Very well researched, written, and analyzed. No one before Lambright has come close to explaining the development of NASA’s successful two-decade strategy to garner public and political support for Mars exploration. He elucidates the core issues in science policy and the convergences and divergences in relation to one of the biggest of all science efforts. Excellent.

(Roger D. Launius, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

Lambright tells a thorough story of NASA’s efforts to send a series of increasingly capable spacecraft to Mars. The flyby missions of Mariner 4 and its successors led to the first Mars orbiter, Mariner 9, and then the Viking program of orbiters and landers… The history of NASA’s robotic Mars exploration program, as recounted in Why Mars, can provide lessons learned and guidance for its future.

(Jeff Foust The Space Review)

Henry Lambright has put together a tour-de-force of just how rocky has been the NASA road to Mars… Why Mars is an important addition to the literature.

(David Baker Spaceflight)

Author W. Henry Lambright has written an absorbing and detailed look at the long trail of robotic Mars exploration program from its origins to today. This is an excellent review of the politics and policies behind NASA’s multi-decade quest at exploring the Red Planet, the roles of key individuals and institutions, including a look at triumphs and defeats in reaching Mars.

(Leonard David The Coalition for Space Exploration)

The reading is very compelling, and Lambright makes the topic come to life, particularly in the way he discusses key NASA officials and scientists… A useful resource for those interested in the history of the space program and in public policy regarding large-scale science projects.

(Choice)

W. Henry Lambright is a professor of public administration, international affairs, and political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is author of Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA and Space Policy in the Twenty-First Century, both published by Johns Hopkins.