Johns Hopkins University Press · Johns Hopkins Wavelengths
Are We Ready for Mars?
Mark Shelhamer with Brian Gallagher
October 13, 2026
What it will actually take to send people to Mars — and bring them home
A voyage to Mars is the ultimate test of endurance: of bodies and minds, and of the materials and systems built to protect them. Many of the risks remain unknown or understudied. Mitigating them is as demanding, and as fascinating, as designing the rockets. This book is a rare look at the medicine, engineering, mission operations, and artificial intelligence that would have to work together — and why the siloed approaches that got us to the Moon will not be enough for the Red Planet.
A Martian journey will take the better part of a year. As the distance widens, communications delay, and the crew is increasingly on its own. We understand how bones, muscles, eyes, and immune systems respond to months in low Earth orbit. No one knows what kind of toll the longer, farther trip will take — or how toxic soil, radiation, and low gravity will greet the people who land.
Preorder from Johns HopkinsEarly praise
“A fantastically rich read that makes a powerful argument for why preparing humans to successfully travel to Mars—and back—will transform what it means to survive and flourish in the universe.”
“I knew that getting to Mars would be hard, but I didn’t realize it would be this hard. It can be done, but the authors make a strong case that space agencies and private companies will have to transform how they operate.”
“This is more than a book about getting to Mars—it’s a thoughtful and timely roadmap for designing the future of human spaceflight.”
“An insider’s honest, unsentimental, and hopeful map of what we know, what we don’t, and why getting there and back safely means replacing siloed approaches with the systems thinking that builds real resilience.”