Book invites readers to daydream about adventures in space exploration

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From playing golf on the moon to exploring canyons on the red planet and sailing on Titan’s seas, a new book invites you to daydream about a journey through the solar system with a “behind the science” look at how it could be possible.

York University professors John E. Moores and Jesse Rogerson allow you to imagine yourself as an astronaut in the solar system in their new book, ‘Daydreaming in the Solar System: Surfing Saturn’s Rings, Golfing on the Moon, and Other Adventures in Space Exploration.’  Using a combination of storytelling and science, the book allows the reader to explore the planets, moons and comets.

The idea for the book originated five years ago, when Rogerson was working at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

“I was trying to figure out what it would be like to walk around on a moon of Saturn called Enceladus. This moon of Saturn has all these geysers shooting big jets of water out into space and I’d be like, ‘Man, I wonder what that would be like to actually be an astronaut walking around on this moon seeing these geysers,’” Rogerson, assistant professor in the Faculty of Science at York University, tells CTV News Ottawa.

“I emailed (John), and I said here’s my question and I showed him some calculations I was trying to do.  He sent me some calculations back and then we figured out that these geysers can’t lift a human up based on what we know about them. I wrote this little article about it and then we were like, ‘this is a really cool idea. I wonder what it would be like if you did this all over the solar system trying to figure out what it would be like to be in all the places of the solar system.’”

The book’s 15 chapters are designed for the reader to explore the solar system in different scenarios, including golfing on the moon, rappelling into Valles Marineris on Mars, watching the Martian clouds, and surfing on Saturn’s rings.

“We paired really interesting places with really weird things to be doing there,” Rogerson says.

“So, golfing on the moon, that was sort of a natural one because a human has golfed on the moon before. Mars has really interesting clouds, so we have cloud watching like you’re at a picnic.”

“We imagine what it would be like to be doing a cave dive on this moon of Saturn. It was totally an imagination run wild where we were imaging ourselves, or some astronaut, doing some weird activity in some weird place and how the physics of the place would affect the activity.”

Moores tells Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal the book uses a combination of story and science to let readers experience it with “their five senses.”

“We wanted the reader, no matter who that reader is, to be able to imagine themselves in the role of the astronaut. It’s kind of like the choose your own adventure,” Moores, associate professor in the Earth and Space Science and Engineering Department at York University, said.

“We wanted people to break down that barrier between them and these other places. We didn’t want to do it at a remove – like a scientist in the lab looking at a subject on the table. We wanted people to imagine themselves being there; what would they taste, what would they feel and touch and see.”

Each chapter is written in two parts, with a story “written in the second person” for the reader to participate in the daydream, followed by an explanation of the “underlying science that you can learn,” according to Rogerson.

“We think space is for everyone and we know that there are roadblocks for some; there’s a variety of roadblocks for getting into space careers. We want anyone who reads this to feel like space is for them,” said Rogerson, who is a former science advisor at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

“The second part of the chapter is what I call a ‘behind the scenes, behind the science.’ We talk directly to the reader again and we say the reason we wrote the book this way, the reason this chapter is this way is because the gravity on Mars is this amount and we know that because we did this calculation with this space craft many years ago.”

Rogerson says data gathered by robotic spacecraft exploring the solar system over the years helped bring the daydreams to virtual life.

“The only reason we were able to do any of this is the robots,” Rogerson said.

“The entire reason we’re able to write a book like this is it’s not really about science fiction, it’s about taking the reality that we know and wrapping a story around it. It’s entirely thanks to all the countries that have put so much effort into exploring these places.”

The book is illustrated by Michelle D. Parsons, who used watercolour to help with space exploration.

“We also engaged with an illustrator who did a watercolour representation of what they saw in their mind as they read the story and the science,” Moores said.

‘Daydreaming in the Solar System: Surfing Saturn’s Rings, Golfing on the Moon, and Other Adventures in Space Exploration’ is available through Amazon and Indigo.

“We want people to see the awe and amazingness of our solar system,” Rogerson says. “We really wanted it to be something that everyone could see themselves doing.”