentions quite a few times.) which I definitely didn't expect!
September 25, 2020
Ever since I was a child, space has captivated my imagination. I love space. I love space science. I love science fiction. I have literally spent months of my life by this point, I would estimate, with the crews of the various starships Enterprise, Voyager, and the station Deep Space Nine. Yet never have I really had much desire to go to space. It seems like a cold, forbidding place, and the cost of getting there—monetarily, but also physically, is so much! Also, I’m a tall witch (192 cm), so they’d probably take one look at me, laugh as they visualized stuffing me into a launch capsule, and then pass.
Kate Greene, on the other hand, has at least entertained what it would be like to be an astronaut. While she never quite achieved that dream, she came close by participating in a HI-SEAS experiment to live in isolation with five other astronaut-like people. For four months, they ran experiments and simulated living in a habitat on Mars. Then she wrote about it, including for this book. I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in return for a review.
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars starts strong. I really love Greene’s awareness of and appreciation for the history of spaceflight. She weaves this history, along with personal anecdotes, throughout the book. Greene gets it in a way that some people don’t; as I read, I felt like we were speaking the same language. She describes her excitement and fascination for not just space itself but learning all about the people and projects who go to space, and I can dig that.
Organizationally, however, this book leaves much to be desired. Each chapter includes tidbits of Greene’s time participating in HI-SEAS. Yet these seem merely to function as launch pads for ruminations on larger issues, like climate change, or to discuss other aspects of the history of spaceflight. Sometimes Greene discusses her personal life, from having a brother who lives with a significant disability to the breakdown of her marriage. I like personal stories as much as the next person, cool—but I went into this book thinking I would hear more about Greene’s experience living “on Mars,” and I feel like I barely heard about that. She never fails to return to the HI-SEAS mission at least once a chapter, but it never seems to be the focus of the writing. And I could accept that, could live with it being merely a framework on which to craft essays, if the essays themselves were organized. But too often, I didn’t feel like Greene was making much of a point—or when she was making a point, it didn’t feel like something new and interesting to me.
There is a related issue to this: Greene is constantly referring to books that are cooler than hers. At one point she’s diving deep into Scott Kelly’s book about spending a year in space. Another time she quotes extensively from Michael Collins’ book. Now look, I love intertextuality as much as the next English teacher. I love that she is referring to and building upon past discussions of spaceflight. Yet it happens in such a way that the thought honestly crossed my mind that I should just be reading those books, not this one. What, exactly, is Greene contributing to the conversation in these chapters? She was obviously very moved by her experience, and there are times she alludes quite directly to this idea. Still, for something so significant to her life, I was expecting … more.
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars is a book that lacks confidence in itself. It never really settles down into a formula that is fruitful or reliable. Overall, I did enjoy it. When Greene’s writing veers towards the interesting, it is quite interesting. But I’m not sure it will leave much of an impression, especially not about what it might be like to one day live on Mars.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
Kate Greene, on the other hand, has at least entertained what it would be like to be an astronaut. While she never quite achieved that dream, she came close by participating in a HI-SEAS experiment to live in isolation with five other astronaut-like people. For four months, they ran experiments and simulated living in a habitat on Mars. Then she wrote about it, including for this book. I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in return for a review.
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars starts strong. I really love Greene’s awareness of and appreciation for the history of spaceflight. She weaves this history, along with personal anecdotes, throughout the book. Greene gets it in a way that some people don’t; as I read, I felt like we were speaking the same language. She describes her excitement and fascination for not just space itself but learning all about the people and projects who go to space, and I can dig that.
Organizationally, however, this book leaves much to be desired. Each chapter includes tidbits of Greene’s time participating in HI-SEAS. Yet these seem merely to function as launch pads for ruminations on larger issues, like climate change, or to discuss other aspects of the history of spaceflight. Sometimes Greene discusses her personal life, from having a brother who lives with a significant disability to the breakdown of her marriage. I like personal stories as much as the next person, cool—but I went into this book thinking I would hear more about Greene’s experience living “on Mars,” and I feel like I barely heard about that. She never fails to return to the HI-SEAS mission at least once a chapter, but it never seems to be the focus of the writing. And I could accept that, could live with it being merely a framework on which to craft essays, if the essays themselves were organized. But too often, I didn’t feel like Greene was making much of a point—or when she was making a point, it didn’t feel like something new and interesting to me.
