A half-century history of space exploration documents efforts from Sputnik to the present day, in a visual tour that profiles such subjects as a Gemini space capsule and deep-field images of ancient galaxies as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
This special collector’s edition of The Art of NASA adds 32 pages of new material, a presentation case, a new cover, a paper model of the Lunar Module, four postcards, and a rolled poster.
Riddled with jealousy, rivalry, missed opportunities and moments of genius, the history of the atom's discovery is as bizarre, as capricious, and as weird as the atom itself. John Dalton gave us the first picture of the atom in the early 1800s. Almost 100 years later the young misfit New Zealander, Ernest Rutherford, showed the atom consisted mostly of space, and in doing so overturned centuries of classical science. It was a brilliant Dane, Neils Bohr, who made the next great leap - into the incredible world of quantum theory. Yet, he and a handful of other revolutionary young scientists weren't prepared for the shocks Nature had up her sleeve. This 'insightful, compelling' book ( New Scientist) reveals the mind-bending discoveries that were destined to upset everything we thought we knew about reality and unleash a dangerous new force upon the world. Even today, as we peer deeper and deeper into the atom, it throws back as many questions at us as answers.
Take a journey into the New Space Frontier! It is easy to imagine that the space shuttle's retirement has edged the Space Age toward closure, at least in terms of human flight beyond the bounds of earth. In fact, there are more people-carrying ships being constructed now than at any time since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space half a century ago. Some are already servicing the International Space Station - which, incidentally, has ensured a permanent human presence in space for the last two decades, and is set to continue and expand for decades yet to come. What's more, NASA is no longer the only big player in the space game. Commercial, non-governmental space exploration is becoming a reality rather than just a pipe dream. What orbital adventures await us in the next five decades? Will humans ever again head into deep space, as the Apollo astronauts once did? NASA's new hardware is aimed toward asteroid missions, and ultimately, Mars, but there is a significant chance that a government funded space agency will not be the only - or even the first - organization to send humans across the solar system. Get ready to experience the excitement of adventure with New Space Frontier. Through gorgeous photography and engaging writing, noted space and science author Piers Bizony speculates beyond just today's hardware and explores what might be possible for the next generation.
With authoritative text and NASA photography and artworks, NASA Missions to Mars tells the story of NASA’s programs to explore the Red Planet—from the first tentative flybys to the present—and offers a glimpse into the future of Mars exploration.
The first moon landing in July 1969 captured the imagination of the world as no subsequent “space spectacular” has. Forty years later, space historian Piers Bizony has produced a stunning visual record of this unparalleled mission. Drawing on high-resolution images from the entire suite of Apollo 11’s on-board film magazines, the book presents a complete picture of the mission: the launch, the astronauts’ lives inside the spacecraft, the landing and moon walk, and finally the return to earth to worldwide acclaim. Accompanying these remarkable images, many published here for the first time, is Bizony’s fascinating essay on the lasting cultural and emotional impact of the mission. Quotes from astronauts, scientists, and literary commentators add an extra dimension to Bizony’s account. Apollo 11 may have happened a long time ago, Bizony remarks, but it casts an important shadow over today’s generation. Can we live up to it and learn from it--or even repeat its achievements with new spacecraft? However tempting it might be to assume that our advanced modern society could go back to the moon, it is an unavoidable fact, as this book makes clear, that Apollo 11 was an event that may never be replayed. One Giant Leap gives modern readers the information and perspective for thinking about Apollo 11 and space exploration in general in an entirely new way.
