For more than a decade some of the world's most powerful defense companies have raced to launch the first constellation of low-earth orbit commercial satellites. The prize? An explosive global market for personal communications worth billions of dollars. Fresh out of Harvard Business School, twenty-something David Thompson entered the fray with an insane idea: to build his own rockets, satellites and a multi-million-dollar corporation that could go head-to-head against the big guys. His electrifying grab for the heavens--huge start-up costs, mind-blowing technical obstacles, and dark tangos with investors--is told by acclaimed writer Gary Dorsey, who was there reporting from inside. The story of their obsessive gamble in the high-stress game of space commerce is told through the lives of Thompson's managers, markets, and "freshouts"--a brilliant team of young engineers from the country's best universities. Like "The Soul of a New Machine, Silicon Sky"--part of the celebrated Sloan Technology Series--reads like fast-paced fiction, tracing the advent not just of a single company, but of a quickly emerging technological industry.

The revised second edition of this established dictionary contains over 4,300 up-to-date entries covering all aspects of astronomy. Compiled with the help of over 20 expert contributors under the editorship of renowned author and broadcaster Ian Ridpath, A Dictionary of Astronomy covers everything from space exploration and the equipment involved, to astrophysics, cosmology, and the concept of time. The dictionary also includes biographical entries on eminent astronomers, as well as worldwide coverage of observatories and telescopes. Supplementary material is included in the appendices, such as tables of Apollo lunar landing missions and the constellations, a table of planetary data, and numerous other tables and diagrams complement the entries. The entries have been fully revised and updated for this edition, and new entries have been added to reflect the recent developments within the field of astronomy, including magnetic reconnection, Fornax cluster, luminosity density, and Akatsuki. The content is enhanced by entry-level web links, which are listed and regularly updated on a companion website. A Dictionary of Astronomy is an invaluable reference source for students, professionals, amateur astronomers, and space enthusiasts.

This book teaches the reader to build rockets--powered by compressed air, water, and solid propellant--with the maximum possible fun, safety, and educational experience.

"Make: Rockets" is for all the science geeks who look at the moon and try to figure out where Neil Armstrong walked, watch in awe as rockets lift off, and want to fly their own model rockets. Starting with the basics of rocket propulsion, readers will start out making rockets made from stuff lying around the house, and then move on up to air-, water-, and solid propellant-powered rockets.

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.

This resource book invites educators and students on a journey into the worlds of yesterday, today and tomorrow, where they encounter Stone Age nomads, Vikings, conquistadors, pirates and space travellers. They hear tales of sea monsters and explore life in the Middle Ages, the cultures of native tribes of North America, the traditions of the Mayans and the Aztecs, and the voyages of Columbus and later explorers. And they learn about shipbuilding, navigation, shipwrecks, slavery and colonisation. Arranged chronologically, this book focuses not only on the facts and fictions surrounding early exploration, but also extends learning beyond the realm of reading simple historical accounts of a specific era. Beginning with chapters on the spirit of exploration and the meaning of history, it offers thought-provoking discussions, resource lists of outstanding children's books and a variety of learning activities, selected for use in preschool, primary, and intermediate grades. Subsequent chapters, following the same format, trace the history of world exploration from ancient explorations to the current exploration of outer space. Games, songs, creative dramatics, writing projects, crafts, group discussions and other activities bring historical events to life and allow students to experience what life was like in other times. Each activity is coded for the appropriate grade level (PreK-6), and a number of them are in the form of reproducible sheets that teachers can copy for immediate use. They can be adapted to fit a range of age goups and a variety of purposes, from story-hours for young children to activity and reading programmes for older children. The book lists should be helpful with library book displays and as a resource for teachers. The flexibility and quantity of material included should make this book an ideal resource for both classroom and library settings. Fostering investigation, research skills, discussion, co-operative learning and independent, critical thinking it should instil youngsters with a sense of history and the spirit of exploration.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made structure to orbit Earth and has been conducting research for close to a decade and a half. Yet it is only the latest in a long line of space stations and laboratories that have flown in orbit since the early 1970s. The histories of these earlier programs have been all but forgotten as the public focused on other, higher-profile adventures such as the Apollo moon landings. A vast trove of stories filled with excitement, danger, humor, sadness, failure, and success, Outposts on the Frontier reveals how the Soviets and the Americans combined strengths to build space stations over the past fifty years. At the heart of these scientific advances are people of both greatness and modesty. Jay Chladek documents the historical tapestry of the people, the early attempts at space station programs, and how astronauts and engineers have contributed to and shaped the ISS in surprising ways. Outposts on the Frontier delves into the intriguing stories behind the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory, the Almaz and Salyut programs, Skylab, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Spacelab, Mir station, Spacehab, and the ISS and gives past-due attention to Vladimir Chelomei, the Russian designer whose influence in space station development is as significant as Sergei Korolev's in rocketry. Outposts on the Frontier is an informative and dynamic history of humankind's first outposts on the frontier of space. Purchase the audio edition.

