Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide in "e;Robotic Exploration of the Solar System"e; a detailed history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System As in their previous book Lunar Exploration, the subject will be treated wherever possible from an engineering and scientific standpoint.
Ever since the serendipitous discovery of planet Uranus in 1871, astronomers have been hunting for new worlds in the outer regions of our solar system.
In the summer and autumn of 2006 I read several interviews with Brian May in which he mentioned his desire to complete the PhD that he had abandoned in 1974.
In Space Enterprise - Living and Working Offworld, Dr Philip Harris provides the vision and rationale as to why humanity is leaving its cradle, Earth, to use space resources, as well as pursuing lunar industrialization and establishing offworld settlements.
David Harland opens with a review of the robotic probes, namely the Rangers which returned television before crashing into the Moon, the Surveyors which 'soft landed' in order to investigate the nature of the surface, and the Lunar Orbiters which mapped prospective Apollo landing sites.
Venus and Mercury have always been regarded as difficult targets for amateurs, but advances in commercially-made instruments have brought them within range of only moderately experienced observers.
Out of the technological battlefield of World War II came a team of gifted German engineers and designers who developed the vengeance weapon, the V-2, which evolved into the peaceful, powerful Saturn V rocket to take men to the Moon.
The aim of the Space Exploration annuals is to provide a yearly update on recent space launches, missions and results, to be published every September.
The aim of the State of the Universe annuals is to provide an annual astronomy review suitable for the popular science level reader to be published every September.
For the experienced amateur astronomer who is wondering if there is something useful, valuable, and permanent that can be done with his or her observational skills, the answer is, "e;Yes, you can!
Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide in Robotic Exploration of the Solar System a detailed history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System.
Miner and Wessen have teamed together again, along with noted planetary ring scientist, Dr Jeffrey Cuzzi, to produce the most comprehensive and up-to date book on the topic of planetary rings systems yet written.
Praxis Log of Manned Spaceflight 1961-2006 will open with a section entitled: Quest for Space, which will provide an explanation of the methods employed to get in and out of orbit and brief overviews of the different international space programmes.
Cassini At Saturn - Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date.
This successor edition picks up the story where the first edition left off in 1997, and runs through to Mir's de-orbiting in March 2001, providing the definitive account of the Mir Space Station.
When, in July 1969, the Americans decisively beat the Soviet Union in the race to put an astronaut on the moon, this event had profound historical, scientific and political implications.
With the aid of unique photographs, first-hand interviews and historical resources, Rex Hall, Dave Shayler and Bert Vis explain, for the very first time, how Russian citizens have been selected and trained to fly in space, and how these procedures have changed during the past 40 years.
On February 1st 2003, one of the worst and most public disasters ever witnessed in the human space programme unfolded with horrifying suddenness in the skies above north central Texas.
Although most people have some knowledge of the essential structure of the Solar System, few are familiar with the large and varied array of objects that travel with and between the planets in their journeys around the Sun.
In our quest to elucidate the origin of the universe and the formation of galaxies, particularly that of the Milky Way in which we live, astounding progress has been made in recent years through observational and theoretical studies.
This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man's place in the universe and to advances in map-making.
XI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii INTRODUCTION XV CHAPTER 1: THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES 1 The Magical Vision of the Nonhuman 1 Ancient Philosophy 2 Medieval Philosophy 6 The Renaissance 8 The Birth of Modern Science 10 First Attempts at Contact 16 Cosmism 17 From Enthusiasm to Disenchantment 18 CHAPTER 2: THE RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE 23 Is Extraterrestrial Life a Threat to Religion?
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 From the Ground Up 3 Rockets and Satellites 4 To the Moon 15 Humans versus Robots 18 CHAPTER 2: A SPACE ROBOT IS BORN 23 Scientific Conception 25 Proving Technology 33 The Political Push 36 Paper Spacecraft 38 It'sJust a Phase I'm Going Through 48 CHAPTER 3: ANATOMY OF A SPACE PROBE 53 Bits and Pieces 55 Power 57 Vll Contents Communication 65 Structures 70 Thermal Control 73 Attitude Control 77 Propulsion 86 Data Handling 89 Mechanisms 93 The Kidnap ofLuna 1 95 CHAPTER 4: BUILDING AND TESTING 97 The Spacecraft Garage 97 Keep it Clean 100 Planetary Protection 102 Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll 108 Shaken, not stirred 110 Canned space 112 Antenna testing 112 Special cases 113 Breaking the software 114 CHAPTER 5: INSTRUMENTS OFS CIENCE 115 The More we Learn, the More we Don't Know 116 Let's get Physical 118 It's All in the Data 121 Many Eyes 122 123 Visible light instruments There is more than meets the eye 126 Messenger's Instruments 129 Roving Around 132 Diving through an Atmosphere 140 142 Primeval soup Going down 142 CHAPTER 6: LAUNCH 149 On the Road 149 Spaceports 150 Preparing for Launch 153 Up and Away 156 Rockets 159 162 Orbits Vlll Contents CHAPTER 7: DISTANT DESTINATIONS 167 To the Moon 170 The first visits 170 Preparing for Apollo 172 Robot rovers 175 Modern missions 176 A new Moon 177 Unromantic Venus 179 Greenhouse nightmare 179 Into the unknown 180 Magellan 186
The aim of State of the Universe 2007 (and subsequent volumes issued annually) is to provide an annual astronomy review suitable for the popular science level reader to be published every year in September in a format that will be suitable for an appeal to the Christmas market.
If you have ever gazed through the eyepiece of a telescope at the magnificent rings and banded globe of Saturn, or found yourself breathless at the sight of long shadows jutting across crater floors on the terminator of the Moon, then you will understand the power of those direct visual experiences.
I was delighted to be invited by my colleagues Alessandra Celletti and Ettore Perozzi to provide a foreword to their book, Celestial Mechanics: The Waltz of the Planets.
The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars fills a need for a complete history of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, drawing on many photographs never before published.
For the majority of amateur astronomers, who live at the latitudes of North America, the British Isles and Australia, the aurora is a relatively infrequent visitor to the night sky.
Hidden from human view, accessible only to sensitive receivers attached to huge radio telescopes, giant versions of backyard satellite dishes, the invisible universe beyond our senses continues to fascinate and intrigue our imaginations.
While most amateur astronomers know about the red shift, have a general idea of the way that the emission and absorption lines in stellar spectra provide an insight into the atomic processes of the star, it is unusual to find someone who has any kind of detailed knowledge.
In 'Paving the Way for Apollo 11' David Harland explains the lure of the Moon to classical philosophers, astronomers, and geologists, and how NASA set out to investigate the Moon in preparation for a manned lunar landing mission.
