Astrophysics Space Science category: 1588 books

In this splendidly lucid and profusely illustrated book, a Nobel laureate relates the fascinating story of Einstein, the general and special theories of relativity, and the scientists before and since who influenced relativity's genesis and development. Eschewing technical terms in favor of ordinary...

Starship Century: Toward the Grandest Horizon is an anthology by authors from both science and fiction writing backgrounds, illustrating some of the tech and ideology behind the illustrious goal of traveling to another star within the next century. Edited by Gregory Benford, New York Times bestselling...

This official NASA technical report - converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction - provides an analysis of the famous 1969 triggered lightning strike on the Apollo 12 rocket during its launch. The summary states: The Apollo 12 space vehicle was launched on November...

Two major documents reveal the risks and safety issues about the International Space Station (ISS). Experts from the Johnson Space Center, in a document entitled Long-Term ISS Risk Reduction Activities (2011) note the following: Many not close to the ISS Program might be alarmed to learn that...

This is the second section of the large Volume Two of the report issued by the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (also known as the Rogers Commission after its chairman, William Rogers). This section includes Appendix L: NASA Accident Analysis Team Report and Appendix...

Orbital space debris represents a growing threat to the operation of man-made systems in space. With the goal of guiding future mitigation or remediation efforts, this monograph examines nine comparable problems that share similarities with orbital debris: acid rain, U.S. commercial airline security,...

This official NASA history document - converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction - is a fascinating account by the former chief scientist of the Dryden Flight Research Center of the major space and aeronautical developments of the last 40 years, including the Space Shuttle, X-15,...

This official NASA history document - converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction - is a fascinating and comprehensive account of the history of hypersonics, the study of flight where aerodynamic heating dominates the physics of the problem, normally at Mach 5 and higher. The text...

As space ventures have become more numerous, leading scientists and theorists have offered ways of building a living habitat in a hostile environment, taking an ‘ecosystems’ view of space colonization. The contributors to this volume take a radical multi-disciplinary view of the challenge...

The race to space between the United States and the Soviet Union captured the popular imagination. On April 12, 1961, the USSR launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on a one-orbit flight, making him the first human in space. Three weeks later, American astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. flew 116 miles above...

This is the first section of the large Volume Two of the report issued by the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (also known as the Rogers Commission after its chairman, William Rogers). This section includes Appendix E, F, G, H, I, J, and K, including the penetrating...

Volume Four of the report issued by the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (also known as the Rogers Commission after its chairman, William Rogers) contains the transcripts of hearings conducted from February 6 through February 25, 1986. The report has been professionally...

This report details the technical history of developing the Space Shuttle External Tank and documents lessons learned during that effort. Development is chronicled beginning with the pre-proposal phase, then the proposal phase, through early design and test programs, continuing through Lightweight...

This is the fascinating story of a little-known futuristic research project which investigated a concept brought to the Dryden Flight Research Center by Kelly Space. Kelly hoped to demonstrate a new approach to satellite launching by towing a rocket to altitude behind a transport airplane. The...