"Twenty-Five Astronomical Observations That Changed the World" takes twenty-five journeys through space, back in time and into human history. We begin with the simplest sight of the Tycho Crater on the Moon, through a repeat of Galileo's observations of Jupiter's moons, and then move out towards the nebulae, stars, and galaxies. The astronomical observations repeat the original groundbreaking d…
This book addresses why China is going into space and provides up- to-date information on all aspects of the Chinese Space Program in terms of launch vehicles, launch sites and infrastructure, crew vehicles for space exploration, satellite applications and scientific exploration capabilities. Beyond mere capabilities, it is important to understand how Chinese aerospace leaders think, how the…
This first account of commercial spaceflight’s most successful venture describes the extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement that have placed SpaceX at the forefront of the launch industry and made it the most likely candidate for transporting humans to Mars. Since its inception in 2002, SpaceX has sought to change the space launch paradigm by developing a family of launch ve…
“The Soyuz Launch Vehicle” tells the story, for the first time in a single English-language book, of the extremely successful Soyuz launch vehicle. Built as the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Soyuz was adapted to launch not only Sputnik but also the first man to orbit Earth, and has been in service for over fifty years in a variety of forms. It has launched all S…
Rockets were invented in China, the home of many modern inventions, including ancient astronomy, and were used originally for military purposes in the 13th century. The Chinese space program was founded in October 1956 by the father of Chinese rocketry, Tsien Hsue Shen, who lived in California in the 1930s until his expulsion as a Chinese spy. In recent times there have been three manned spa…
“Manned Spaceflight Log” discusses over 40 recent spaceflights from September 2006 through September 2012, a time of great change in human spaceflight history. Following on from “Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006,” the authors continue the story until the end of September 2012, with new chapters detailing the development and accomplishments of human spaceflight, expanded tables an…
“An Introduction to Waves and Oscillations in the Sun” is intended for students and researchers who work in the area of solar and astrophysics. This book contains an introduction to the Sun, basics of electrodynamics, magneto-hydrodynamics for force-free and current-free fields. It deals with waves in uniform media with relevance to sound waves and Alfven waves, and with waves in non-unifor…
Often lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions, the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA's activities for the following two decades. “Moon Bound” complements the author’s recently published work, “Selecting the Mercury Seven” (2011), extending the story of the men who helped to launch human spaceflight and broaden the Americ…
“Space Sleuths of the Cold War” relates for the first time the inside story of the amateur spies who monitored the Soviet space program during the Cold War. It is written by many of those “space sleuths” themselves and chronicles the key moments in their discovery of hidden history. This book shows that dedicated observers were often better than professionals at interpreting that inform…
Written by Howard Curtis, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle University, Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students is a crucial text for students of aerospace engineering. Now in its 3e, the book has been brought up-to-date with new topics, key terms, homework exercises, and fully worked examples. Highly illustrated and fully supported with downloadable MATLAB algorithms for pr…