Spaceflight USA: Books - History and Technology

The Birth of NASA : The Work of the Space Task Group, America's First True Space Pioneers

This is the story of the work of the original NASA space pioneers; men and women who were suddenly organized in 1958 from the then National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) into the Space Task Group.
A relatively small group, they developed the initial mission concept plans and procedures for the U.S. space program. Then they boldly built hardware and facilities to accomplish those missions.
The group existed only three years before they were transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, in 1962, but their organization left a large mark on what would follow.

Von Ehrenfried's personal experience with the STG at Langley uniquely positions him to describe the way the group was structured and how it reacted to the new demands of a post-Sputnik era.
He artfully analyzes how the growing space program was managed and what techniques enabled it to develop so quickly from an operations perspective. The result is a fascinating window into history, amply backed up by first person documentation and interviews.

Information

Author:	Manfred 'Dutch' von Ehrenfried
Details:	358 pages, 24.5 x 17.5 x 1.9 cm / 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.75 in, paperback
Illustrations:	109 b&w and 48 colour photos
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing AG (CH, 2016)
ISBN:	9783319284262

NASA - Space Flight Research and Pioneering Developments

Around the world, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is synonymous with air and space flight. This book covers NASA's aerospace research from the agency's beginnings as NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1915 to the present-day NASA.

Exciting projects and developments are portrayed, such as the first supersonic flight of the X-1 in 1947, the flights of the fastest manned aircraft, the rocket-powered X-15, which attained almost seven times the speed of sound in 1967, the flight-testing of the lunar module for the moon landings, tipping-rotor aircraft, testing new wing concepts, and much more.

The emphasis of the book is in the realm of aviation research, but the boundaries between air and space research are often fluid, so that the development of the Space Shuttle and its testing have been included in this book. Besides project portrayals and descriptions of various research trends, the development sites and important personnel of NASA are portrayed.

Information

Author:	Hans-Jürgen Becker
Details:	200 pages, 28.5 x 22.5 x 2.2 cm / 11.2 x 8.9 x 0.87 in, hardback
Illustrations:	164 colour photos
Publisher:	Schiffer Publishing Ltd (USA, 2012)
ISBN:	9780764338793

NASA Operations Manual (1958 onwards) - An insight into NASA operations, programmes and field-centre facilities (Haynes Space Manual)

This book provides, for the first time, a comprehensive manual explaining how NASA works and operates its various programmes, opening the door to NASA facilities across the United States.
The down-to-earth text provides a directory of information on the various facilities, what they do, the technical parameters of their equipment and laboratory assets, and how it all fits together.

A full operations description is provided for each of the 13 primary NASA field centres, moving from a historical introduction to sections on each of the sites, and ending with appendices providing reference information on personnel levels, budgets (as a percentage of total US government expenditure each year), a list of NASA Administrators and relevant information.

A fascinating insight into the US agency responsible for the civilian space programme, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Information

Author:	David Baker
Details:	208 pages, 27.5 x 21.5 x 1.6 cm / 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.63 in, hardback
Illustrations:	numerous b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Haynes Publishing (GB, 2018)
Series:	Haynes Space Manual
ISBN:	9781785211157

SpaceX's Dragon : America's Next Generation Spacecraft

In May 2014 SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, presented the spaceship that will carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as soon as 2016.
Dragon V2 is a futuristic vehicle that not only provides a means for NASA to transport its astronauts to the orbiting outpost but also advances SpaceX's core objective of reusability.

Dragon V2, which is a direct descendant of Dragon, can be retrieved, refurbished and re-launched. It is a spacecraft with the potential to completely revolutionize the economics of an industry where equipment costing hundreds of millions of dollars is routinely discarded after a single use.

"SpaceX's Dragon - America's Next Generation Spacecraft" describes the extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement that have placed this revolutionary spacecraft at the forefront of the launch industry and positioned it as the precursor for ultimately transporting humans to Mars.
It describes the design and development of Dragon, provides mission highlights of the first six Commercial Resupply Missions, and explains how Musk hopes to eventually colonize Mars.