There is a related issue to this: Greene is constantly referring to books that are cooler than hers. At one point she’s diving deep into Scott Kelly’s book about spending a year in space. Another time she quotes extensively from Michael Collins’ book. Now look, I love intertextuality as much as the next English teacher. I love that she is referring to and building upon past discussions of spaceflight. Yet it happens in such a way that the thought honestly crossed my mind that I should just be reading those books, not this one. What, exactly, is Greene contributing to the conversation in these chapters? She was obviously very moved by her experience, and there are times she alludes quite directly to this idea. Still, for something so significant to her life, I was expecting … more.
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars is a book that lacks confidence in itself. It never really settles down into a formula that is fruitful or reliable. Overall, I did enjoy it. When Greene’s writing veers towards the interesting, it is quite interesting. But I’m not sure it will leave much of an impression, especially not about what it might be like to one day live on Mars.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
February 2, 2021
Who doesn’t love a bit of Space exploration? The idea of human habitation on Mars is such an intriguing and interesting prospect, and the research going on into how humans may manage such a feat is beyond amazing.
I loved reading about the authors experiences on her 4 month long habitation on ‘fake mars’ (or the Hawaiin volcano Mauna Loa), living the life of extreme solitude and difficultly on the HI-SEAS project. The author also touched on her own life throughout, making it a very personable account which was great to read.
I really enjoyed learning about the difficulties, pitfalls and potential struggles of life on another planet, and aside from the obvious of life-support and fitting humans into a place they aren’t designed to fit, I never really thought of the smaller things such as menu fatigue and the struggles of enjoyment of eating on psychology and overall health, for example. The chapter on Astro-gastronomy was great and hearing about the science as well as the experimental results carried out on the project was brilliant. How to feed people in space? What would they eat? All intriguing questions covered.
Boredom as well! Boredom through lack of new stimuli and monotony too is a potential plague to any space traveller. Who’d have though getting ‘bored’ in space could be a thing? So many things the book covered that I didn’t foresee.
The psychology of space flight and it’s effects is a mind blowing and incredibly interesting area of science as not only do we not know about it in abundance on earth, but apply it to space flight and space living and were in unknown territory! There’s the difference in food, the same monotony of your environment, limitations of social interactions as well as being cut off from your earthly norms. Having an insight into such things from this book was definitely an eye opener and really interesting to read.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and it would appeal to many who have often thought about what it may be like to live on a different planet, and what the difficulties might be along the way. Really interesting!
I was lucky enough to read this book with thanks to the author and publishers, via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
I loved reading about the authors experiences on her 4 month long habitation on ‘fake mars’ (or the Hawaiin volcano Mauna Loa), living the life of extreme solitude and difficultly on the HI-SEAS project. The author also touched on her own life throughout, making it a very personable account which was great to read.
I really enjoyed learning about the difficulties, pitfalls and potential struggles of life on another planet, and aside from the obvious of life-support and fitting humans into a place they aren’t designed to fit, I never really thought of the smaller things such as menu fatigue and the struggles of enjoyment of eating on psychology and overall health, for example. The chapter on Astro-gastronomy was great and hearing about the science as well as the experimental results carried out on the project was brilliant. How to feed people in space? What would they eat? All intriguing questions covered.
Boredom as well! Boredom through lack of new stimuli and monotony too is a potential plague to any space traveller. Who’d have though getting ‘bored’ in space could be a thing? So many things the book covered that I didn’t foresee.
