Claudia's Class Goes to Mars (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798985376333)

Spacecraft operations engineer Z. Nagin Cox and scientist Rosaly Lopes, who work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, bring to life the story of young Claudia and her friends Jose and Ben. The kids experience a virtual reality trip to Mars that expands their future career horizons.

Guided by their teacher Ms. Chiu, the friends visit a museum with exhibits about Mars and Earth and are amazed to "be on Mars" in a virtual reality theater. Jose, who collects rocks, learns about rocks on Mars. Ben, who loves cars, realizes he could drive cars on Mars. Claudia, who dreams of becoming a medical doctor, learns that astronauts would need doctors on a long Mars trip. The diversity shown by the group of friends and their teacher emphasizes that space is for everyone.

The authors have first-hand knowledge of Mars missions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The book was inspired by the authors' friend and colleague Dr. Claudia Alexander who was the Galileo project manager at JPL many moons ago.