This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Eric Kendal's life was in a tailspin - no job, no prospects, just a growing collection of Tater Tots and existential dread. When NASA officially rejected his Hail Mary application to become an astronaut, he decided on a new mission: if he couldn't go to Mars for real, he'd fake it. From his garage. On YouTube.
For twenty months, "Commander Kendal" invites the world into his ingeniously (and hilariously) retrofitted cube van, the LEWY, tackling simulated space crises with duct tape, an unflappable AI named Haley, and a stubborn refusal to admit defeat. What starts as a desperate, absurd project to stave off boredom and prove something unexpectedly catapults him to global internet stardom.
But amidst the viral memes and media frenzy, a genuine connection forms with Nova_Girl, an intelligent, witty viewer he's only ever known through DMs and her starfield avatar. As his DIY mission nears its end, Eric finds himself facing his biggest challenge yet: an unbelievable offer from actual NASA, forcing him to choose between the manufactured dream he broadcast to the world and the surprisingly real life and love he built along the way.
"MARS OR BUST" is a laugh-out-loud, surprisingly poignant tale of one man who aimed for Mars from his garage and ended up finding himself, and maybe even the universe, a little closer to home.
