MARC KAUFMAN writes about NASA and space science for NationalGeographic.com/NewsWatch and The Washington Post, where he was a reporter on the national staff for 10 years. Kirkus listed his previous book, First Contact, as one of the best nonfiction titles in 2011. He has worked as a foreign correspondent at The Washington Post, reporting from Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, and as New Delhi bureau chief for the Philadelphia Inquirer. His articles have appeared in New York, Smithsonian, and Condé Nast Traveler.