Join the crew of space shuttle Enterprise as they prepare to take the first step into the twenty-first century. Step aboard the world’s first reusable space vehicle with science writer Robert M. Powers for a cockpit view of a launch, orbit, re-entry, and return to earth. Preview the scheduled NASA shuttle missions in hundreds of line drawings and photographs of the crew at work in orbit. The shuttle system is the key to unlocking the next era of technology and the forerunner of space trans...

Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream-the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit.Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes.The Case for Mars

Find out all about NASA in this out-of-this-world addition to the What Was? series.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, began in 1958. With its creation, the United States hoped to ensure it won the space race against the Soviet Union. Author Sarah Fabiny describes the origins of NASA, the launching of the Apollo program that landed the first human on the moon, and the many missions and discoveries that have taken place since the...

In the words of those who trod the void and those at missioncontrol, here are over 50 of the greatest true stories of suborbital,orbital and deep-space exploration. From Apollo 8'sfirst view of a fractured, tortured landscape of craters on the'dark side' of the Moon to the series of cliff-hanger crisesaboard space station Mir, they include moments ofextraordinary heroic achievement as well as episodes of terriblehuman cost. Among the ...

The Star Trek technical manual highlighting the most famous spaceship in pop culture history, the Enterprise, rendered in the format of the world-renowned Haynes Manuals!The USS Enterprise is without doubt the most famous starship in history. The vessels that have carried the name have saved the galaxy countless times and her captains, including Archer, Kirk, and Picard, have been legendary.This Starfleet engineering guide provides in-dept...

Space Shuttle 1981-2011 is a lavishly illustrated special edition celebrating the space shuttle era. In thirty years of operation, space shuttles were used in 135 different missions; this volume presents the adventure stories of many of these missions in the astronauts’ own words. Additional contributions by space exploration writers cover the history of the program, technological challenges and triumphs, scientific achievements, and the devastating Challenger and Col...

For centuries humankind has fantasized about life on Mars, whether it’s intelligent Martian life invading our planet (immortalized in H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds) or humanity colonizing Mars (the late Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles). The Red Planet’s proximity and likeness to Earth make it a magnet for our collective imagination. Yet the question of whether life exists on Mars-or has ever existed there-remains an open one. Science has not caught up to scienc...

Starship Spotter was created more than two centuries ago to serve as a reference guide to assorted space-going vessels. Captains of the spaceships of the United Earth Space Probe Agency used this simple paper tool to enable a ship's crew to quickly distinguish friend from foe in the unexplored reaches of the cosmos. When the services were merged to form Starfleet, this paper book disappeared from use. Only recently rediscovered, the newest editions of this book have been the sole ...

The firsthand account of the trials and tribulations of engineering one of the most complex pieces of space technology, the Mars Rover Curiosity, by its chief engineer Rob ManningIn the course of our enduring quest for knowledge about ourselves and our universe, we haven't found answers to one of our most fundamental questions: Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten years and billions of dollars in the making, the Mars Rover Curiosity is poised to answe...

Illustrations, infographics, and little-known facts about NASA's Apollo program and the 1969 moon landing.July 20, 1969, marked one of the greatest achievements of mankind—the moon landing. In his infographic-packed book, Apollo: A Graphic Guide to Mankind's Greatest Mission, Zack Scott recounts the entire journey of the Apollo space program. Unlike previous books on this topic, Apollo illustrates the tiniest details of how man came to walk on the ...

An all-new Star Trek technical manual of the legendary Klingon Bird of Prey, presented in the world-renowned Haynes Manual format!The Bird-of-Prey is the classic Klingon starship—a tough raiding and scouting vessel that has served at the heart of the Klingon Defense Force for more than a hundred years. Life on board is harsh and brutal, with any sign of weakness leading to a challenge to the death. The ship itself is stripped back and lean, with e...

Ladies and gentlemen, start your spaceships with this book that explores an exciting new era of space travel—the perfect science gift!Personal space travel is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The future is here: Civilians are launching into orbit. How to Build Your Own Spaceship takes readers on a fun and quirky trip to the forefront of commercial space travel-the latest technology, the major business players, and the personal and financial benefits...