Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Asteroid Hunter:
Who knew space could be so anxiety inducing?
Quick synopsis:
A firsthand account of the OSIRIS-REx space mission by its leader, Dante Lauretta.
Fact for Non-History People:
Asteroid Bennu might kill us all on September 24, 2182.
Fact for History Nerds:
About 17 meteorites hit Earth every day.
My Take on The Asteroid Hunter:
I understand about 70% of this book! That says more about Dante Lauretta than me, however. The Asteroid Hunter is part memoir, part science, part thriller, and all great.
There is a very small overlap between my love of history and science. I like to learn the science just enough to understand what is going on and then I want to read about everything else. Lauretta writes the story of his mission OSIRIS-REx in a way that anyone could enjoy it. They are landing on an asteroid. That should be cool no matter who is reading.
Lauretta keeps this book moving at a brisk place so that the reader never gets the chance to be bored. What I especially appreciated is that while the narrative revolves around Lauretta as the center of the story, I never felt like Lauretta thought he was the story. The mission is what we are here for and that’s the way he tells the story and it’s a riveting one.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing.)
Verdict:
A great book even if you aren’t a science nerd. Buy it here!
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