◇ Blindly following space travel/written by Emiliano Ricci, translated by Bomin Choi/332 pages, 22,000 won, Gilbut
If you were to travel to the moon in the sky every night, where should you go? The author of this book picks the ‘Sea of Tranquility’ located in the southwest of the lunar lava plain. This is the historic place where humanity first set foot on a celestial body other than Earth in July 1969. Since there is no wind or rain on the moon, the footprints of Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) from Apollo 11 will still remain, and a photo authentication location is also recommended.
This book is a travel plan for Earthlings planning a space trip for two weeks. Its characteristic feature is that the characteristics of each universe, from the Moon to the Andromeda Galaxy, are easily explained in the concept of a travel guide. The author, an Italian science communicator, received the 2013 Italian National Award for Popularization of Science in recognition of his contribution to easily conveying physics and astronomy to the public.
The author recommends Mars as a must-visit travel course, saying that it is full of natural scenery with titles such as ‘best’ and ‘largest’ in the solar system. First, you must visit ‘Mount Olympus,’ the tallest and widest mountain in the solar system. The height of this mountain reaches 22 km above the surface of Mars and its diameter is over 600 km. It cannot be compared to Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, at 8848m above sea level. However, the author advises that hiking on Mars will be relatively easy because the gravity is only one-third that of Earth. Utopia Plain, the largest impact crater in the planetary system with a diameter of 3,300 km, is also a must-visit place when traveling to Mars.
Unfortunately, Saturn, which is a little further away, is difficult for Earthlings to land on. Because it is a gas planet, landing is impossible. Saturn has 82 moons, the most of any planet, and the author recommends a trip to the Titan moon. Titan is the only one of all moons in the solar system to have a dense and stable atmosphere. Scientists also estimate that the atmospheric conditions of the primitive Earth would be similar to those of Titan.
This is a delightful book that adds fun inspiration and imagination about space ahead of the start of the era of full-scale space travel.
Reporter Wonmo Yoo onemore@donga.com