Moonshots presents stunning photos of space and Earth from NASA’s archives - taken by Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, and ISS astronauts using high resolution Hasselblad cameras. In December 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 captured images depicting Earth hanging like a lonely fruit in the vast darkness of space. The social and spiritual shock of that photograph—and those which followed—never fully diminished, even as Apollo missions followed at an incredible pace, including the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Moonshots is the definitive photographic chronicle of NASA space exploration—a giant slipcased book featuring more than 200 remarkable photographs from that eventful era created almost exclusively on large-format Hasselblad cameras. Though a number of these images have been reproduced in books and magazines over the years, one attribute of this incredible collection has seldom been exploited: the sheer size and resolution of the photography. Aerospace author Piers Bizony scoured NASA’s archives of Hasselblad film frames to assemble the space fan’s ultimate must-have book—a gorgeous large-format hardcover presented in a heavy slipcase with die-cuts to represent the phases of the moon. This resulting volume extracts a stunning selection of photographs captured by astronauts using Hasselblad equipment, many of them seldom previously published, let alone in such a lavish package. The Apollo voyages form the centerpiece of this amazing collection, but equally fabulous images from precursor Gemini missions are also featured, along with later photographs chronicling Space Shuttle missions and even the construction of the International Space Station.
Written and curated by recognized historians of space exploration, NASA Space Shuttle: 40th Anniversary is the authoritative photo history of the iconic space program. Officially known as the Space Transportation System (STS), the Space Shuttle program operated from 1981 to 2011. During that time, five Shuttle systems took part in 135 missions under the operation of NASA. This approach—namely reusable spacecraft—revolutionized space exploration. NASA Space Shuttle: 40th Anniversary traces the STS’s 30-year operational history. Essays by former NASA chief historian Roger Launius are accompanied by a collection of incredible Shuttle photography and imagery mined from the depths of NASA’s archives by aerospace historian Piers Bizony—all of it presented in large-format color. Readers will witness the pre-1981 evolution, the missions, astronauts, ground personnel and infrastructure, and amazing accomplishments of the Shuttle program and its spacecraft: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. From the launch site at Cape Kennedy, Florida, to mission control in Houston, Texas, to the landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, all aspects of Shuttle operation are covered, including key roles in efforts such as the Hubble Telescope and International Space Station, as well as the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia disasters. Every carefully chosen image in NASA Space Shuttle: 40th Anniversary tells an aspect of the Shuttle story. The resulting book is not only a unique view of a key chapter of NASA history—it’s a compelling collection of stunning NASA photography and illustrations.
This superbly designed and lavishly illustrated book marks a special moment in history: the final mission of the space shuttle. Noted space and science author Piers Bizony has put together a retrospective that covers the entire space shuttle program. In addition to covering every space shuttle mission, the book also covers the development and design of the space shuttle, as well as the technical specifications of the vehicle and details of its major assemblies and subassemblies. A full double-gatefold provides a large-scale technical drawing of the space shuttle.
One man, more than any other, created the giant space agency we know today as NASA: James E. Webb. The Man Who Ran the Moon explores a time when Webb and an elite group of charismatic business associates took control of America's Apollo moon project, sometimes with disturbing results. In 1967, NASA was rocked by disaster and Apollo was grounded. Webb was savaged in a Congressional investigation. Not just a matter of broken hardware, there were accusations of corruption at the heart of America's space effort. Some of Webb's political allies had been caught up in the biggest scandal ever to hit Washington prior to Watergate. The backwash unfairly tainted NASA's chief. By the time of the first triumphant lunar landing, Webb had resigned and his name had all but been forgotten. But he's the man who got us to the moon, and the power base he forged in the 1960s has kept NASA on a solid footing to this day. Washington insiders now acknowledge Webb as one of the greatest leaders in modern American history. No space boss since his time has wielded so much power and such a powerful story.
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 that are ripe for the picking. Science-writer Piers Bizony's breadth of knowledge, quick wit, and no-nonsense explanations of the hard science in this emerging arena will satisfy even the most dedicated space fanatics. With practical advice (from picking the best jet fuel to funding your own fleet of space crafts), unbelievable space facts, and fascinating photos, Bizony's user-friendly guide to blasting off is a must-have ticket to the final frontier.
