A concise history of spaceflight, from military rocketry through Sputnik, Apollo, robots in space, space culture, and human spaceflight today. Spaceflight is one of the greatest human achievements of the twentieth century. The Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite, in 1957; less than twelve years later, the American Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon. In this volume of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Michael Neufeld offers a concise history of spaceflight, mapping the full spectrum of activities that humans have developed in space. Neufeld explains that "the space program" should not be equated only with human spaceflight. Since the 1960s, unmanned military and commercial spacecraft have been orbiting near the Earth, and robotic deep-space explorers have sent back stunning images of faraway planets. Neufeld begins with the origins of space ideas and the discovery that rocketry could be used for spaceflight. He then discusses the Soviet-U.S. Cold War space race and reminds us that NASA resisted adding female astronauts even after the Soviets sent the first female cosmonaut into orbit. He analyzes the two rationales for the Apollo program: prestige and scientific discovery (this last something of an afterthought). He describes the internationalization and privatization of human spaceflight after the Cold War, the cultural influence of space science fiction, including Star Trek and Star Wars, space tourism for the ultra-rich, and the popular desire to go into space. Whether we become a multiplanet species, as some predict, or continue to call Earth home, this book offers a useful primer.

Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in July 2011, the United States has lacked a domestic capability to transport crew and -- until recently -- cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS or Station). Consequently, NASA has been relying on the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) for crew transportation. In anticipation of the Shuttle's retirement, Congress and the President directed NASA to foster the commercial spaceflight industry as a means of developing domestic cargo and crew transportation capabilities to the Station. In November 2005, NASA created the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office and in 2011, activated a separate Commercial Crew Program Office to reflect the increased funding and priority for commercial crew. In June 2013, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report examining NASA's efforts to foster a commercial market for cargo resupply missions to the ISS. The report discusses NASA's funding over the past 7 years of SpaceX and Orbital to further development of spaceflight capabilities and, on a separate track, the Agency's contracts with the companies for a combined 20 cargo resupply missions to the ISS. As a complement to that report, this book examines NASA's efforts to pursue commercial crew capabilities.

The U.S. has spent almost $43 billion to develop, assemble, and operate the International Space Station (ISS) over the past two decades. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 required NASA to enter into a cooperative agreement with a not-for-profit entity to manage the ISS National Laboratory and in 2011 did so with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). CASIS is charged with maximising use of the ISS for scientific research by executing several required activities. Recently, questions have arisen about the progress being made to implement the required activities and the impact it has had on ISS's return on the investment. This book assesses the extent to which CASIS has implemented the required management activities; and NASA and CASIS measure and assess CASIS's performance. Furthermore, this book assesses the extent to which NASA has ensured essential spare parts are available and ISS structures and hardware are sound for continued ISS utilisation through 2020.

NASA is undertaking a trio of closely-related programs to continue human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit: the SLS vehicle; the Orion capsule, which will launch atop the SLS and carry astronauts; and the supporting ground systems. As a whole, the efforts represent NASA's largest exploration investment over the next decade, potentially as much as $22 billion, to demonstrate initial capabilities. Beyond 2021, NASA plans to incrementally develop progressively more-capable SLS launch vehicles complemented by Orion capsules and ground systems. This book examines the scope of NASA's preliminary cost estimates for the three programs. It examines the SLS program's progress toward and risks for its first test flight in 2017; and the extent to which the SLS program has plans in place to achieve its long-term goals and promote affordability.

The identification of extraterrestrial chiral compounds could provide compelling evidence to prove that extraterrestrial environments such as Mars have supported some form of life. This book reviews why the study of chirality has been integrated into space exploration and experimentation and what this study might be achieved within the context of space missions. Also discussed herein is the analytical methods used on past space missions and summarise possible future methods planned to facilitate the detection of chirality for future expeditions.

Space transportation is the movement of, or means of moving objects, such as communications and observation satellites, to, from, or in space. Commercial space transportation is carried out by vehicles owned and operated by private companies or organisations. Today, the U.S. is among several countries that offer commercial launch services and comprise at least 25 percent of all launches world-wide. This book focuses on recent trends in the commercial space launch industry, challenges that the FAA faces in overseeing the industry, and emerging issues that will affect the federal role.

