Whether it’s playing golf on the Moon, exploring the canyons of the Red Planet or sailing the seas of Titan, a new book invites you to dream of a journey through the solar system with a look “behind the science” on how this could be possible.

York University professors John E. Moores and Jesse Rogerson let you imagine yourself as an astronaut in the solar system in their new book, “Daydreaming in the Solar System: Surfing Saturn’s Rings, Golfing on the Moon, and Other Adventures in Space Exploration. ‘Using a combination of storytelling and science, the book allows the reader to explore planets, moons and comets.

The idea for the book came about five years ago, while Rogerson was working at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

“I was trying to figure out what it would be like to walk around on a Saturn moon called Enceladus. This moon of Saturn has all these geysers that shoot big jets of water into space and I was like, “Man, I wonder what it would be like to be an astronaut walking around on this moon and seeing these geysers.” “, Rogerson, assistant professor in the Faculty of Science at York University, told CTV News Ottawa.

“I emailed (John) and said here’s my question and showed him some calculations I was trying to do. He sent me back some calculations and then we figured out that these geysers couldn’t lift a human, based on what we know about them. I wrote this little article about it and then we were like, “This is a really cool idea.” I wonder what it would be like if you did this all over the solar system trying to figure out what it would be like to be in all the places in the solar system.

“Will dream in the solar system: surfing the rings of Saturn, playing golf on the Moon and other adventures in space exploration.” by John E. Moores and Jesse Rogerson. (Submitted)

The book’s 15 chapters are designed to allow the reader to explore the solar system in different scenarios, including playing golf on the moon, rappelling into Valles Marineris on Mars, observing Martian clouds, and surfing the rings of Saturn.

“We paired really interesting places with really weird things to do there,” says Rogerson.

“So playing golf on the Moon was kind of natural because a human has already played golf on the Moon. Mars has some really interesting clouds, so we monitor them like you’re on a picnic.

“We imagine what it would be like to go cave diving on this Saturn moon. It was totally wild imagination where we imagined ourselves, or an astronaut, doing a strange activity in a strange place and how the physics of the place would affect the activity.

Moores tells Newstalk 580 CFRA Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal the book uses a combination of history and science to allow readers to experience it with “their five senses.”

“We wanted the reader, whoever they might be, to be able to imagine themselves in the role of the astronaut. It’s kind of like you choose your own adventure,” said Moores, an associate professor in the department of Earth and space science and engineering at York University.

“We wanted people to break down that barrier between themselves and these other places. We didn’t want to do it remotely – like a scientist in a lab examining a topic on the table. We wanted people to imagine being there; what would they taste, feel, touch and see.

Each chapter is written in two parts, with a story “written in the second person” for the reader to participate in the reverie, followed by an explanation of “the underlying science that you can learn”, according to Rogerson.

“We believe space is for everyone and we know there are barriers for some; there are many barriers to entry into space careers. We want everyone who reads this to feel like space is for them,” said Rogerson, a former scientific advisor to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

“The second part of the chapter is what I call “behind the scenes, behind the scenes of science.” We’re talking directly to the reader again and we’re saying that the reason we wrote the book this way, the reason this chapter is this way is because the gravity on Mars is this value and we know that because we We have been doing this calculation with this spacecraft for many years. There is.”

(Getty Images)

Rogerson says data collected by robotic spacecraft exploring the solar system over the years helped bring these daydreams to life.

“The only reason we were able to do all this was the robots,” Rogerson said.

“The only reason we’re able to write a book like this is because it’s not really about science fiction, it’s about taking the reality we know and making it into history. This is entirely thanks to all the countries who have put so much effort into exploring these places.

The book is illustrated by Michelle D. Parsons, who used watercolor to facilitate space exploration.

“We also collaborated with an illustrator who made a watercolor representation of what he saw in his mind while reading history and science,” Moores said.

“Daydreaming in the Solar System: Surfing the Rings of Saturn, Playing Golf on the Moon, and Other Adventures in Space Exploration” is available via Amazon And Indigo.

“We want people to see the wonder and wonder of our solar system,” says Rogerson. “We really wanted it to be something that everyone could see themselves doing.”