Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us in Space

Description

In 1957, the world looked on with both uncertainty and amazement as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first man-made orbiter. Sputnik 1 would spend three months circling Earth every 98 minutes and covering 71 million miles in the process. The world's space programs have traveled far (literally and figuratively) since then, and the spacecraft they have developed and deployed represent almost unthinkable advances for such a relatively short period. This ambitiously illustrated aerospace history profiles and depicts spacecraft from Sputnik 1 through the International Space Station, and everything in between, including concepts that have yet to actually venture outside the Earth's atmosphere. Illustrator and aerospace professional Giuseppe De Chiara teams up with aerospace historian Michael Gorn to present a huge, profusely illustrated, and authoritatively written collection of profiles depicting and describing the design, development, and deployment of these manned and unmanned spacecraft. Satellites, capsules, spaceplanes, rockets, and space stations are illustrated in multiple-view, sometimes cross-section, and in many cases shown in archival period photography to provide further historical context. Dividing the book by era, De Chiara and Gorn feature spacecraft not only from the United States and Soviet Union/Russia, but also from the European Space Agency and China. The marvels examined in this volume include the rockets Energia, Falcon 9, and VEGA; the Hubble Space Telescope; the Cassini space probe; and the Mars rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity. Authoritatively written and profusely illustrated with more than 200 stunning artworks, Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us in Space is sure to become a definitive guide to the history of manned space exploration.

A federal historian of nearly 30 years, Michael H. Gorn spent 13 of those years at NASA. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships for his aerospace writing, and has been featured in interviews on BBC, History, and the Discovery Channel. Gorn lives in Simi Valley, California.Giuseppe De Chiara is an accomplished aerospace professional who began his career as a designer of Parabolic Flights facilities. He later was assigned to the ISS program as a training expert and operations leader. In 2003 De Chiara began a second career as a professional aerospace illustrator, with his work appearing in several books and publications. De Chiara lives in Caserta, Italy.

Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us Into Space is THE book to get for obtaining keen awareness and a deep understanding of how humans became space explorers, rocketry evolution, the science of space and the politics which drove the aforementioned. Gorn's clear and entertaining writing in concert with De Chiara's expressive and adept art work make this a book filling that important, though empty, library niche. * SeattlePi.com * This work is high quality; an effective hybrid of reference volume and coffee-table book. * Booklist * Detailed enough for serious readers yet accessible to all with an interest in rockets or space exploration. * Library Journal *