Name: Gabriella LePage's review of Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars by Kate Greene
Item: Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars
Rating: 5
Author: Gabriella LePage

Kate Greene

When it comes to Mars, the focus is often on how to get there: the rockets, the engines, the fuel. But upon arrival, what will it actually be like? In 2013, Kate Greene moved to Mars. That is, along with five fellow crew members, she embarked on NASA’s first HI-SEAS mission, a simulated Martian environment located on the slopes of Mauna Loa in Hawai'i. For four months she lived, worked, and slept in an isolated geodesic dome, conducting a sleep study on her crew mates and gaining incredible insight into human behavior in tight quarters, as well as the nature of boredom, dreams, and isolation that arise amidst the promise of scientific progress and glory. In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Greene draws on her experience to contemplate humanity’s broader impulse to explore. The result is a twined story of space and life, of the standard, able-bodied astronaut and Greene’s brother’s disability, of the lag time of interplanetary correspondences and the challenges of a long-distance marriage, of freeze-dried egg powder and fresh pineapple, of departure and return. By asking what kind of wisdom humanity might take to Mars and elsewhere in the Universe, Greene has written a remarkable, wide-ranging examination of our time in space right now, as a pre-Mars species, poised on the edge, readying for launch.

Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth

Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars

Gabriella LePage

Ryan LaFerney

Kate Greene was one of six people who spent four months living in a geodesic dome in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, simulating a Martian environment. The 'almost' astronauts were human guinea pigs in the Hi-SEAS project focused on the domestic challenges of privacy, food, and shared resources in space. Greene's book Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, is a series of reflective essays - that mix the scientific accounts with the personal - examining the impact the Hi-SEAS project had on her personal life, and philosophical outlook. I personally found this book to be highly timely as we are living in an age of intense social isolation. Greene's writing, which was often insightful and poetic, focused on the aspects of her mission that were trying: boredom, isolation, etc. But she also focuses on the wonders of space as well. This book could be classified as a memoir. However, it’s not an exact chronological memoir. Rather it is a series of musings and thoughts about loneliness, learning to live in limited space with other people, relationships (inside and outside of the dome), personal reflections…filtered through the lens of a poet, essayist, and former laser physicist and a person who clearly has a deep respect for the wonders of space.

I loved Once Upon A Time I Lived On Mars. It sparked some sort of hope for me and reminded me that there’s so much more out there yet to be discovered.

It jumps around a bit, and I wish readers were given more details about the crew on the HI-SEAS mission; I’m sure there was a lot more that occurred in that small dome than what was revealed.

I would have loved to read more of the quirky happenings, like movie nights, and how they got along while secluded in Hawai’i.

Though overall, it was exactly the read I was looking for. Now I’m off to learn *all* the things about space!

KATE. GREENE

In 2013 Kate Greene moved to Mars. On NASA's first HI-SEAS simulated Mars mission in Hawai'i, she lived for four months in an isolated geodesic dome with her crewmates, gaining incredible insight into human behaviour in tight quarters, as well as the nature of boredom, dreams and isolation that arise amidst the promise of scientific progress and glory. Greene draws on her experience to contemplate what makes an astronaut, the challenges of freeze-dried eggs and time-lagged correspondence, the cost of shooting for a Planet B. The result is a story of space and life, of the slippage between dreams and reality, of bodies in space, and of humanity's incredible impulse to explore. From trying out life on Mars, Greene examines what it is to live on Earth.

Space, Exploration and Life on Earth

Rose Stanley

Shakespeare & Company Year of Reading - August book

Absolutely loved this: not just an account of Greene's experiences during the experiment, but also a glimpse into her background, personality, relationships and interests, peppered with stories about the history of space exploration and musings on various aspects of the human experience. 

Fascinating stuff and really well written. One to pair with The Martian, perhaps?

‘Filled with wonderment and awe ... Greene’s eloquent memoir is equal parts escape and comfort.’ Publishers Weekly A powerful reflection on life in isolation, in pursuit of the dream of Mars. In 2013 Kate Greene moved to Mars. On NASA’s first HI-SEAS simulated Mars mission in Hawaii, she lived for four months in an isolated geodesic dome with her crewmates, gaining incredible insight into human behaviour in tight quarters, as well as the nature of boredom, dreams and isolation that arise amidst the promise of scientific progress and glory. Greene draws on her experience to contemplate what makes an astronaut, the challenges of freeze-dried eggs and time-lagged correspondence, the cost of shooting for a Planet B. The result is a story of space and life, of the slippage between dreams and reality, of bodies in space, and of humanity’s incredible impulse to explore. From trying out life on Mars, Greene examines what it is to live on Earth. ‘In her thoughtful, well-written account of the mission, Greene reflects on what this and other space missions can teach us about ourselves and life on Earth.’ Physics Today

Kyra Ann Dawkins

I absolutely LOVE this book. As I read Once Upon A Time I Lived on Mars, I was completely in awe of Kate Greene's narrative dexterity, seamlessly interweaving pertinent stories from a variety of sources with her own insights and memories to create a stream-like and cohesive arc. I'd recommend this book to pretty much anyone, but especially people who are also considering their place in the narrative of humanity, Earth, Mars, and beyond...

Gabriella LePage &
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars by Kate Greene

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