Information

Author:	Erik Seedhouse
Details:	188 pages, 24.5 x 17 x 1.1 cm / 9.7 x 6.7 x 0.43 in, paperback
Illustrations:	1 b&w and 77 colour photos
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing AG (CH, 2015)
ISBN:	9783319215143

U. S. Spacesuits (2nd Edition)

Spacesuits are far more than garments. They are a personalized spacecraft that allows direct contact and interaction with everything beyond our world, and a last refuge for survival in a disaster. Creating safe, reliable, and comfortable spacesuits is an ongoing challenge that has spanned over four decades.

This book details the technical evolution of U.S. spacesuits from their roots in high altitude aviation and vacuum tube development to present day, with an additional look into the future. This primary source of spacesuit information explains the functions, historical development, and use of spacesuits from a worldwide perspective.
In this new edition, the authors update the story of U.S. spacesuit development and efforts, from the design challenges modern engineers face to the latest roles of spacesuits in space exploration. The book also provides a close up look at NASA's new Constellation Space Suit System as well as Apollo prototype configurations that have been discovered since 2005. Also not in the earlier edition is a prototype and model of the Gemini pressure suit and an explanation of its development.

Finally, there are new insights into the suits used for the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and International Space Station missions.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Reaching upward and outward
3. The basics of spacesuits
4. Launch/entry spacesuits: Past, present, and possibly future
5. Gemini: The first approaches to exploring and working in space
6. Apollo: Mankind starts the exploration of the Moon
7. Advanced development for canceled Apollo missions
8. U.S. Air Force spacesuits
9. Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project suit systems (1969-1975)
10. The Space Shuttle program: Orbital EVA comes of age
11. The quest for future extravehicular activity and planetary exploration
12. Epilogue.

Information

Author:	Kenneth S. Thomas, Harold J. McMann
Details:	512 pages, 24 x 17 cm / 9 x 6.7 in, paperback
Illustrations:	160 b&w and 124 colour photos
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York Inc. (USA, 2011)
ISBN:	9781441995650

De la terre à la lune - La conquête spatiale américaine de Mercury à Apollo

How did NASA succeed in this crazy bet of putting a man on the moon before the 1970s? Why did the Russians get ahead of the Americans in the first steps of the conquest of space? How did the United States make up for its technological delay? What are the origins of the first launchers used in both the USSR and the United States? Did you know that the Apollo program was to succeed the Mercury program without going through the Gemini program?

This is what this book, with the help of more than 300 photos, boxes and drawings, will explain to you. If the conquest of space remains today an enterprise intended as peaceful, it really began with the end of the Second World War and the confrontation of the Eastern and Western Blocs, on the ruins of Nazi Germany and the first ballistic missile program in history.

German scientists were scattered between the USSR and the United States. Fathers of the first generation of launchers, which allowed the first short hops into space, some, such as Von Braun, continued the quest to realize their dreams, to send a man to the Moon.
If Korolev had a lot of trouble convincing the Soviet political power to let him attempt to send a satellite into space, the successful placing of Sputnik 1 into orbit, then the flight of Yuri Gagarin tipped the world into a technological race, an unprecedented human adventure.

It is this technological, human and aerospace adventure that is narrated in this work, with a wealth of details, photos and drawings, which allows us to better understand the extraordinary value of this exploit, this insane gamble, still unequaled today.

Information

Author:	Antony Angrand
Details:	368 pages, 31 x 23.5 cm / 12.2 x 9.25 in, hardback
Illustrations:	250 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2010)
ISBN:	9782726889923

Die Zukunft der Raumfahrt - Private Projekte

Space travel as we have known it is a thing of the past. Gone are the days when government agencies in the East and West had a monopoly on access to space.
The future began on September 16 2021 at the latest, when the "Inspiration 4" crew set off on a three-day flight into space: a completely privately financed mission, with only amateur astronauts on board.

More space flights will follow; orbits of the moon are already on the agenda. The entire spectrum of private space travel from the beginning to the present day is presented in a professional and exciting manner.

Information

Author:	Eugen Reichl
Details:	144 pages, 22.5 x 24.5 x 1.4 cm / 8.9 x 9.7 x 0.55 in, hardback
Illustrations:	160 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2022)
ISBN:	9783613044661