In recent decades, the number of satellites being built and launched into Earth’s orbit has grown immensely, alongside the field of space engineering itself. This book offers an in-depth guide to engineers and professionals seeking to understand the technologies behind Low Earth Orbit satellites.With access to special spreadsheets that provide the key equations and relationships needed for mastering spacecraft design, this book gives the growing crop of space engineers and professi...

Chief engineer Thomas J. Kelly gives a firsthand account of designing, building, testing, and flying the Apollo lunar module. It was, he writes, “an aerospace engineer’s dream job of the century.” Kelly’s account begins with the imaginative process of sketching solutions to a host of technical challenges with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and maintainability. He catalogs numerous test failures, including propulsion-system leaks, ascent-engine instability, stress corrosion of the alum...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The national bestselling author of The God Equation traverses the frontiers of astrophysics, artificial intelligence, and technology to offer a stunning vision of man's future in space, from settling Mars to traveling to distant galaxies.“Amazing … Kaku is in smooth perfect control of it the entire time.” —The Christian Science Monitor**We are entering a new Golden Age of space exploration. With irrepressible enthusia...

Seth is an "Energy personality essence, no longer focused in physical reality." In my opinion, his intellect exceeds the combined intellects of every great mind we have ever read about. This short ebook is a compilation of his quotes on quasars, black holes, and entropy. Some of this information will be surprising to physicists and engineers. It is my hope that these surprises will lead you to read more. On Quasars - "There is no intelligent life within them in your terms. They are compose...

Inevitably, there are times in a nation’s history when its hopes, fears and confidence in its own destiny appear to hinge on the fate of a single person. One of these pivotal moments occurred on the early morning of May 5, 1961, when a 37-year-old test pilot squeezed himself into the confines of the tiny Mercury spacecraft that he had named Freedom 7. On that historic day, U.S. Navy Commander Alan Shepard carried with him the hopes, prayers, and anxieties of a nation as his...

"One of the most remarkable accomplishments in our conquest of gravity." — Sir Arthur C. Clarke In April, 2003, a company called Scaled Composites introduced SpaceShipOne to the world. SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History chronicles the development of the world's first commercial manned space program—aprogram that includes an airborne launcher (the White Knight), a space ship (SpaceShipOne), rocket propulsion, avionics, simulator, and full ground support. With ample illustrations, photogra...

The book describes the basic concepts of spaceflight operations, for both, human and unmanned missions. The basic subsystems of a space vehicle are explained in dedicated chapters, the relationship of spacecraft design and the very unique space environment are laid out. Flight dynamics are taught as well as ground segment requirements. Mission operations are divided into preparation including management aspects, execution and planning. Deep space missions and space robotic operations are i...

Thirty years ago when Sir Richard Branson called up Boeing and asked if they had a spare 747, few would have predicted the brash entrepreneur would so radically transform the placid business of air travel. But today, Branson flies airlines on six continents, employs hundreds of jets and, in 2014, was predicting that his spaceship company – Virgin Galactic – would soon open the space frontier to commercial astronauts, payload specialists, scientists and space tourists. With more than 600 se...

Understanding star formation is one of the key fields in present-day astrophysics. This book treats a wide variety of the physical processes involved, as well as the main observational discoveries, with key points being discussed in detail. The current star formation in our galaxy is emphasized, because the most detailed observations are available for this case. The book presents a comparison of the various scenarios for star formation, discusses the basic physics underlying each one, and ...

This book describes the status quo of space science in China, details the scientific questions to be addressed by the Chinese space science community in 2016-2030, and proposes key strategic goals, space science programs and missions, the roadmap and implementation approaches. Further, it explores the supporting technologies needed and provides an outlook of space science beyond the year 2030.“Taikong” means “outer space” in Chinese, and space science is one of the most important a...

As our closest stellar companion and composed of two Sun-like stars and a third small dwarf star, Alpha Centauri is an ideal testing ground of astrophysical models and has played a central role in the history and development of modern astronomy—from the first guesses at stellar distances to understanding how our own star, the Sun, might have evolved. It is also the host of the nearest known exoplanet, an ultra-hot, Earth-like planet recently discovered.Just 4.4 light years away Alp...

Is the Earth the right model and the only universal key to understand habitability, the origin and maintenance of life? Are we able to detect life elsewhere in the universe by the existing techniques and by the upcoming space missions? This book tries to give answers by focusing on environmental properties, which are playing a major role in influencing planetary surfaces or the interior of planets and satellites. The book gives insights into the nature of planets or satellites and their po...