Book Log 2015 #9: The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell

Space exploration is most often measured in days, occasionally weeks, and in very rare cases years. This puts the 40-plus years of the Voyager mission -which sent two spacecraft past the outer planets of the solar system to become the first man-made objects to (eventually) leave the solar system.

The author tells the story of the mission from both what was actually accomplished - the information learned about the outer planets and interplanetary space - and the people who got the mission off the launch pad, kept the information coming by managing aging technology millions of miles away, and interpreted the data. Many of these people have spent their entire career working on Voyager, and their stories give the book a strong personal element. The science is discussed in a clear manner, even when there's a foray into somewhat more technical material. Definitely recommended.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book based on a true story)