This book introduces the reader to the wonders of Mars, covering all aspects from our past perceptions of the planet through to the latest knowledge on its history, its surface processes such as impact cratering, volcano formation, and glaciation, and its atmosphere and climate. In addition, a series of ten intriguing open issues are considered in a more advanced way. These include such thought-provoking questions as What turned off the planet's magnetic field?, Why are the northern and southern hemispheres so different?, What was the fate of the once abundant water?, and Is there, or was there, life on Mars? Numerous original figures, unavailable elsewhere, reproduce details of images from Viking, CTX, MOC, HiRISE, THEMIS, and HRSC. The book will appeal especially to general readers interested in planetary sciences, astronomy, astrogeology, and space exploration and to students of Earth Sciences and Natural and Environmental Sciences. The higher-level material on the remaining mysteries of Mars will also be of interest to astrogeologists and other researchers.

Winner of the Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, 2001

"The essential reference work for Soviet/Russian space history . . . for anyone hoping to make sense of the too many 'truths' of Soviet Space history."--"Journal of Military History"

"We finally have a definitive English-language history covering the first three decades of the Soviet Union's space program. Sixteen years in the making, Asif Siddiqi's amazingly detailed book provides a kaleidoscopic view of the technical and political evolution of Soviet missile and space projects. . . . a veritable gold-mind of factual information."--"Air Power History"

"An extraordinary volume. . . . This is not simply an account of one side of the space race. It is nothing less than the first full-scale, detailed explanation of how and why the Soviet Union led the world into space. It belongs on the shelf of every historian with an interest in flight, technology and politics, the Cold War, or any one of a score of related topics."--T"he Public Historian"

"No space buff's library will be complete without this book. Readers will marvel at the complex interactions between design bureaus, and will enjoy getting to know the people behind the failed Soviet effort--a vital step toward putting Apollo's victory in context."--"Smithsonian Air and Space"

"Absolutely mandatory on the bookshelf of anyone interested in space."--"Encyclopedia Astronautica"

First published by NASA in 2000 as "Challenge to Apollo," these two volumes are the first comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programs covering a period of thirty years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon program in the mid-1970s.

The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik--the first Earth satellite (1957) and Yuri Gagarin--the first man in space (1961) shocked U.S. leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base).

The epic story of the Soviet space program remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumors, hearsay, and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space program published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet space programs, providing the other side of the history of human space flight.

Asif A. Siddiqi is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Carnegie Mellon University.

Radiophysical and Geomagnetic Effects of Rocket Burn and Launch in the Near-the-Earth Environment describes experimental and theoretical studies on the effects of rocket burns and launchings on the near-the-Earth environment and geomagnetic fields. It illuminates the main geophysical and radiophysical effects on the ionosphere and magnetosphere surrounding the Earth that accompany rocket or cosmic apparatus burns and launchings from 1,000 to 10,000 kilometers. The book analyzes the disturbances of plasma and the ambient magnetic and electric fields in the near-Earth environment from rocket burns and launchings from Russia, Kazakhstan, the United States, China, France, and other global space centers. Describing the radiophysical effects of rocket burn and launching in the middle and upper ionosphere, it focuses on the ecological consequences of space exploration-detailing methods for eliminating the harmful effects of space exploration. Measurements for the studies presented in the book were carried out using numerous radiophysical methods and techniques, including HF Doppler radar, incoherent and coherent scatter radar systems, microwave radar, magnetometer, and optical instrumentation and spectroscopy. The book analyzes the effects of rocket burns and launchings from 1975 to 2010 in worldwide launch campaigns. This book is an ideal reference for scientists in geophysics and radiophysics, specialists in rocket launching, and ecologists. It is also suitable as a fundamental handbook for graduate and postgraduate students taking physics and cosmic sciences courses at the university level.

This book provides an extensive overview of the protection of cultural heritages sites on the Moon (humanity's lunar heritage) and the various threats they face. First of all, the international legal framework, especially the relevant space treaties are analyzed in terms of how they protect cultural heritages sites on the Moon. In turn, the book explores key aspects like the application of customary law, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, or the Underwater Convention, and the possibility of adding these sites to UNESCO's World Heritage list. The book subsequently addresses the question of how to define culture heritage sites or artifacts, in particular in view of the "Outstanding Universal Value" criterion, which is a vital aspect in order to differentiate them from space garbage or even space threats. Lastly, the book proposes and elaborates on various protection systems and multilateral protection regulations. Especially now, 50 years after the first human landing on the Moon, the book is a timely publication that will be of interest to all scholars and professionals working in the space field.

