After examining scientific research into corpses, the supernatural, and sex (my thoughts on Stiff, Spook, and Bonk, respectively), Roach takes a look into the odder scientific corners of space exploration.
This isn't a book about how the rockets work, or how the trajectories are plotted. No, Roach gets right down to the stuff that we all really wonder about. What happens if you throw up in your space helmet? What's sex like in zero gravity? How do they make astronaut food? How do you go to the toilet in space?
As always, Roach is a lively and witty storyteller, with a gift for getting interesting answers from her subjects, even when they might rather not talk about some of the more awkward parts of their jobs. Her great good cheer helps; there are some "ewwww" moments in here that Roach carries you through with a smile simply by refusing to get too grossed out by them. If the signature image that stuck with me from Bonk was elephantiasis of the scrotum, this time around it's the phrase "fecal popcorning." No, I won't tell you what it means. You'll just have to read the book, won't you?
And you should read the book. It's a delightful overview of scientific research into how we can survive in an environment that deprives us of everything that seems necessary to life -- air, water, food -- and a lot of things that aren't strictly necessary, but are surprisingly hard to live without for long -- gravity, hygiene. Roach is more charming and ingratiating than you'd think possible given the potentially dry subject matter; would that more science writers had her gifts.
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