I've contributed nothing to this brilliant site, but I've followed since before the MER landings. It's obvious that there are many contibutors who, even if they are amateurs, are doing image analysis and presentation work that exceeds the quality of the pros.

I imagine (fervently hope, actually) that some of the UMSF posters will be putting together book projects of their work.

If any such book is on the way, I hope that we on this forum will hear about it first. I would LOVE to have a glossy coffee table book of the images I've seen here, especially one signed by the author(s).

*whistles innocently*

Click to view attachment

It's just something I've been working on and off the last few weeks, since I'm also image-processing-challenged, and can contribute in other ways. Once I get some real free time, I'd like to go back to the beginning of UMSF and collect all the best work. I have no permission on any of these, so kindly consider it more a mental exercise for now. If you do not want me including your work, LMK, and I'll remove it. I plan on getting individual approval for each artist "later on."

It's created with Blurb's software. Their pricing is not too bad for the small quantities we'd be interested in, with a 40 page hardcover book at $30 and a 440 page hardcover book for $80, including custom dust cover, which are pages 1-5 in the PDF. 1-back inside, 2-back, 3-spine, 4-front cover, 5-inside front. One thing I'm fuzzy about is how books are "released" into the wild. Anyways, it makes for a nice weekend hobby. The book is 10x8, so a 2 page photo is 20x8, or 2.5 aspect ratio, which works well for our panoramas. McMurdo Pan is 22780x4496, or ~5 aspect ratio, making it perfect for 4 pages. I'm contemplating adding sranderson's "Standing on the Fringes of Creation" as a possible subtitle.

Love to hear any comments and suggestions.

In other news, I know that Phil Stooke and Doug Ellison have confirmed they are working on books. Can't recall anyone else.

Hendric, sounds great and looks even better!
(I do not see some pictures, is my PC or is it real?)

I'm spending my days looking after this place and setting up my new office so that when the sad day comes...(i.e. we wave goodnight to the rovers) I can begin in earnest to do them justice on paper.

I also hope that that means I will be able to include a HiRISE derived route map from which people will be able to cross reference and understand the geography and terrain.

Doug

Dilo, there are some blank pages that don't have pictures, notably the first pages for the Spirit and Opportunity sections. Taking suggestions!

Personally, I'd like to see some of the powerpoint presentations some of you have created to share with the public, I'm sure they'd be exciting for us too.

Hendric the price You mentioned ( US $ 80 for a 440 pages Hardcover book is very good ) ... and I 100% agree with Doug that a route map for each rover must be added, may be as a fold-out so readers can check the photos against the Mars map which will give a lot of sence to ' just a photobook '

Anyway I have been writing articles on MER starting 6 months before the landing and every 6 months since for the British Interplanetary Society' monthly magazine spaceflight, so if any introductory text would be needed I'm glad to help ...

Looking forward to this book but hoping that the rovers will stay alive to celebrate 3 ( Earth ) years on the red planet

Philip CORNEILLE

Hi Hendric. Nice idea for the book.
Just a quick edit note.
In the PDF, page 5 of 15 - the UMSF BBQ image was created by Astro0 (me) and the spelling for SS's surname name is "Squyres".
NB: As noted above by others, there were a few photos that didn't show up in the downloaded PDF.

Fantastic start. More! More!
Astro0

I have a few things on my mind too -lots of work ahead though...





Nico

Astro0: Thanks for the corrections, I'll get those done ASAP.

PhilCo126: Thanks for the offer. I might need some introductory text for each "chapter". I also want some words for the "Final Words" chapter. Something about how the project has touched us all and what Spirit and Opportunity currently are doing. But that won't be needed for months, more than likely.

PS. I recommend everyone go back sometime and look through some of those old images. It is amazing looking back at when Spirit and Opportunity were just but babes on Mars, taking baby steps. Doug's picture of Spirit looking at her IDD in color, it almost brought tears to my eyes. How far we've come.

PPS. Doug, I really really really hope you decide not to get rid or limit the older pictures. I still feel they make for an important history, of umsf.com at least.

PPPS. If anyone has any pictures they generated or favorites from the first 2 months of both rovers, I would appreciate pointers. I'm looking for pictures done by or modified somehow by UMSF'ers. Thanks.