Are we alone in the universe, or are there other life forms 'out there'? This is one of the most scientifically and philosophically important questions that humanity can ask. Now, in the early 2020s, we are tantalizingly close to an answer. As this book shows, the answer will almost certainly be that life forms are to be found across the Milky Way and beyond. They will be thinly spread, to be sure. Yet the number of inhabited planets probably runs into the trillions. Some are close enough for us to detect evidence of life by analysing their atmospheres. This evidence may be found within a couple of decades. Its arrival will be momentous. But even before it arrives we can anticipate what life elsewhere will be like by examining the ecology and evolution of life on Earth. This book considers the current state of play in relation to these titanic issues.

We all know the names: Grissom, Armstrong, Cernan-legends of the space age whose names resonate with people around the world and whose deeds need no introduction. We know less about the men who led the organization that planned and began the US exploration of space: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Thomas O. Paine grew up an ordinary boy in northern California during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He would go on to serve as NASA's third administrator, leading the space agency through the first historic missions that sent astronauts on voyages away from Earth. On his watch, seven Apollo flights orbited our planet and five reached our moon. From those missions came the first of twelve men to walk on the moon. Years later, in 1985, the Reagan administration would call on Paine again to chair the nation's first-ever National Commission on Space. The Paine Commission Report of 1986 challenged twenty-first-century America to "lead the exploration and development of the space frontier, advancing science, technology, and enterprise, and building institutions and systems that make accessible vast new resources and support human settlements beyond Earth orbit, from the highlands of the Moon to the plains of Mars." In Piercing the Horizon, Sunny Tsiao masterfully delivers new insights into the behind-the-scenes drama of the space race. Tsiao examines how Paine's days as a World War II submariner fighting in the Pacific shaped his vision for the future of humankind in space. The book tells how Paine honed his skills as a pioneering materials engineer at the fabled postwar General Electric Company in the 1950s, to his dealings inside the halls of NASA and with Johnson, Nixon, and later, the Reagan and Bush administrations.As robotic missions begin leaving the earth, Tsiao invites the reader to take another look at the plans that Paine articulated regarding how America could have had humans on Mars by the year 2000 as the first step to the exploration of deep space. Piercing the Horizon provides provocative context to current conversations on the case for reaching Mars, settling our solar system, and continuing the exploration of space.

Willy Ley inspired young rocket scientists and would-be astronauts around the world to imagine a future of interplanetary travel long before space shuttles existed. This is the first biography of the science writer and rocketeer who predicted and boosted the rise of the Space Age. Born in Germany, Ley became involved in amateur rocketry until the field was taken over by the Nazis. He fled to America, where he forged a new life as a weapons expert and journalist during World War II and as a rocket researcher after the war. As America's foremost authority on rockets, missiles, and space travel, he authored books and scientific articles, while also regularly writing for science fiction pulp magazines and publishing what he termed romantic zoology--a blend of zoology, cryptozoology, history, and mythology. He even consulted for television's Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and the Disney program Man in Space, thrilling audiences with a romanticized view of what spaceflight would be like. Yet as astronauts took center stage and scientific intellectuals such as Wernher von Braun became influential during the space race, Ley lost his celebrity status. With an old-fashioned style of popular writing and eccentric perspectives influenced by romanticism and science fiction, he was ignored by younger historians. This book returns Willy Ley to his rightful place as the energizer of an era--a time when scientists and science popularizers mixed ranks and shared the spotlight so that our far-fetched, fantastic dreams could turn into the reality of tomorrow.

'Brilliant. You won't find a clearer, more engaging guide to what we know (or would like to know) about the universe and how it is put together' Bill Bryson Celebrated physicist and global bestselling author Paul Davies tells the story of the universe in thirty cosmological conundrums In the constellation of Eridanus there lurks a cosmic mystery. It's as if something has taken a huge bite out of the universe, leaving a super-void. What could be the culprit? A super massive black hole? Another, bigger universe? Or an expanding vacuum bubble, destined to envelop and annihilate everything in existence? Scientists now understand the history of our universe better than the history of our own planet, but they continue to uncover startling new riddles-the hole in the universe being just one. In this electrifying book, award-winning physicist Paul Davies walks us through the puzzles and paradoxes that have preoccupied cosmologists from ancient Greece to the present day. Laying bare the audacious research that has led us to mind-bending solutions, Davies reveals how we might begin to approach the greatest outstanding enigmas of all.

