I just finished David Whitehouse’s Space 2069. It’s a sobering read for those of us who remember the Apollo moon landings and the contraction of NASA’s more ambitious programs after that.

The bulk of the book is devoted to current plans to return to the Moon and to explore Mars. The last third of the book more briskly covers the possibility of exploring the outer (and inner) planets. I would have preferred more discussion of the different ship designs and modes of propulsion we could develop for these ventures, but I also admire the author’s assessment of just how challenging even the more modest ambitions for the moon will prove to be.