In celebration of World Space Week, whose theme this year is Mars exploration, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announces the North American release of MISSION: MARS, a new nonfiction children’s book for readers in grades 4 through 6* (ages 9–12) by renowned Mars scientist Dr. Pascal Lee. This exciting book is available exclusively through Scholastic Reading Club throughout October and at bookstores nationwide starting November 1, 2013. MISSION: MARS (ISBN 978-0-545-56532-5) provides an in-depth look at what it will take to get us to Mars, and how we’ll explore that world once we get there. For more information, go to scholastic.com/missionmars.
Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin shared this praise for the book: “Pascal Lee is a true pioneer of Mars exploration. This book makes me want to put on a space suit and go to Mars!”
MISSION: MARS provides readers a training guide for this century’s most daring undertaking in space – a human mission to Mars by 2035. Author Dr. Pascal Lee takes young readers behind the scenes to learn about work being done at NASA and elsewhere to get humans ready for Mars. Each page provides unique scientific and technical facts and trivia, from Mars’ seven natural wonders, to areas on Earth that mimic the terrain of Mars, to conceptual drawings of tomorrow’s Mars ships, spacesuits, Mars habitats, and human-piloted rovers. To engage readers even further, MISSION: MARS draws from Dr. Lee’s own “field notes” and provides imaginative images, “training drills” and detailed infographics to convey the challenge and wonder of journeying to Mars.

It took 17 hours and 5 different airplanes, but I finally got to Mars—or the next best thing. I had arrived at NASA’s Haughton Mars Project on Devon Island. At its northernmost tip, the island is less than 500 miles from the North Pole.
The cold, dusty land on Devon Island is similar to that of Mars. That’s why scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have traveled to the faraway island every summer since 1996. Some 15 to 20 scientists at a time take advantage of the Arctic’s similarities to Mars. They go there to conduct research and to test equipment that might one day be used to allow astronauts to explore the Red Planet.