The psychology of space flight and it’s effects is a mind blowing and incredibly interesting area of science as not only do we not know about it in abundance on earth, but apply it to space flight and space living and were in unknown territory! There’s the difference in food, the same monotony of your environment, limitations of social interactions as well as being cut off from your earthly norms. Having an insight into such things from this book was definitely an eye opener and really interesting to read.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and it would appeal to many who have often thought about what it may be like to live on a different planet, and what the difficulties might be along the way. Really interesting!
I was lucky enough to read this book with thanks to the author and publishers, via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
August 12, 2020
I'll preface my review by saying that I've never read an essay collection before and I read very few memoirs (and somehow none of them have been about space) but space travel, space technology, the politics of space, and honestly just space in general are deeply fascinating to me (duh, I'm a huge science fiction nerd).
With the choice to tell this story in a series of themed essays (rather than a chronological memoir or something similar) I personally felt a little unmoored. I couldn't get a handle on the timeline(s), the people involved (versus the people simply referenced). But I understand the stylistic choice, the very self-analyzing bent Greene takes on her own experiences "in space". I loved most the discussions of her interactions with her crew members, comparing experiences and coping mechanisms. I loved the discussions of practical matters like food and when things went wrong.
But I think the wide focus and the stream-of-consciousness style hampered the overall effect for me. Mostly because I wanted more than a few brief anecdotes about actual interactions. Especially when she mentions journals that she had kept and various publications from her time "on Mars". I especially loved the analysis on gender and ability in space travel - how women (generally) weigh less and consume fewer calories than men, and how an astronaut without legs (or with changeable prosthetics specific to various tasks) would actually be well suited to space without being limited by loss of muscle/etc in the legs without gravity. Also the analysis of what different diverse figures (both historically and on her own crew) contributed to the overall space experience.
All in all, a very interesting read for space lovers who want a lot of facts and analysis filtered through the lens of a person with a very unusual perspective.
{Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC - all thoughts are my own}
With the choice to tell this story in a series of themed essays (rather than a chronological memoir or something similar) I personally felt a little unmoored. I couldn't get a handle on the timeline(s), the people involved (versus the people simply referenced). But I understand the stylistic choice, the very self-analyzing bent Greene takes on her own experiences "in space". I loved most the discussions of her interactions with her crew members, comparing experiences and coping mechanisms. I loved the discussions of practical matters like food and when things went wrong.
But I think the wide focus and the stream-of-consciousness style hampered the overall effect for me. Mostly because I wanted more than a few brief anecdotes about actual interactions. Especially when she mentions journals that she had kept and various publications from her time "on Mars". I especially loved the analysis on gender and ability in space travel - how women (generally) weigh less and consume fewer calories than men, and how an astronaut without legs (or with changeable prosthetics specific to various tasks) would actually be well suited to space without being limited by loss of muscle/etc in the legs without gravity. Also the analysis of what different diverse figures (both historically and on her own crew) contributed to the overall space experience.
All in all, a very interesting read for space lovers who want a lot of facts and analysis filtered through the lens of a person with a very unusual perspective.
{Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC - all thoughts are my own}
September 6, 2020
I was intrigued by the topic around which the book revolves. It is about a scientific study which involved people mimicking the life they would lead if they were stationed on Mars. Recently, I have come across many videos of this concept in the media and thought this would increase the information I have about it.
In a way, this book did give me a whole new view into what such a scenario would entail, but it was more than that. It is a personal narrative with the author's emotions and life reflected in everything written. This additional aspect was both helpful and not because it caused the narration to digress and take multiple tangents before focusing on the exact topic that each chapter was based. We get a technical as well as psychological take on what people living in close quarters and feeling remote and distanced from the rest of their known world. This is topical in another sense with the isolation that the pandemic has thrust on many. I personally know of a lot of my friends and family who have lived through some strange and unprecedented isolation. Despite that, the number of detours got mildly weary. This does not mean that the book is not intriguing, it is. Given the author's background and the way she wrote, I thought she could have changed the order of presentation to make it a more crisp collection.
