Best Astronautics & Space Flight

he #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space.

And when the mission is over―after the first view of the far side of the moon, the first earth-rise, and the first re-entry through the earth’s atmosphere following a flight to deep space―the impossible dream of walking on the moon suddenly seems within reach. Here is the tale of a mission that was both a calculated risk and a wild crapshoot, a stirring account of how three American heroes forever changed our view of the home planet. "Kluger, a science journalist, previously co-authored the best-selling book turned blockbuster film Apollo 13 , and his latest foray into space history overflows with similarly cinematic details . "― Scientific American "Kluger takes readers inside the capsule.... Every agonizing moment both prior to the mission and the mission itself unfolds in fascinating detail , and Kluger makes the reader more than just an observer while events transpire. Those familiar with the early history of NASA and the Apollo missions will love Apollo 8, and those who were born in later years will discover a full understanding of a tumultuous time and the fascinating people who helped make a dream a reality. ". "― Christian Science Monitor "Kluger has a knack for telling these stories of humans, machines and the cosmos in an engaging, cinematic manner.... Apollo 8 is a worthy addition to the space history catalog.... Kluger excels at recounting missions, seamlessly blending procedures with descriptions of what the astronauts saw and felt . "― Dallas Morning News "Relying on extensive interviews with all three NASA astronauts and former NASA officials, agency documents and the mission audio archive, the author paints an unforgettable picture of the dramatic, wildly successful lunar mission.... [Kluger] informs us in vivid, crisply written prose exactly how the United States recovered from its despairing doldrums and regained national pride.... "There is plenty of Apollo information and narrative out there for the interested reader, but it needs the discerning eye of a Kluger, who knows how to sift through it all to the essential detail and tell it. accessibly . “Drawing on historical transcripts and documents and his own extensive interviews with the leading players, Jeffrey Kluger paints a portrait of the U.S. space program and the first manned expedition to the moon so vivid that we feel ourselves riding in the hurtling rocket with the astronauts, taut with the thrill, the danger, and the cosmic meaning of the mission . Jeffrey Kluger colorfully captures the time, the people, and the mission of Apollo 8 with an entertaining and informative account of the stories of this historic adventure.

With more than 150 photographs including Hubble All-Stars—the most famous of all the noteworthy images— The Hubble Cosmos shows how this telescope is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. ROBERT P. KIRSHNER, Clowes Professor of Science in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, accomplished groundbreaking work on supernovas and the expansion of the universe using the Hubble Space Telescope.

A complete investigation of the development and suppression of antigravity and field propulsion technologies. • Reveals advanced aerospace technologies capable of controlling gravity that could revolutionize air travel and energy production. His findings merit earnest consideration, debate, and discussion.” ( Ervin Laszlo, author of Science and the Akashic Field ). “Paul LaViolette’s investigations into this most mysterious of subjects are at once fascinating and prescient.” ( Nick Cook, author of The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology ). Paul LaViolette is an outstanding scientist and the first to reverse engineer the B-2’s highly classified propulsion system.” ( Eugene Podkletnov, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Tampere, Finland ). "Numerous field-propulsion devices and techologies that have huge thrust-to-power ratios are surveyed in chapters which offer new science ideas and theories perfect for any new age library."

With more than 150 photographs including Hubble All-Stars—the most famous of all the noteworthy images— The Hubble Cosmos shows how this telescope is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. ROBERT P. KIRSHNER, Clowes Professor of Science in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, accomplished groundbreaking work on supernovas and the expansion of the universe using the Hubble Space Telescope.

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. "In the vast world of nonfiction writing, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today... Outliers is a pleasure to read and leaves you mulling over its inventive theories for days afterward.

In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” ( The Economist ), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” ( The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” ( The Wall Street Journal ). Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished… The Wright Brothers soars” ( The New York Times Book Review ). The Wright Brothers soars.” (Daniel Okrent The New York Times Book Review ). “David McCullough has etched a brisk, admiring portrait of the modest, hardworking Ohioans who designed an airplane in their bicycle shop and solved the mystery of flight on the sands of Kitty Hawk, N.C. Mr. McCullough is in his element writing about seemingly ordinary folk steeped in the cardinal American virtues—self-reliance and can-do resourcefulness.” (Roger Lowenstein The Wall Street Journal ). Mr. McCullough presents all this with dignified panache, and with detail so granular you may wonder how it was all collected.” (Janet Maslin The New York Times ). "McCullough’s magical account of [the Wright Brothers'] early adventures — enhanced by volumes of family correspondence, written records, and his own deep understanding of the country and the era — shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly." But it’s also a story that resonates with anyone who believes deeply in the power of technology to change lives – and the resistance some have to new innovations.” (Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google). "An outstanding saga of the lives of two men who left such a giant footprint on our modern age." "McCullough's usual warm, evocative prose makes for an absorbing narrative; he conveys both the drama of the birth of flight and the homespun genius of America's golden age of innovation."

Inertial navigation is widely used for the guidance of aircraft, missiles ships and land vehicles, as well as in a number of novel applications such as surveying underground pipelines in drilling operations. David Titterton is currently the technical leader of laser systems at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This edition features expanded coverage of aircraft turning and accelerated climb performance, takeoff velocities, load and velocity-load-factors, area rules, and hypersonic flight, as well as the latest advances in laminar flow airfoils, wing and fuselage design, and high-performance lightplanes. This book gives you an inside look at how modern aircraft are designed-including all the steps in the design process, from concept to test flight, and the reasoning behind them.

So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia-a hard-scrabble little company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high school football. But in 1957, after the Soviet satellite Sputnik shot across the Appalachian sky, Sonny and his teenaged friends decided to do their bit for the U.S. space race by building their own rockets—and Coalwood, Sonny and A powerful story of growing up and of getting out, of a mother's love and a father's fears, Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys proves, like Angela's Ashes and Russell Baker's Growing Up before it, that the right storyteller and the right story can touch readers' hearts and enchant their souls. After an initial, destructive try involving 12 cherry bombs, Sonny and his cronies set up the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA). From Auk I (top altitude, six feet), through Auk XXXI (top altitude, 31,000 feet), the boys experiment with nozzles, fins and, most of all, fuel, graduating from a basic black powder to "rocket candy" (melted potassium chlorate and sugar) to "Zincoshine" (zinc, sulfur, moonshine). Hickam admits to taking poetic license in combining characters and with the sequence of events, and if there is any flaw, it's that the people and the narrative seem a little too perfect.

In keeping with its bestselling previous editions, Fundamentals of Aerodynamics , Fifth Edition by John Anderson, offers the most readable, interesting, and up-to-date overview of aerodynamics to be found in any text. In 1973, he became Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, and since 1980 has been Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland. He continued with the Air and Space Museum one day each week as their Special Assistant for Aerodynamics, doing research and writing on the History of Aerodynamics.