Books in Springer Praxis Books series

Designing a habitat for the lunar surface? You will need to know more than structural engineering. There are the effects of meteoroids, radiation, and low gravity. Then there are the psychological and psychosocial aspects of living in close quarters, in a dangerous environment, far away from home. All these must be considered when the habitat is sized, materials specified, and structure designed.This book provides an overview of various concepts for lunar habitats and structural designs and characterizes the lunar environment - the technical and the nontechnical. The designs take into consideration psychological comfort, structural strength against seismic and thermal activity, as well as internal pressurization and 1/6 g. Also discussed are micrometeoroid modeling, risk and redundancy as well as probability and reliability, with an introduction to analytical tools that can be useful in modeling uncertainties.

Sundials, which decorate church walls, public plazas, and elegant gardens, are first and foremost astronomical instruments. Before understanding how sundials work, one must first understand the apparent motion of the Sun in the sky. In this book, Denis Savoie presents the basics of astronomy required to understand sundials and describes how to design and build your own classical sundial. Written for all levels of science readers, the author shows the calculations involved in the sundial’s construction and also gives a comprehensive history of time measurement. The practical and observational aspects of sundials will enable readers to create custom-made sundial of their own, adding whatever special features they wish to include. Most of these designs have been tested by people with no previous knowledge of astronomy. To aid the reader, the book is full of clear and instructive illustrations and diagrams.

As advanced in-space propulsion moves from science fiction to reality, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR® engine, is a leading contender for making 'Mars in a month' a possibility. A paradigm shift in space transportation, this book is an in-depth and compelling story co-written by its inventor. It traces the riveting history of the development of the VASIMR® engine. This landmark technology is grounded in concepts of advanced plasma physics. It cross-pollinates ideas and disciplines to offer a new, practical, and sustainable solution for in-space transportation beyond low Earth orbit in the decades to come. Invented by the co-holder of the world’s spaceflight record, astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz, the VASIMR® engine is developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company in its Texas facilities with NASA as part of the NextSTEP VASIMR® partnership. With adequate funding, the first spaceflight of the VASIMR® engine is imminent. Plasma rockets feature exhaust velocities far above those achievable by conventional chemical rockets. The VASIMR® engine is the most advanced high-power plasma propulsion system operating in the world today and it may place long, fast interplanetary journeys withinour reach in the near future.

For the experienced amateur astronomer who is wondering if there is something useful, valuable, and permanent that can be done with his or her observational skills, the answer is, 'Yes, there is' This is THE book for the amateur astronomer who is ready to take the next step in his or her astronomical journey. Till now there has been no text that points curious amateur astronomers to the research possibilities open to them. At the 2006 meeting of the Society for Astronomical Sciences, participants agreed that the lack of such a text was a serious gap in the astronomical book market. This book plugs that hole.

Two important factors have given rise to mankind's successful evolution into space: the first is that the possibilities are bounded only by our imaginations - if we can conceive it, historically it has been proved that we can do it, and in a predetermined timescale. The second factor is recognition of the evolving civilizations on the Moon and Mars as separate entities from Earth. Space, whether we or our children live in it or on the Moon or Mars, will be important to all of us, not only to aerospace engineers and cosmologists, because of the new opportunities for freedom and limitless growth it offers. Our continued prosperity and survival as a species will in part depend upon space exploration and the resources it provides for our industrial societies and for the markets it will create. The expansion of Earth's success in science and culture to the Moon, then Mars, and eventually the Solar System, can only strengthen mankind's core positive achievements: democracy, individual rights and equal opportunities for all. The significant topic of returning to the Moon, this time to stay, is a central part of space exploration. Concepts for lunar base structures have been proposed since long before the dawn of the space age. Suggestions made during the last 25 years are likely to form the pool from which eventual lunar base designs will evolve. Studies have intensified, both within NASA and outside national governments in industry and academe, since the days of the Apollo program, when it appeared likely that the Moon would become a second home to humans. Since then, science on the Moon, the economics of lunar development, and human physiology in space and on planetary bodies, as well as related policy issues have been studied as they are all needed to plant Man on the Moon in a sustainable and viable way. This book is written as a history book in the year 2169 - 200 years since the first men walked on the Moon. It presents a possible path for mankind as it becomes a spacefaring civilization. All aspects of what we need to do and what are the obstacles are covered. Human physiology and psychology. Engineering and science. Also 19 interviews with key players - including Neil Armstrong. Accessible to all with a basic education. No PhD required! A vision of our possible future.

