$18,000 to stay in bed? Living in a BioDome? Here’s more information about NASA’s Terranauts.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/-18-000-to-lie-in-bed-for-70-days/279869/
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/in-space-no-one-can-hear-your-takeout-order
http://www.businessinsider.com/man-spent-two-years-in-biosphere-2015-3
Here are some pictures showing what Devon Island, the place that is used to simulate the surface of Mars, looks like.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/05/devon-island-mars-on-earth.html
Mary Roach talks about the Soyuz seat and capsule in the book. If you wondered what all of that looked like, here is a link to the Canadian Space Agency and their astronauts experience with training with the Soyuz capsule and space launch.
Here are a few links about the different designs of the NASA space suit from Mercury to today.
http://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/mercury-starliner-evolution-spacesuit-n718296
Here’s some videos about the Zero G flights described in Packing for Mars. The first video explains how what the plane does and how the parabolas create weightlessness. The second video is of people experiencing weightlessness. Just like in Mary’s experience, the crew yells “feet down!” to let people know to right themselves before gravity kicks back in.
Take a journey through time as NASA traces the evolution of the rocket from 400 BCE to today.
Have you always wanted to hear the banalities of space travel? You can! Follow this link to an online archive of recordings taken from NASA space missions, from Gemini to Apollo to Mercury missions, to official NASA press releases. Mundane yet remarkable stuff!
https://archive.org/details/nasaaudiocollection?&sort=-downloads&page=4
The author talks about V2 rockets in Chapter 4 briefly. I’m going to post 3 articles that go into more depth about V2’s, the scramble for Nazi scientists post-WWII, and the scientist Wernher von Braun.
BBC: V2 the Nazi Space Rocket That Launched the Space Age
The Atlantic: Remembering the Nazi Scientist Who Built Rockets for Apollo
Business Insider: 9 Nazi Scientists Who Helped Build the American Space Program
Here is an interview Mary Roach did with C-SPAN’s Book TV
True Story Book Club 