This is a brilliant popular history which will appeal to the huge audience of Andrew Smith's "Moondust." It is written by a rising popular science star - a journalist who writes widely. It is a well-reviewed on hardback publication. Space historian Piers Bizony explodes NASA's 1960s mythology and unveils the man who gave up everything to win the space race. Neil Armstrong will forever be the first man on the Moon. But the person most responsible for putting him there is, incredibly, unknown. In 1961 James Webb, a South Carolina lawyer, took charge of America's bid for the Moon. Persuading a reluctant JFK and gaining control of 5 per cent of the US budget, Webb's NASA supervised half a million workers building new machines, launch pads and control centres. But in 1967, a spacecraft fire killed three astronauts. The press exposed numerous failures and delays, as well as Webb's business partners' profiteering. Webb shouldered the blame and his sacrifice enabled the Moon landing in 1969, but his name was wiped from history. Conducting extensive interviews and drawing on recently released original sources, Bizony tells the fascinating hidden story of the unconventional, charismatic man who made one giant leap for mankind.
The Search for Aliens: The Rough Guide to Life on Other Worlds is a scientific journey that reaches into our profoundest philosophical and religious desire for answers-and perhaps, also into our deepest dreads. Exobiology, a subject that once seemed nothing more than the realm of science fiction fantasies, is now a thriving professional branch of science, driven by new and startling discoveries on earth as well as by a mass of new data from space probes. This Rough Guide provides the first vivid and completely accessible guide to the most exciting field of modern science: the search for aliens. All the latest research projects are identified, located, and described: everything from radio dishes seeking out intelligent alien signals, to deep oceanic research seeking links between terrestrial organisms and the broader cosmos. It also explores the idea of Panspermia, the notion that asteroids and comets brought biological building blocks to the early earth, which is now firmly on the agenda. Is there any living thing out there? We still don't know, but this book explains why we may be closer than ever to finding out.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in history to leave the Earth's atmosphere and venture into space. His flight aboard a Russian Vostok rocket lasted only 108 minutes, but at the end of it he had become the most famous man in the world. Back on the ground, his smiling face captured the hearts of millions around the globe. Film stars, politicians and pop stars from Europe to Japan, India to the United States vied with each other to shake his hand. Despite this immense fame, almost nothing is known about Gagarin or the exceptional people behind his dramatic space flight. Starman tells for the first time Gagarin's personal odyssey from peasant to international icon, his subsequent decline as his personal life began to disintegrate under the pressures of fame, and his final disillusionment with the Russian state. President Kennedy's quest to put an American on the Moon was a direct reaction to Gagarin's achievement--yet before that successful moonshot occurred, Gagarin himself was dead, aged just thirty-four, killed in a mysterious air crash. Publicly the Soviet hierarchy mourned; privately their sighs of relief were almost audible, and the KGB report into his death remains secret. Entwined with Gagarin's history is that of the breathtaking and highly secretive Russian space program - its technological daring, its triumphs and disasters. In a gripping account, Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony reveal the astonishing world behind the scenes of the first great space spectacular, and how Gagarin's flight came frighteningly close to destruction.
... Piers Bizony brings the story of Martian exploration up to date, interpreting the very latest data and clarifying all the technical jargon. This is an incredible and highly controversial detective story -- nothing less than the quest for our cosmic origins.
On April 12 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth's atmosphere and venture into space. An icon of the 20th century, he also became a danger to himself and a threat to the Soviet state. At the age of 34, he was killed in a plane crash. Based on KGB files, restricted documents from Russian space authorities, and interviews with his friends and colleagues, this biography of the Russian cosmonaut reveals a man in turmoil: torn apart by powerful political pressures, fighting a losing battle against alcoholism and rebelling against the cruelties of a corrupt totalitarian regime. 2011 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Gagarin's flight. This new edition of Starman includes a new afterword that celebrates the importance of that momentous expedition and reflects on Gagarin's legacy.
This text looks at the most influential science fiction film of the last 30 years, with its pathbreaking special effects, brilliant use of music, and mystifying metaphysics.
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