This extraordinary book details how the Moon could be used as a springboard for Solar System exploration. It presents a realistic plan for placing and servicing telescopes on the Moon, and highlights the use of the Moon as a base for an early warning system from which to combat threats of near-Earth objects. A realistic vision of human development and settlement of the Moon over the next one hundred years is presented, and the author explains how global living standards for the Earth can be enhanced through the use of lunar-based generated solar power. From that beginning, the people of the Earth would evolve into a spacefaring civilisation.

Marianne J. Dyson recounts for us a time when women were making the first inroads into space flight control, a previously male-dominated profession. The story begins with the inspiration of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and follows the challenges of pursuing a science career as a woman in the 70s and 80s, when it was far from an easy path. Dyson relates the first five space shuttle flights from the personal perspective of mission planning and operations in Houston at the Johnson Space Center, based almost exclusively on original sources such as journals and NASA weekly activity reports. The book’s historical details about astronaut and flight controller training exemplify both the humorous and serious aspects of space operations up through the Challenger disaster, including the almost unknown fire in Mission Control during STS-5 that nearly caused an emergency entry of the shuttle. From an insider with a unique perspective and credentials to match, this a must-read for anyone interested in the workings of NASA during one of its busiest and defining times, and the challenges faced by women pursuing scientific careers.

This remarkable book gives a comprehensive account of the longest manned space mission of the time. It details for the first time the people involved and the crews assigned to operate the first space station Salyut. The book portrays the selection of the crews, dramatic flights and tragedy of Soyuz 11. Biographies of the Soyuz 11 cosmonauts are published for the first time in English. The book relates discussions between the key personnel, and investigates the causes of the tragedy. The book ends with memories of all those affected by the DOS program and the tragedy of Soyuz 11 and looks forward to a continuation of the historic mission of Salyut.

This book celebrates the final spaceflight in the Mercury series, flown by NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper, who led an adventurous life in the cockpit of airplanes and spacecraft alike, and on his Mercury mission he became the last American ever to rocket into space alone. He flew in the Mercury and Gemini programs and served as head of flight crew operations in both the Apollo and Skylab programs. Based on extensive research and first-person interviews, this is a complete history of the Faith 7 flight and its astronaut. Cooper later gained notoriety following the release of the movie, The Right Stuff, in which he was depicted by Dennis Quaid, but Burgess discovers there was even more drama to his story. It completes the "Pioneers in Early Spaceflight" subseries in fitting fashion.

From the reviews: " . . . I enjoyed the historical descriptions of the contributions of the early rocket pioneers Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Wernher von Braun, as well as the American and Russian manned programs . . . The book is aimed at the science-literate public, although the material varies in level of detail" (George D. Nelson, PHYSICS TODAY, June 2005)

This final entry in the History of Human Space Exploration mini-series by Ben Evans continues with an in-depth look at the latter part of the 20th century and the start of the new millennium. Picking up where Partnership in Space left off, the story commemorating the evolution of manned space exploration unfolds in further detail. More than fifty years after Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering journey into space, Evans extends his overview of how that momentous voyage continued through the decades which followed.The Twenty-first Century in Space, the sixth book in the series, explores how the fledgling partnership between the United States and Russia in the 1990s gradually bore fruit and laid the groundwork for today’s International Space Station. The narrative follows the convergence of the Shuttle and Mir programs, together with standalone missions, including servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, many of whose technical and human lessons enabled the first efforts to build the ISS in orbit. The book also looks to the future of developments in the 21st century.