This book will be the first English on space law written by a Chinese scholar. With the rapid development of space activities in China, many space scientist and lawyers are keen to know Chinese Legal views on policies and laws on space activities. The book discusses new development of space law in view of the rapid development of space commercial activities from a Chinese legal perspective. The topics selected in the book reflect the author's teaching and research in space law at four different universities: Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, City University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong. Six areas of space law issues have been selected: property rights, space registration and liability regime, launching services, telecommunications services, national space legislation and international space co-operation. All the topics are closely related to current Chinese space legislation and practice. When dealing with the above six issues, the author will first briefly discuss the current rules and practice at the international level, followed by in-depth analysis of Chinese situation. This will be a unique book. Those who are researching on space law and/or in charge of formulating national space policy will be especially interested in the elaboration of Chinese attitude toward space commercialisation and of the current Chinese space policies and laws.

The inspiring memoir of the superstar astronaut and TikTok sensation - now on her biggest space mission yet 'Today I woke up on Earth. And I will fall asleep in space' In space the sun rises and sets 16 times a day. You fly over every sea, every mountain and desert, every city and every port. The most ordinary things -- eating, sleeping, brushing your teeth or cutting your hair -- have to be relearned, until they become familiar again. This is the story of Samantha Cristoforetti's incredible journey to becoming an astronaut, and her journey beyond Earth. Her voyage as an apprentice astronaut began when she was in her early thirties: five years of intense training around the world, from Houston to Japan to the legendary Star City in Russia. Countless hours spent in centrifuges, spaceship simulators and under water for spacewalk practice. Then, one day, a rocket was waiting for her on the launch pad. And after eight minutes of wild ascent, she was on orbit, crunched up with her two crewmates in a tiny spaceship that took them to the International Space Station. With honesty and warmth, Cristoforetti chronicles the two hundred days she spent on the ISS, the joys and challenges of being in an extraordinary place, from the sublime sight of seeing Earth for the first time to more unusual concerns, such as mastering the art of floating. How do you find your bearings when there is no up and down? What is it like to run in weightlessness? And how do you cook in space? This is an enthralling, inspiring and surprisingly down-to-earth story about what it really takes to pursue your dreams.

This new edition of the classic Satellite Thermal Control Handbook, is a thorough, technical survey of the various technologies used to achieve thermal control of all types of spacecraft, as well as the design and analysis methods used by thermal engineers. Features: Spacecraft Systems Overview; Spacecraft Thermal Environments; Thermal Design Examples; Thermal Surface Finishes; Insulation; Radiators; Heaters; Mounting and Interfaces; Louvers; Heat Switches; Phase Change Materials; Pumped Fluid Loops; Thermoelectric Coolers; Heat Pipes; Thermal Design Analysis; Thermal Contact Resistance; Precision Temperature Control; Space Shuttle Integration; Thermal Testing; Future Technologies

In the 1990s, Ed Galindo (Yaqui), a high school science teacher on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, took a team of Shoshone-Bannock students first to Johnson Space Center in Texas and then to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These students had entered a project in a competitive NASA program that was usually intended for college students-and they earned a spot to see NASA astronauts test out their experiment in space. The students designed and built the project themselves: a system to mix phosphate and water in space to create a fertilizer that would aid explorers in growing food on other planets. In Children of the Stars, Galindo narrates his experience with this first team and with successive student teams, who continued to participate in NASA programs over the course of a decade. This is a story indelibly grounded in place and Indigenous communities: students chose a project influenced by their local knowledge of and easy access to phosphate fertilizer (mined on the reservation); found creative ways to build their project with cheap materials, often donated by local businesses; raised funds in the tribe and community to cover travel expenses; asked questions about space exploration and agriculture based on their own understanding of the colonization of North America; and involved their families at every step. Galindo discusses the challenges of teaching Indigenous students: understanding the practical limits of a rural reservation school, the importance of community and family support, respecting and incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems, and meeting students where they are in order to help them succeed. In describing how he had to earn the trust of his students to truly be successful as their teacher, Galindo also touches on the complexities of community belonging and understanding; although Indigenous himself, Galindo is not a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and was still an outsider who had as much to learn as the students. Written in a conversational style, Children of the Stars is an accessible story of success, of students who were supported and educated in culturally relevant ways and so overcame the limitations of an underfunded reservation school to reach (literal) great heights.

