This book provides a concise but broad overview of the engineering, science and flight history of planetary landers and atmospheric entry probes designed to explore the atmospheres and surfaces of other planets. It covers engineering aspects specific to such vehicles which are not usually treated in traditional spacecraft engineering texts. Examples are drawn from over thirty different lander and entry probe designs that have been used for lunar and planetary missions since the early 1960s. The authors provide detailed illustrations of many vehicle designs from different international space programs, and give basic information on their missions and payloads, irrespective of the mission's success or failure. Several missions are discussed in more detail to demonstrate the broad range of the challenges involved and the solutions implemented. This will form an important reference for professionals, academic researchers and graduate students involved in planetary science, aerospace engineering and space mission development.

This book provides a concise but broad overview of the engineering, science and flight history of planetary landers and atmospheric entry probes designed to explore the atmospheres and surfaces of other planets. It covers engineering aspects specific to such vehicles which are not usually treated in traditional spacecraft engineering texts. Examples are drawn from over thirty different lander and entry probe designs that have been used for lunar and planetary missions since the early 1960s. The authors provide detailed illustrations of many vehicle designs from different international space programs, and give basic information on their missions and payloads, irrespective of the mission's success or failure. Several missions are discussed in more detail to demonstrate the broad range of the challenges involved and the solutions implemented. This will form an important reference for professionals, academic researchers and graduate students involved in planetary science, aerospace engineering and space mission development.

Lifting Titan's Veil is a revealing account of the second largest moon in our solar system. This world in orbit around Saturn is the only body in the solar system with an atmosphere strikingly similar to Earth's. Titan is like a giant frozen laboratory that may help scientists understand the first chemical steps towards the origin of life. Beginning with its discovery in 1655, the authors describe our current knowledge of Titan, including observations made before the space age, results from the Voyager missions of the 1980s, and recent revelations from the world's most advanced telescopes. In Lifting Titan's Veil, Ralph Lorenz includes his personal experiences in preparing for the Cassini mission, which will reach Saturn in 2004 and release the Huygens probe into Titan's atmosphere in 2005. A splendid introduction to Titan, this book will appeal to anyone interested in astronomical discovery and space exploration. Ralph Lorenz trained as an engineer and worked for the European Space Agency at the very beginning of the Huygens project. Since obtaining a PhD at the University of Kent, England, he has worked as a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson. His research interests focus on Titan, but also include climatology, radar, impact dynamics and spacecraft and instrumentation design. He has been involved in NASA's largest planetary mission (Cassini) and its smallest (the DS-2 Mars Microprobes). Jacqueline Mitton obtained a Ph.D in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, and is now a full-time writer and media consultant specializing in astronomy. She has served as Press Officer for the Royal Astonomical Society since 1989, and was Editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association 1989-1993. She has written or co-authored sixteen published astronomy books, the most recent, The Cambridge Dictionary of Astronomy (2001).

The very first book on space systems failures written from an engineering perspective.

Focuses on the causes of the failures and discusses how the engineering knowledge base has been enhanced by the lessons learned.

Discusses non-fatal anomalies which do not affect the ultimate success of a mission, but which are failures nevertheless.

Describes engineering aspects of the spacecraft, making this a valuable complementary reference work to conventional engineering texts.