Also a vivid memoir of Shirley''s personal journey, Managing Martians spans her youth, when her passionate dream to explore space seemed outlandish, through her career as an innovator in automation and robotics.'

Small town girl goes to Mars (virtually).
Managing Martians combines my autobiography with the story of the Pathfinder mission to Mars, the building of the Sojourner microrover that was the first successful mobile vehicle on another planet (not counting the moon), and the ongoing saga of the Mars Exploration Program which is flying robotic missions to Mars every 26 months. Of interest to women, engineers and scientists (and people who wannabe), and those who like stories of hard work, suspense and success.

1999-04-19 Excellent example of life in space exploration

This book vividly tells the story of the intense and exhiliarating adventure scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) experience at the cutting edge of the technological exploration of our solar system. In addition, it is a gripping and optomistic tale of the journey of one woman's success in a usually all male fraternity. It frankly portrays the difficulties and triumphs along the way. Ms. Shirley has broken ground for many young women in the future for careers in the area of science and engineering. In addition, it is a fun read for anyone interested in technology, management and the progress of women in our society. It also is a very accurate portrayal of life at JPL.