Here's another brilliant idea I just had...How about a flipbook section with the Mars dust-devils??? I don't think there are any UMSF-sourced movies, but I just can't resist spending 20 pages on this one:

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~lemmon/mer_dd/...hanced_568a.gif

The format I would use is one with 2 pictures on the right, with words next to them. This way we could do 2 or three other short DD movies in the other spot, and a couple of our DD colorizations.

What do you guys think? Lame waste of paper for B&W movies you could download, or just totally wicked?

PM me with your realworldemail if you want to see the current WIP. Blank pages are probably blank on purpose. I haven't picked out yet quintessential images for the rover sections. Taking suggestions!

Excellent ideas but what is the status on the projectSSS ?

Unfortunately, RL intrudes. I think I need to just take a week off, download and sort the pictures, and then add them into the book format. I've been downloading and adding a picture at a time, which isn't scaling well.

Yes, very good idea.

If you want, you can take all the pictures you want in my gallery of my website to illustrate the book .

For a very brief moment on Amazon.co.uk I believed the MER book was already published :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Postcards-Mars-Fir...TF8&s=books

Crikey, i forgot i ordered that book. Hmm looks like it was published, i wonder why i haven't received my copy yet.

Update:

I've just checked amazon, i ordered it on the 17th July, they have the following delivery estimate: 22 Nov 2006 - 24 Nov 2006

I ordered mine from Amazon (UK) on Nov 1st and since then my delivery date has been pushed back twice because of "delays with the publishers". Latest estimate plucked out of the Amazon bingo machine is between the 14th and 22nd of Nov...

Postcards from Mars looks like to be a nice sized book at about 12 X 12 inches ( 35 by 35 centimeters ) ... Doug any idea yet which size of book You would like to produce ?
As a reminder, book sizes are:
Coffee Table - A book that is up to 50.0 cm.[20"] tall.
Folio - A book that is up to 36.5 cm.[15"] tall.
4to- A book that is up to 30.5 cm.[12" tall]. [Quarto]
8vo - A book that is up to 24.5 cm.[9 ¾"] tall. [Octavo]
12mo - A book that is up to 19.5 cm.[7 ¾"] tall. [Duodecimo]
16mo - A book that is up to 17 cm.[6 ¾"] tall. [Sextodecimo]
24mo - A book that is up to 14.5 cm.[5 ¾"] tall.
32mo - A book that is up to 12.5 cm.[5"] tall.
48mo - A book that is up to 10 cm. [4"] tall.

I'd like to go the same as Full Moon...but I'm not even thinking about it till the rovers quit ( a terrible thought, but a realistic one )

Doug

Call me impatient , but maybe you could revise your "cutoff date" to when Oppy has finally made it down into Victoria and made a few nice pancams and MIs of the rock layers. After that piece of work is done (about 6 months from now?), I'd expect there to not be any major change in scenery for either rover for over 300 Sols.

By this time, Phoenix will be on her way and HiRISE should have streamlined the image-release process and begin stunning us with weekly vistas to capture our imagination... so even with MER still an active mission, it will be vying for attention against new missions. Spirit and Oppy will likely not have anything new "macro" vistas to present to the armchair observer for at least 300 Sols.

So unless it's important for the Coffee Table book to have an Epitaph chapter for "closure" , I'd say that, at least from a geographical perspective, the MER mission can be described fairly completely by the end of this year. If a miracle happens and the rovers survive another 1500 Sols, then why not just publish a second edition or a sequel?

One could have made the same statement about Spirit once it reached the Summit of husband hill.....

No - to tell the pictorial story of the MER mission - you have to tell the FULL story - from start, to FINISH.

It's hard enough to get a single book published, let alone a book + a second edition.

Doug

Marz, sorry but I believe Doug is right ...
It's pretty difficult getting a book published so Doug should go for a FULL edition ... We can help by pre-ordering the book so the publisher/printer is easier convinced to get the project started.
Doug You can always contact me off-forum to swap ideas...

Post Scriptum: What would the title be ... FULL MARS ?

Talking about Mars books, feel free to check my weblog:
http://mars-literature.skynetblogs.be/