In the early 1990s, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center started researching and developing autonomous and autonomic ground and spacecraft control systems for future NASA missions. This research started by experimenting with and developing expert systems to automate ground station software and reduce the number of people needed to control a spacecraft. This was followed by research into agent-based technology to develop autonomous ground c- trol and spacecraft. Research into this area has now evolved into using the concepts of autonomic systems to make future space missions self-managing and giving them a high degree of survivability in the harsh environments in which they operate. This book describes much of the results of this research. In addition, it aimstodiscusstheneededsoftwaretomakefutureNASAspacemissionsmore completelyautonomousandautonomic.Thecoreofthesoftwareforthesenew missions has been written for other applications or is being applied gradually in current missions, or is in current development. It is intended that this book should document how NASA missions are becoming more autonomous and autonomic and should point to the way of making future missions highly - tonomous and autonomic. What is not covered is the supporting hardware of these missions or the intricate software that implements orbit and at- tude determination, on-board resource allocation, or planning and scheduling (though we refer to these technologies and give references for the interested reader).

China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC) 2019 Proceedings presents selected research papers from CSNC2019 held during 22nd-25th May in Beijing, China. These papers discuss the technologies and applications of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the latest progress made in the China BeiDou System (BDS) especially. They are divided into 12 topics to match the corresponding sessions in CSNC2019, which broadly covered key topics in GNSS. Readers can learn about the BDS and keep abreast of the latest advances in GNSS techniques and applications.

Winner of the Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, 2001

"The essential reference work for Soviet/Russian space history . . . for anyone hoping to make sense of the too many 'truths' of Soviet Space history."--"Journal of Military History"

"We finally have a definitive English-language history covering the first three decades of the Soviet Union's space program. Sixteen years in the making, Asif Siddiqi's amazingly detailed book provides a kaleidoscopic view of the technical and political evolution of Soviet missile and space projects. . . . a veritable gold-mind of factual information."--"Air Power History"

"An extraordinary volume. . . . This is not simply an account of one side of the space race. It is nothing less than the first full-scale, detailed explanation of how and why the Soviet Union led the world into space. It belongs on the shelf of every historian with an interest in flight, technology and politics, the Cold War, or any one of a score of related topics."--"The Public Historian"

"No space buff's library will be complete without this book. Readers will marvel at the complex interactions between design bureaus, and will enjoy getting to know the people behind the failed Soviet effort--a vital step toward putting Apollo's victory in context."--"Smithsonian Air and Space"

"Absolutely mandatory on the bookshelf of anyone interested in space."--"Encyclopedia Astronautica"

First published by NASA in 2000 as "Challenge to Apollo," these two volumes are the first comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programs covering a period of thirty years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon program in the mid-1970s.

The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik--the first Earth satellite (1957) and Yuri Gagarin--the first man in space (1961) shocked U.S. leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base).

The epic story of the Soviet space program remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumors, hearsay, and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space program published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet space programs, providing the other side of the history of human space flight.

Asif A. Siddiqi is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Carnegie Mellon University.

Is it possible for humans to live on other planets? What will happen on the next mission to the Moon? And was there really once life on Mars? Brought to you by the infectiously enthusiastic team behind The Supermassive Podcast from the Royal Astronomical Society, The Year in Space highlights the most exciting space news from the past twelve months and looks forward to the year ahead. Packed with features, interviews, in-depth explainers and stunning photography, it covers everything from the extraordinary new images from the James Webb telescope to the search for extraterrestrial life. You'll also find practical tips on what to look out for in the night sky in 2023. Fun, engaging and accessible, this is essential reading for every space enthusiast.

This monograph attempts to provide a systematic and consistent survey of the fundamentals of the theory of free, linear, isentropic oscillations in spherically symmetric, gaseous equilibrium stars, whose structure is affected neither by axial rotation, nor by the tidal action of a companion, nor by a magnetic eld. Three parts can be distinguished. The rst part, consisting of Chaps.1-8, covers the basic concepts and equations, the distinction between spheroidal and toroidal normal modes, the solution of Poisson's differential equation for the perturbation of the gravitational potential, and Hamilton's variational principle. The second part, consisting of Chaps.9-13, is devotedto the possible existenceof waves propagating in the radial direction, the origin and classi cation of normal modes, the comple- ness of the normal modes, and the relation between the local stability with respect to convection and the global stability of a star. In the third part, Chaps.14-18 c- tain asymptoticrepresentationsof normalmodes. Chapter 19 deals with slow period changes in rapidly evolving pulsating stars. The theory is developed within the framework of the Newtonian theory of gr- itation and the hydrodynamics of compressible uids. It is described in its present status, with inclusion of open questions. We give preference to the use of the adjective "isentropic" above that of the adjective "adiabatic," since, from a thermodynamic point of view, these stellar - cillations are described as reversible adiabatic processes and thus as processes that take place at constant entropy.