Overall, this is something people even slightly interested in the world's fascination with space would like.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
In a way, this book did give me a whole new view into what such a scenario would entail, but it was more than that. It is a personal narrative with the author's emotions and life reflected in everything written. This additional aspect was both helpful and not because it caused the narration to digress and take multiple tangents before focusing on the exact topic that each chapter was based. We get a technical as well as psychological take on what people living in close quarters and feeling remote and distanced from the rest of their known world. This is topical in another sense with the isolation that the pandemic has thrust on many. I personally know of a lot of my friends and family who have lived through some strange and unprecedented isolation. Despite that, the number of detours got mildly weary. This does not mean that the book is not intriguing, it is. Given the author's background and the way she wrote, I thought she could have changed the order of presentation to make it a more crisp collection.
Overall, this is something people even slightly interested in the world's fascination with space would like.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
November 23, 2024
In 2013 Kate Greene kind of moved to Mars. In a simulated Mars experience; an isolated geodesic dome in Hawaii, designed to replicate the real thing. Her time there was spent carrying out scientific tasks and observing human behaviour. With nowhere to escape to, a day on Mars can start to feel long.
This was such an interesting concept but unfortunately the book didn’t grab me as much as I hoped. I felt it was quite disjointed; memories, recollections and reveals of the author’s life would pop up along scientific observations and historical facts and I found it very hard to keep focus.
For someone writing knows a lot about space travel this would be a hugely interesting read, but a lot of it went way over my head I’m afraid
This was such an interesting concept but unfortunately the book didn’t grab me as much as I hoped. I felt it was quite disjointed; memories, recollections and reveals of the author’s life would pop up along scientific observations and historical facts and I found it very hard to keep focus.
For someone writing knows a lot about space travel this would be a hugely interesting read, but a lot of it went way over my head I’m afraid
September 21, 2024
Doesn't talk that much about the actual mission
June 26, 2020
***I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley.***
What child doesn't dream of one day becoming an astronaut and exploring the expanses of space? In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Kate Greene shares her experience of what it was like to be an astronaut... almost. Her participation in an earth-bound mission in Hawaii designed to test menu fatigue in astronauts gives all the rest of us earthlings a brief glimpse into some of the social, emotional and physical challenges of a space crew as they work together to complete various mission tasks.
This book is truly a collection of essays. For me, they were best read and absorbed one at a time, which means it took me a while to make my way through the book. Many of the essays were long and a bit meandering, which at first I found a little frustrating but then began to understand as a reflection of how time felt for Kate and her fellow crew members. The essays On Isolation and The Standard Astronaut felt particularly relevant for this moment in time where stay-at-home orders and social justice movements are so prominent in our societal psyche.
Kate is the kind of author whose mind and prose spillover with words, which can make for slower reading as you absorb all of the description and the many, many lists, but is another good indicator of how one's mind wanders and billows during an isolated mission.
If you enjoy essays, memoirs, science and are okay taking your time with a book, then this one will fit the bill and likely teach you something new along the way.
What child doesn't dream of one day becoming an astronaut and exploring the expanses of space? In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Kate Greene shares her experience of what it was like to be an astronaut... almost. Her participation in an earth-bound mission in Hawaii designed to test menu fatigue in astronauts gives all the rest of us earthlings a brief glimpse into some of the social, emotional and physical challenges of a space crew as they work together to complete various mission tasks.
This book is truly a collection of essays. For me, they were best read and absorbed one at a time, which means it took me a while to make my way through the book. Many of the essays were long and a bit meandering, which at first I found a little frustrating but then began to understand as a reflection of how time felt for Kate and her fellow crew members. The essays On Isolation and The Standard Astronaut felt particularly relevant for this moment in time where stay-at-home orders and social justice movements are so prominent in our societal psyche.
Kate is the kind of author whose mind and prose spillover with words, which can make for slower reading as you absorb all of the description and the many, many lists, but is another good indicator of how one's mind wanders and billows during an isolated mission.
If you enjoy essays, memoirs, science and are okay taking your time with a book, then this one will fit the bill and likely teach you something new along the way.