2020 Space Hipsters Prize for Best Book in Astronomy, Space Exploration, or Space History Come Fly with Us is the story of an elite group of space travelers who flew as members of many space shuttle crews from pre-Challenger days to Columbia in 2003. Not part of the regular NASA astronaut corps, these professionals known as “payload specialists� came from a wide variety of backgrounds and were chosen for an equally wide variety of scientific, political, and national security reasons. Melvin Croft and John Youskauskas focus on this special fraternity of spacefarers and their individual reflections on living and working in space. Relatively unknown to the public and often flying only single missions, these payload specialists give the reader an unusual perspective on the experience of human spaceflight. The authors also bring to light NASA’s struggle to integrate the wide-ranging personalities and professions of these men and women into the professional astronaut ranks. While Come Fly with Us relates the experiences of the payload specialists up to and including the Challenger tragedy, the authors also detail the later high-profile flights of a select few, including Barbara Morgan, John Glenn (who returned to space at the age of seventy-seven), and Ilan Ramon of Israel aboard Columbia on its final, fatal flight, STS-107.   Purchase the audio edition.

What is life and where can it exist? What searches are being made to identify conditions for life on other worlds? If extraterrestrial inhabited worlds are found, how can we explore them? In this book, two leading astrophysicists provide an engaging account of where we stand in our quest for habitable environments, in the Solar System and beyond. Starting from basic concepts, the narrative builds scientifically, including more in-depth material as boxed additions to the main text. The authors recount fascinating recent discoveries from space missions and observations using ground-based telescopes, of possible life-related artefacts in Martian meteorites, extrasolar planets, and subsurface oceans on Europa, Titan and Enceladus. They also provide a forward look to future missions. This is an exciting, informative read for anyone interested in the search for habitable and inhabited planets, and an excellent primer for students in astrobiology, habitability, planetary science and astronomy.

You don't know home until you leave it. With over 200 spectacular images, including astonishing satellite images and stills from the BBC Natural History Unit's footage, Earth from Space reveals our planet as you've never seen it before. For decades we competed to be the first to reach space, but it was when we looked back at Earth that we were truly awestruck. Now, for the first time, using advanced satellite images we can show the earth's surface, its mega structures, weather patterns and natural wonders in breathtaking detail. From the colours and patterns that make up our planet to the mass migrations and seismic changes that shape it, Earth from Space sheds new light on the planet we call home. It reveals the intimate stories behind the breathtaking images, following herds of elephants crossing the plains of Africa and turtles travelling on ocean currents that are invisible unless seen from space. The true colours of our blue planet are revealed, from the striped tulip fields of Holland to the green swirl of a plankton super bloom that attracts a marine feeding frenzy. Whether it's the world's largest beaver dam - so remote it was only discovered through satellite imagery - or newly formed islands born from volcanic eruptions, discover a new perspective on our ever-changing planet.

The astronomy science centers established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to serve as the interfaces between astronomy missions and the community of scientists who utilize the data have been enormously successful in enabling space-based astronomy missions to achieve their scientific potential. These centers have transformed the conduct of much of astronomical research, established a new paradigm for the use of large astronomical facilities, and advanced the science far beyond what would have been possible without them. Portals to the Universe: The NASA Astronomy Science Centers explains in detail the findings of this report. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Functions of Current Science Centers 3 Models for NASA Astronomy Science Centers 4 Data Archiving in the Science Centers 5 Education and Public Outreach 6 Best Practices and Recommendations Appendix A Tabulated Characteristics of the NASA Astronomy Science Centers Appendix B Statement of Task Appendix C Biographical Information for Committee Members and Staff Appendix D Acronyms

This book presents fundmentals of orbit determination--from weighted least squares approaches (Gauss) to today's high-speed computer algorithms that provide accuracy within a few centimeters. Numerous examples and problems are provided to enhance readers' understanding of the material.
*Covers such topics as coordinate and time systems, square root filters, process noise techniques, and the use of fictitious parameters for absorbing un-modeled and incorrectly modeled forces acting on a satellite.
*Examples and exercises serve to illustrate the principles throughout each chapter.
*Detailed solutions to end-of-chapter exercises available to instructors.

Thread of the Silkworm tells the story of one of the most monumental blunders the United States committed during its era of McCarthyism. It is the biography of Dr.Tsien Hsue-shen, a pioneer of the American space age who was mysteriously accused of being a Communist and deported to China, where he became-to America's continuing chagrin-the father of the Chinese missile program.