Historians have established a norm whereby President Eisenhower's actions in relation to the dawn of the space age are judged solely as a response to the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite, and are indicative of a passive, negative presidency. His low-key actions are seen merely as a prelude to the US triumph in space which is largely bookended first by President Kennedy's man-to-the-moon pledge in 1961, and finally by Neil Armstrong's moon landing eight years later. This book presents an alternative view of the development of space policy during Eisenhower's administration, assessing the hypothesis that his space policy was not a reaction to the heavily-propagandized Soviet satellite launches, or even the effect they caused in the US political and military elites, but the continuation of a strategic journey. This study engages with three distinct but converging strands of literature and proposes a revised interpretation of Eisenhower's actions in relation to rockets, missiles and satellites: namely that Eisenhower was operating on a parallel path to the established norm that started with the Bikini Atoll Castle H-bomb tests; developed through the CIA's reconnaissance efforts and was distilled in the Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 which set a policy for US involvement in outer space that matched Eisenhower's desire for a balanced budget and fundamental belief in maintaining peace. President Eisenhower was not interested in joining a "space race": while national security underpinned his thinking, his space policy actions were strategic steps that actively sidestepped internecine armed forces rivalry, and provided a logical next step for both civilian and military space programs at the completion of the International Geophysical Year. In reassessing the United States' first space policy, the book adds to the revisionism under way in relation to the Eisenhower presidency, focusing on the "Helping Hands" that enabled him to wage peace.

From Homer Hickam, the author of the #1 bestselling Rocket Boys adapted into the beloved film October Sky, comes this astonishing memoir of high adventure, war, love, NASA, and his struggle for literary success. Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys and the movie adaptation October Sky have become one of the most popular stories in the world, inspiring millions to pursue a better life. But what happened to Homer after he was a West Virginia rocket boy? In his latest memoir, Homer recounts his life in college where he built the world's biggest, baddest game cannon, fought through some of the worst battles in Vietnam, became a scuba instructor, discovered sunken U-boats, wrote the definitive account of a World War II naval battle, befriended Tom Clancy, made a desperate attempt to save the passengers of a sunken river boat, trained the first Japanese astronauts, taught David Letterman to scuba dive, helped to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, wrote his number one bestselling Rocket Boys, and was on set during the making of October Sky. Although told with humor and wit, Hickam does not shy away from the pain and hardship endured and the mistakes he made during the tumultuous decades since his life in the town he made famous-Coalwood, West Virginia.

Space exploration has fascinated us since the launch of the first primitive rockets more than 3,000 years ago, and it continues to fascinate us today. The data gathered from such exploration has been hugely instrumental in furthering our understanding of our universe and our world. In Space Flight: History, Technology, and Operations, author Lance K. Erickson offers a comprehensive look at the history of space exploration, the technology that makes it possible, and the continued efforts that promise to carry us into the future. Space Flight goes through the history of space exploration, from the earliest sub-orbital and orbital missions to today's deep-space probes, to provide a close look at past and present projects, then turns its attention to programs being planned today and to the significance of future exploration. Focusing on research data gleaned from these exploration programs, the book's historical perspective highlights the progression of our scientific understanding of both the smallest and largest entities in our universe, from subatomic particles, to distant stars, planets, and galaxies. Both the novice and the advanced student of space exploration stand to profit from the author's engaging and insightful discussion.

This book presents the physical science experiments in a space microgravity environment conducted on board the SJ-10 recoverable satellite, which was launched on April 6th, 2016 and recovered on April 18th, 2016. The experiments described were selected from ~100 proposals from various institutions in China and around the world, and have never previously been conducted in the respective fields. They involve fluid physics and materials science, and primarily investigate the kinetic properties of matter in a space microgravity environment. The book provides a comprehensive review of these experiments, as well as the mission's execution, data collection, and scientific outcomes.