April 22, 2021
Yes, it's about Mars exploration, but ONCE UPON A TIME I LIVED ON MARS is so much more than that. A fascinating examination of what it means to recalibrate one's life under extreme conditions. Greene excels at exploring the intersection between science and philosophy, asking the big questions on both a personal and a cosmic scale. Nuanced, lively, and surprising, this book was an absolute joy to read.
October 5, 2022
A series of essays that chronicles her time in a Mars simulation in Hawaii. There was a lot of new to me information about space travel that was interesting.
March 3, 2021
Witty, unique, and perfect for space nerds like me. I did not expect it to also go into more personal aspects of the author’s life such as her brother’s health problems, but she weaves her family life, Mars experiment, her science writing, history and jokes very well!
July 17, 2020
Really interesting! Discussed really important topics of isolation, family, loneliness, and friendship. I will say I wished I read it rather than listened to it, because I had a hard time with the audio narration.
July 9, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital copy.
Thank you to Libro.fm for an advanced listening copy.
Being completely honest, I would have DNF’d this book if I did not have the audiobook to accompany the text. I found a lot of the material to be long-winded and uninteresting. However, there were some chapters (such as “On Boredom,” ironically) that I did find interesting. There are a few small clips that I would share with students since I think they could be great talking points, however, I think most of my students would not find this book interesting.
Thank you to Libro.fm for an advanced listening copy.
Being completely honest, I would have DNF’d this book if I did not have the audiobook to accompany the text. I found a lot of the material to be long-winded and uninteresting. However, there were some chapters (such as “On Boredom,” ironically) that I did find interesting. There are a few small clips that I would share with students since I think they could be great talking points, however, I think most of my students would not find this book interesting.
August 1, 2020
If you enjoy books about space, Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars by Kate Greene might be the book for you!
In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Kate explores her life during the NASA’s first HI-SEAS mission, a Martian simulation that took place in Hawaii. She lived, worked, and breathed Mars for four months in a small dome with her crew mates.
During her time in the dome, she got to explore boredom, sleep, emotional ties in tight quarters, and the psychology of isolation. Isolation messes with the crews minds, and no one is immune to being crammed in tight quarters away from their family and friends for a third of a year. Kate was married during her expedition to Mars, and she relied heavily on the e-mails from her family to make it through.
I enjoyed reading about Kate’s time during the HI-SEAS mission. I cannot imagine living in a small dome with five others for four months! I don’t think I would handle it nearly as well as the crew seemed to.
While I loved reading about Kate’s mission, I wanted more. She covers a lot of science and space talk in her book, which is fun, but I wanted to learn more about the HI-SEAS mission. I felt like the book covered the mission on a surface level but never really explored it in depth. That was so disappointing!
Regardless, this book was an enjoyable read. If science is your thing, Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars delivers! I’ve always been fascinated by space, so I enjoyed learning about it.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Kate explores her life during the NASA’s first HI-SEAS mission, a Martian simulation that took place in Hawaii. She lived, worked, and breathed Mars for four months in a small dome with her crew mates.
During her time in the dome, she got to explore boredom, sleep, emotional ties in tight quarters, and the psychology of isolation. Isolation messes with the crews minds, and no one is immune to being crammed in tight quarters away from their family and friends for a third of a year. Kate was married during her expedition to Mars, and she relied heavily on the e-mails from her family to make it through.
I enjoyed reading about Kate’s time during the HI-SEAS mission. I cannot imagine living in a small dome with five others for four months! I don’t think I would handle it nearly as well as the crew seemed to.
While I loved reading about Kate’s mission, I wanted more. She covers a lot of science and space talk in her book, which is fun, but I wanted to learn more about the HI-SEAS mission. I felt like the book covered the mission on a surface level but never really explored it in depth. That was so disappointing!
Regardless, this book was an enjoyable read. If science is your thing, Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars delivers! I’ve always been fascinated by space, so I enjoyed learning about it.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 26, 2020
The author was telling a bit of a fib – she didn’t actually live on Mars. She lived in one of those claustrophobic habitats on Earth where they keep people confined for months to see what they do.