The United States possesses a treasure-trove of extraterrestrial samples that were returned to Earth via space missions over the past four decades. Analyses of these previously returned samples have led to major breakthroughs in the understanding of the age, composition, and origin of the solar system. Having the instrumentation, facilities and qualified personnel to undertake analyses of returned samples, especially from missions that take up to a decade or longer from launch to return, is thus of paramount importance if the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is to capitalize fully on the investment made in these missions, and to achieve the full scientific impact afforded by these extraordinary samples. Planetary science may be entering a new golden era of extraterrestrial sample return; now is the time to assess how prepared the scientific community is to take advantage of these opportunities. Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis assesses the current capabilities within the planetary science community for sample return analyses and curation, and what capabilities are currently missing that will be needed for future sample return missions. This report evaluates whether current laboratory support infrastructure and NASA's investment strategy is adequate to meet these analytical challenges and advises how the community can keep abreast of evolving and new techniques in order to stay at the forefront of extraterrestrial sample analysis. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Previous Sample Return Missions and Other Collections 3 Current Sample Return Missions and Near-Future Priorities Outlined in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey 4 Current Laboratories and Facilities 5 Current and Future Instrumentation and Investments for Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis Appendixes Appendix A: Statement of Task Appendix B: Sampling of U.S. Laboratories Engaged in Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis Appendix C: Sampling of International Laboratories Engaged in Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis Appendix D: Meeting Agendas Appendix E: Committee Members and Staff Biographical Information Appendix F: Acronyms

Rare views of the beginnings of a historic space programAfter the excitement of the first Moon landing, the U.S. space program took an ambitious new direction closer to home: NASA's Space Shuttle program promised frequent access to Earth orbit for medical and scientific breakthroughs; deploying, repairing and maintaining satellites; and assembling a space station. Picturing the Space Shuttle is the first photographic history of the program's early years as the world's first space plane debuted. Showcasing over 450 unpublished and lesser-known images, this book traces the growth of the Space Shuttle from 1965 to 1982, from initial concept through its first four space flights. The photographs offer windows into designing the first reusable space vehicle as well as the construction and testing of the prototype shuttle Enterprise. They also show the factory assembly and delivery of the Space Shuttle Columbia, preparations at the major NASA field centers, and astronaut selection and training. Finally, the book devotes a chapter to each of the first four orbital missions, STS-1 through STS-4, providing an abundance of seldom seen photos for each flight. Mostly selected from J. L. Pickering's personal archive, the world's largest private collection of U.S. human space flight images, the high-quality photographs in this book are paired with veteran journalist John Bisney's detailed descriptions and historical background information. The book also includes images of NASA and Shuttle contractor booklets, manuals, access badges, and press kits, as well as a foreword by Robert Crippen, the pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight. Picturing the Space Shuttle recreates the excitement of an era in which the possibilities of space exploration seemed limitless.

The first book-length, in-depth ethnography of U.S. human spaceflight What if outer space is not outside the human environment but, rather, defines it? This is the unusual starting point of Valerie Olson's Into the Extreme, revealing how outer space contributes to making what counts as the scope and scale of today's natural and social environments. With unprecedented access to spaceflight worksites ranging from astronaut training programs to life science labs and architecture studios, Olson examines how U.S. experts work within the solar system as the container of life and as a vast site for new forms of technical and political environmental control. Olson's book shifts our attention from space's political geography to its political ecology, showing how scientists, physicians, and engineers across North America collaborate to build the conceptual and nuts-and-bolts systems that connect Earth to a specifically ecosystemic cosmos. This cosmos is being redefined as a competitive space for potential economic resources, social relations, and political strategies. Showing how contemporary U.S. environmental power is bound up with the production of national technical and scientific access to outer space, Into the Extreme brings important new insights to our understanding of modern environmental history and politics. At a time when the boundaries of global ecologies and economies extend far below and above Earth's surface, Olson's new analytic frameworks help us understand how varieties of outlying spaces are known, made, and organized as kinds of environments-whether terrestrial or beyond.

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.

Long before the space race captured the world's attention, K. E. Tsiolkovskii first conceived of multi-stage rockets that would later be adapted as the basis of both the U.S. and Soviet rocket programs.
Often called the grandfather of Russian rocketry, this provincial scientist was even sanctioned by Stalin to give a speech from Red Square on May Day 1935, lauding the Soviet technological future while also dreaming and expounding on his own visions of conquering the cosmos. Later, the Khrushchev regime used him as a "poster boy" for Soviet excellence during its Cold War competition with the United States. Ironically, some revisionists have since pointed to such blatant promotion by the Communist Party in an attempt to downplay Tsiolkovskii's scientific contributions.
James T. Andrews explores the complexities of this man to show that Tsiolkovskii was much more than either a rocket inventor or a propaganda tool. He was a science popularizer, novelist, technical inventor, and visionary, whose science fiction writings included futuristic drawings of space stations long before they appeared on any engineer's drawing board.
Mining a myriad of Russian archives, Andrews produces not only a biographical account but also a study of Soviet technological propaganda, local science education, public culture in the 1920s and 1930s, and the cultural ramifications of space flight.

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.