Offering a compelling look inside the Space Shuttle missions that helped lay the groundwork for the Space Age from the perspective of those tasked with making them happen, Shuttle, Houston explores the determined personalities, technological miracles, and eleventh-hour saves that have made human spaceflight possible.Relaying stories of missions (and their grueling training) in vivid detail, Paul Dye, NASA's longest-serving Flight Director, examines some of the highest-stakes split-second decisions that the directors and astronauts were forced to make in a field where mistakes are unthinkable, where errors lead to the loss of national resources -- and more importantly one's crew. Dye's stories from inside Mission Control explain the mysteries of flying the Shuttle -- from the powerful fiery ascent to the majesty of on-orbit operations to the high-speed and critical re-entry and landing of a hundred-ton glider.The Space Shuttles flew 135 missions -- surviving initial test flights and the early days of deploying satellites as well as enabling the assembly and servicing of the International Space Station. Astronauts conducted space walks, captured satellites, and docked with the Mir Space Station, bringing space into our everyday life, from GPS to satellite TV. Putting readers in the shoes of Mission Control, the hub that made humanity's leap into a new frontier possible, Dye gives readers his own front-row seat on the missions that changed our world.

Today, we are living in the New Space Age, where mass commercial space travel is almost within our grasp. This otherworldly possibility has opened up new cultural images of space, both real and fictional, and has caused fashion design and spacesuit engineering to intersect in new, exciting ways. Spacewear traverses this uncharted territory by exploring the changing imagination of space in fashion-and fashion in space-from the first Space Age to the 21st century. Exploring how space travel has stylistically and technologically framed fashion design on earth and how we need to revisit established design practices for the weightless environment, Spacewear connects the catwalk and the space station. This book draws together speculative fantasies in sci-fi films such as Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the engineered spacesuits Biosuit, and the NASA Z-2 and with catwalk interpretations by the likes of Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Andre Courreges, and Iris van Herpen. While the development of commercial space agencies has led to new concerns for style in garments for outer space that re-think fundamental design principles such as drape, high fashion has experimented with new possibilities for weightlessness that extend far beyond the 1960s vision of Space Age metallic fabrics and helmet-style headwear. Brownie takes the reader on a fascinating journey from fantasy to function and to form, deepening our understanding of this new category of fashion that is prompting new approaches to garment design and construction both on earth and in outer space.

The majority of books dealing with prospects for interstellar flight tackle the problem of the propulsion systems that will be needed to send a craft on an interstellar trajectory. The proposed book looks at two other, equally important aspects of such space missions, and each forms half of this two part book.

Part 1 looks at the ways in which it is possible to exploit the focusing effect of the Sun as a gravitational lens for scientific missions to distances of 550 AU and beyond into interstellar space. The author explains the mechanism of the Sun as a gravitational lens, the scientific investigations which may be carried out along the way to a distance of 550 AU (and at the 550 AU sphere itself), the requirements for exiting the Solar System at the highest speed and a range of project ideas for missions entering interstellar space.

Part 2 of the book deals with the problems of communicating between an interstellar spaceship and the Earth, especially at very high speeds. Here the author assesses a range of mathematical tools relating to the Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) for optimal telecommunications, technical topics that may one day enable humans flying around the Galaxy to keep in contact with the Earth. This part of the book opens with a summary of the author's 2003 Pesek Lecture presented at the IAC in Bremen, which introduces the concept of KLT for engineers and 'newcomers' to the subject. It is planned to include a DVD containing the full mathematical derivations of the KLT for those interested in this important mathematical tool whilst the text itself will contain the various results without outlines of the mathematical proofs. Astronautical engineers will thus be able to see the application of the results without getting bogged down in the mathematics.

Provides the basics of spacecraft orbital dynamics plus attitude dynamics and control, using vectrix notation