I was hoping for some lurid tale of how the people in her dome reverted to tribal savagery like Lord of the Flies, and they had to send in the police to get the survivors out, but I was out of luck. A peaceful stay in the dome, except that one person kept bumping the author’s leg during dinner.
What really surprised me is that Kate Greene was not attacked by her fellow Martians for practicing her ukulele during the ordeal.
I was also surprised because there wasn’t a whole lot about space travel in the book. Several anecdotes about astronauts, but mostly the author rambled on about various topics: isolation, loneliness, Virginia Woolf. (I sure never expected Virginia Woolf.)
The ramblings were pleasant, however.
I was hoping for some lurid tale of how the people in her dome reverted to tribal savagery like Lord of the Flies, and they had to send in the police to get the survivors out, but I was out of luck. A peaceful stay in the dome, except that one person kept bumping the author’s leg during dinner.
What really surprised me is that Kate Greene was not attacked by her fellow Martians for practicing her ukulele during the ordeal.
I was also surprised because there wasn’t a whole lot about space travel in the book. Several anecdotes about astronauts, but mostly the author rambled on about various topics: isolation, loneliness, Virginia Woolf. (I sure never expected Virginia Woolf.)
The ramblings were pleasant, however.
July 13, 2022
Exactly the sort of thing I've come to expect from modern "journalists" – a book that fondly imagines the author is much more interesting than any possible subject she might be writing about.
This was a waste of time when Norman Mailer was doing it, and it hasn't improved any in two generations.
The subject of simulating life on Mars has the potential to be interesting (though even then, it needs to be explained *exactly* what is going to be learned that isn't already known from life at the South Pole, or life underwater, both of which have 70 years or so of history behind them.
Now, it's hard for me to see the overlap between readers who really care about the science of this, and readers who actually care about the life story of the author: however the author made it easy by including practically zero science, along with a whole lot of her life story...
This was a waste of time when Norman Mailer was doing it, and it hasn't improved any in two generations.
The subject of simulating life on Mars has the potential to be interesting (though even then, it needs to be explained *exactly* what is going to be learned that isn't already known from life at the South Pole, or life underwater, both of which have 70 years or so of history behind them.
Now, it's hard for me to see the overlap between readers who really care about the science of this, and readers who actually care about the life story of the author: however the author made it easy by including practically zero science, along with a whole lot of her life story...
November 29, 2020
Easily and happily devoured for a Mars buff or anyone interested in human behaviour under unique circumstances - Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars is about the author's participation, experience and ruminations on the four months she spent living in a geodesic dome on the slopes of a volcano on the big island of Hawaii in a simulation of a Mars expedition. It's not a large book, but encompasses much wisdom and logic as well as the author's personal story. Greene provides some interesting perspectives on the current push for Mars exploration from the likes of Space X and NASA. This is a small book which I read in a couple of days while in retreat from summer heat. It turned out to be much more than just a way to pass the time.
August 29, 2021
Shakespeare & Company Year of Reading - August book
Absolutely loved this: not just an account of Greene's experiences during the experiment, but also a glimpse into her background, personality, relationships and interests, peppered with stories about the history of space exploration and musings on various aspects of the human experience.
Fascinating stuff and really well written. One to pair with The Martian, perhaps?
Absolutely loved this: not just an account of Greene's experiences during the experiment, but also a glimpse into her background, personality, relationships and interests, peppered with stories about the history of space exploration and musings on various aspects of the human experience.
Fascinating stuff and really well written. One to pair with The Martian, perhaps?
July 5, 2020
This book focuses on Kate Greene’s time in a simulated Mars habitat in Hawaii, as well as other key moments in her life. I really liked her writing style and learning about the Mars simulation. I wish she would have included more detail about this experience.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.
December 6, 2020
Interesting, informative, well-written essays about the author's experience living on top of Mauna Loa in a Mars Simulation. Thought provoking issues she dealt with. A little humor throughout made it an enjoyable read.
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