The Design and Engineering of Curiosity How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job

“It is a fascinating read … . Emily does a great job making the book easy to understand … . I think this is a great book and any engineer who develops (or wants to develop) systems should read it. … I think this is the only book that I am aware of that presents all the required engineering elements to design and build a complex robot system. ... For experienced engineers it is also useful to read.” (David Kohanbash, robotsforroboticists.com, February 2, 2022)

“This book presents an in-depth explanation of how ‘the most complex machine ever sent to another planet’ works. … There are in-depth discussions on wheel design and degradation as well as complete listings of the drill and scoop sampling campaign. Beautifully written and illustrated, Ladawalla’s essay is truly encyclopaedic.” (Richard McKim, The Observatory, Vol. 138 (1267), December, 2018)

“The Design and Engineering of Curiosity is a comprehensive look at how the Mars Curiosity mission became a reality. Lakdawalla, an independent scholar, begins with an overview of the various iterations of the mission, starting with the goal of developing a bigger lander, and shows how the designers converged on the final mission and spacecraft design. … The book has a broad audience, ranging from general readers to the technical community.” (D. B. Spencer, Choice, Vol. 56 (03), 2018)