"Spacecraft Dynamics and Control: An Introduction" presents the fundamentals of classical control in the context of spacecraft attitude control. This approach is particularly beneficial for the training of students in both of the subjects of classical control as well as its application to spacecraft attitude control. By using a physical system (a spacecraft) that the reader can visualize (rather than arbitrary transfer functions), it is easier to grasp the motivation for why topics in control theory are important, as well as the theory behind them. The entire treatment of both orbital and attitude dynamics makes use of vectrix notation, which is a tool that allows the user to write down any vector equation of motion without consideration of a reference frame. This is particularly suited to the treatment of multiple reference frames. Vectrix notation also makes a very clear distinction between a physical vector and its coordinate representation in a reference frame. This is very important in spacecraft dynamics and control problems, where often multiple coordinate representations are used (in different reference frames) for the same physical vector.Provides an accessible, practical aid for teaching and self-study with a layout enabling a fundamental understanding of the subjectFills a gap in the existing literature by providing an analytical toolbox offering the reader a lasting, rigorous methodology for approaching vector mechanics, a key element vital to new graduates and practicing engineers alikeDelivers an outstanding resource for aerospace engineering students, and all those involved in the technical aspects of design and engineering in the space sectorContains numerous illustrations to accompany the written text. Problems are included to apply and extend the material in each chapter

Essential reading for graduate level aerospace engineering students, aerospace professionals, researchers and engineers.

The editors present a state-of-the-art overview on the Physics of Space Weather and its effects on technological and biological systems on the ground and in space. It opens with a general introduction on the subject, followed by a historical review on the major developments in the field of solar terrestrial relationships leading to its development into the up-to-date field of space weather. Specific emphasis is placed on the technological effects that have impacted society in the past century at times of major solar activity. Chapter 2 summarizes key milestones, starting from the base of solar observations with classic telescopes up to recent space observations and new mission developments with EUV and X-ray telescopes (e.g., STEREO), yielding an unprecedented view of the sun-earth system. Chapter 3 provides a scientific summary of the present understanding of the physics of the sun-earth system based on the latest results from spacecraft designed to observe the Sun, the interplanetary medium and geospace. Chapter 4 describes how the plasma and magnetic field structure of the earth's magnetosphere is impacted by the variation of the solar and interplanetary conditions, providing the necessary science and technology background for missions in low and near earth's orbit. Chapter 5 elaborates the physics of the layer of the earth's upper atmosphere that is the cause of disruptions in radio-wave communications and GPS (Global Positioning System) errors, which is of crucial importance for projects like Galileo. In Chapters 6-10, the impacts of technology used up to now in space, on earth and on life are reviewed.

Planetary Tectonism across the Solar System, Volume Two in the Comparative Planetology series, addresses key questions surrounding planetary tectonism, such our understanding of the global contraction of Mercury, the formation of giant rift zones on Saturn’s icy moons, or the tesserated terrain on Venus. The book makes connections to Earth, such as how deformation on Mercury is both similar and different, and how to apply theoretical considerations behind plate tectonics on Earth to other planets. The book offers up-to-date, accessible and comprehensive discussions on the major tectonic processes and landforms that shape and drive the evolution of planets, moons and smaller bodies. By placing a singular emphasis on comparing tectonic processes and landforms on all relevant Solar System bodies, with the explicit objective of providing a systems-level understanding of this widespread phenomenon, this book is ideal for anyone studying planetary tectonism.

This book presents advanced case studies that address a range of important issues arising in space engineering. An overview of challenging operational scenarios is presented, with an in-depth exposition of related mathematical modeling, algorithmic and numerical solution aspects. The model development and optimization approaches discussed in the book can be extended also towards other application areas. The topics discussed illustrate current research trends and challenges in space engineering as summarized by the following list: * Next Generation Gravity Missions * Continuous-Thrust Trajectories by Evolutionary Neurocontrol * Nonparametric Importance Sampling for Launcher Stage Fallout * Dynamic System Control Dispatch * Optimal Launch Date of Interplanetary Missions * Optimal Topological Design * Evidence-Based Robust Optimization * Interplanetary Trajectory Design by Machine Learning * Real-Time Optimal Control * Optimal Finite Thrust Orbital Transfers * Planning and Scheduling of Multiple Satellite Missions * Trajectory Performance Analysis * Ascent Trajectory and Guidance Optimization * Small Satellite Attitude Determination and Control * Optimized Packings in Space Engineering * Time-Optimal Transfers of All-Electric GEO Satellites Researchers working on space engineering applications will find this work a valuable, practical source of information. Academics, graduate and post-graduate students working in aerospace, engineering, applied mathematics, operations research, and optimal control will find useful information regarding model development and solution techniques, in conjunction with real-world applications.

