“A journey into the life of a man who made the impossible possible. Tasked with exploring the depths of the solar system with little precedent or guidance, NASA’s John Casani faced overwhelming technical, financial, and scientific challenges—yet his relentless drive led to some of the most historic missions ever undertaken. We’re where we are today because Casani worked in a ‘room without corners,’ and I hope readers will come to appreciate him in the same way I now do.”—Beth Mund, executive director of Stories of Space and host of the podcast Casual Space

“It was a joy discovering this book. It’s an incredible read. . . . I loved learning the pieces of the story I didn’t know.”—David Hitt, coauthor of Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972–1986

“There’s an excellent chance that John Casani is your favorite engineer’s favorite engineer, and the delightfully engaging Born to Explore makes clear why he merits so much adulation: Without his genius for solving the American space program’s thorniest problems, we’d know far less about our fascinating little corner of the Milky Way. Jay Gallentine does a brilliant job of exploring how Casani’s innate curiosity and agile mind drove him.”—Brendan I. Koerner, contributing editor at Wired and author of The Skies Belong to Us

“Entrust yourself to the guiding hand of Jay Gallentine, who with Born to Explore charts another parabolic trajectory into the dark reaches of space, investigating the all-too-earthly reasoning behind the daring and dubious decisions to orbit celestial bodies and plumb galactic realms beyond.”—Don Wildman, host of Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum and host of the podcast American History Hit