Jay Barbree on “Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight”

In his 55 years as NBC’s space correspondent, Jay Barbree has won the respect and friendship of many astronauts. Neil Armstrong stands above them all. Now Jay has created this very personal chronicle about his friend, with help from Neil and many of the other pioneering spacefarers. Bill Nye is on vacation, but Emily Lakdawalla is here to tell us what Curiosity is up to on Mars. Bruce Betts says watch Saturn and the moon in What’s Up, and he helps Mat Kaplan award some LightSail swag.

Related Links:

• Mat Kaplan’s Review of “Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight”
• Washington Post Review of “Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight”
• Curiosity Update, Sols 671-696
• Women Working on Mars: Curiosity Women's Day

This week's prize is a Planetary Radio T-shirt.

This week's question:

Approximately how long was the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle that astronauts drove on the moon?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, August 5, at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

On Apollo 11, what was used to make a broken circuit breaker work on the Lunar Module so that it could leave the moon?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

What is the approximate area of the LightSail sails?

Answer:

LightSail’s four sails cover about 32 square meters when they are fully-deployed.