A NEW, FULLY ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF ANDREW MAY'S ILLUMINATING GUIDE TO LIFE NOT ON EARTH The possibility that alien life exists in the universe is among the most profound of human conjectures, which today is being investigated not just by science-fiction writers but by scientists. Astrobiology presents an expert guide to this compelling field of science. It shows how the tell- tale signatures of life on Earth might hold the key to detecting life beyond our planet; explores the many planets beyond our Solar System discovered by NASA's Kepler and TESS missions; and explains alien- hunting touchstones such as Fermi's Paradox, the Drake Equation, and the 'Wow' signal. As NASA's rovers burrow into Mars and its probes peer ever further into the cosmos, this illustrated edition combines deep space images with infographics to cast a scientific eye over the most significant of scientific treasure hunts.

This volume is devoted to the dynamics and diagnostics of solar magnetic fields and plasmas in the Sun's atmosphere. Five broad areas of current research in Solar Physics are presented: (1) New techniques for incorporating radiation transfer effects into three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic models of the solar interior and atmosphere, (2) The connection between observed radiation processes occurring during flares and the underlying flare energy release and transport mechanisms, (3) The global balance of forces and momenta that occur during flares, (4) The data-analysis and theoretical tools needed to understand and assimilate vector magnetogram observations and (5) Connecting flare and CME phenomena to the topological properties of the magnetic field in the Solar Atmosphere. The role of the Sun's magnetic field is a major emphasis of this book, which was inspired by a workshop honoring Richard C. (Dick) Canfield. Dick has been making profound contributions to these areas of research over a long and productive scientific career. Many of the articles in this topical issue were first presented as talks during this workshop and represent substantial original work. The workshop was held 9 - 11 August 2010, at the Center Green campus of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. This volume is aimed at researchers and graduate students active in solar physics, solar-terrestrial physics and magneto-hydrodynamics. Previously published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 277/1, 2012.

This book has been prepared under the auspice of the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA). The main task of ELGRA is to foster the scientific community in Europe and beyond in conducting gravity and space-related research. This publication is dedicated to the science community, and especially to the next generation of scientists and engineers interested in space research and in the means to use Earth to reproduce the space environment. ELGRA provides a comprehensive description of space conditions and the means that have been developed on Earth to perform space environmental and (micro-) gravity related research. . The book covers ground-based research instruments and environments for both life and physical sciences research. It discusses the opportunities and limitations of protocols and instruments to compensate gravity or simulate microgravity, such as clinostats, random positioning machines, levitating magnets, electric fields, vibrations, tail suspension or head down tilt, as well as centrifuges for hyper-g studies. Other space environmental conditions are addressed too, like cosmic radiation or Mars atmospheric and soil properties to be replicated and simulated on Earth. Future long duration of manned missions, personal well-being and crew interaction are major issues dealt with.

On July 20th, 1969, over half of the world's population tuned in to witness the first lunar landing, waiting with bated breath as Neil Armstrong ventured outside the cabin door of Apollo 11 and declared "that's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." As the most expensive civilian scientific and technological program in American history, Project Apollo symbolised the unmatched prestige of American space exploration. Yet despite appearances, the project was never just about winning the Space Race, advancing scientific progress, or even conquering the final frontier. Instead, the ambitions of Project Apollo would ultimately reveal that the American government was more interested in establishing its superiority much closer to home. In Operation Moonglow, Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony explores how and why the moon landing became one of the most decisive geopolitical events of the 20th century. In the wake of the Soviet Union's pioneering launch of Sputnik in 1957 and a humiliating defeat at the Bay of Pigs four years later, President John F. Kennedy approached a budget-wary Congress with Project Apollo, an unconventional proposal that had the potential to restore America's tarnished geopolitical standing. With Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States approaching an all-time high, Kennedy argued that ramping up the space program would inspire global confidence in American excellence -- and might even persuade people in developing countries to pick American "freedom" over Soviet "tyranny." Following the successful return of Apollo 11, its illustrious crew embarked on a diplomatic tour around the world, celebrating the mission as an accomplishment for all of humanity. Meanwhile, the accompanying American officials used the trip as an opportunity to conduct secret meetings with influential heads of state, leveraging the space program's global popularity to advance American values and interests. More than just a history of spaceships, astronauts, and moon rocks, Operation Moonglow is a history of geopolitical manoeuvring, of propaganda and public diplomacy, and -- above all -- of the intricate relationship between scientific innovation and national identity. Featuring first-hand accounts by Apollo astronauts, original interviews with USIA and NASA staff, and never-before-seen archival materials, Operation Moonglow is the definitive account of the Apollo mission -- and a fascinating look at how the Space Race shaped the contours of globalisation and global interdependence.