Showing titles in Aeronautics & Astronautics

In 1954, the US Air Force launched an ambitious program known as WS-117L to develop the world's first reconnaissance satellite. The goal was to take photographic images from space and relay them back to Earth via radio. Because of technical issues and bureaucratic resistance, however, WS-117L was seriously behind schedule by the time Sputnik orbited Earth in 1957 and was eventually cancelled. Eyeing the Red Storm examines the birth of space-based reconnaissance from the perspective of WS-117L.

Rockets and Revolution offers a multifaceted study of the race toward space in the first half of the twentieth century, examining how the Russian, European, and American pioneers competed against one another in the early years to acquire the fundamentals of rocket science, engineer simple rockets, and ultimately prepare the path for human spaceflight.

Once again, Author Eric "Cap'n Aux" Auxier puts you in the pilot's seat at 30,000 feet! More stories, more guest authors, more love, laughs and tears, in an adventure spanning over three decades in the sky! In this special, military-themed volume, Cap'n Aux takes a backseat to several Ace Top Gunners of today and yesteryear, who spin their own adrenaline-pumping yarns. Only difference is, these tall tales are true!

On April 11, 1970, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were launched into space as the crew of Apollo 13. Their mission, like the missions of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, was to explore the lunar surface. But that mission was never completed. As they began the procedure for landing on the Moon, the spacecraft was rocked by a violent explosion. Oxygen began pouring out of the Service Module, and the spacecraft began to lose power. Jim Lovell radioed Mission Control with the now-famous words, "Houston, we have a problem."

An in-depth story of the astronaut love triangle that shocked America. This captivating account casts light on Lisa Nowak's groundbreaking fall from grace. She was accomplished, successful, and heroic - one of the first astronauts to fly a space shuttle mission after the 2003 Columbia tragedy. Then a primitive attack of jealousy led to a fateful confrontation with her romantic rival that destroyed her reputation, ended her career and left a victim dazed and confused.

Aerospace journalist Joe Pappalardo has witnessed space rocket launches around the world, from the jungle of French Guiana to the coastline of California. In his comprehensive work Spaceport Earth, Pappalardo describes the rise of private companies in the United States and how they are reshaping the way the world is using space for industry and science. Spaceport Earth is a travelogue through modern space history as it is being made.

If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising recreates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. 

Thousands of people throughout history have applied to become astronauts, while only a few have been selected; do you have what it takes to be one of them? Dive into the world of astronauts from their rigorous training to the effects space travel has on the human body in this curated collection from Seeker, available for the first time in audio.

Since astronauts first ventured into space in the early 1960s, the human race has been thinking about the bigger picture: Could we ever live in space? Where would we plant our new roots? Explore the ways engineers, researchers, and astrophysicists are pushing our scientific limits every day to get us closer to living on another planet.

Did you know that there is a molecule that may be a key to increasing human lifespans? Learn about this interesting research and more scientific advances powering the future of technology, interstellar exploration, and the human body.

In a race against time, the Apollo program challenged our scientific capabilities and redefined the boundaries of humanity. To celebrate NASA’s 60 years of exploration, Seeker went back in time to relive each Apollo mission. Listen along as Seeker dives into the whole story from its WWII origins to its present day possibilities available for the first time in audio.

July 20, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin left humanity’s first footprints on the Moon. The plaque they left behind reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” But was the Apollo 11 moon landing mission really a global endeavor? How did people outside the United States view these “rocket men”? Against the political backdrop of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, was it, indeed, “For all mankind”?

Learn why NASA astronaut Mike Collins calls this extraordinary space race story "the best book on Apollo": this inspiring and intimate ode to ingenuity celebrates one of the most daring feats in human history. When the alarm went off forty thousand feet above the moon's surface, both astronauts...

Imaginez un instant cette scène irréelle : des milliers, des millions peut-être, de voitures se trouvant soudainement enveloppées dans un halo de sécurité, les coussins gonflables se déployant avec une précision chirurgicale. Les rues, auparavant des artères de béton et d'asphalte, furent transformées en océans de coussins gonflables, où les véhicules devinrent les sommets de montagnes mouvantes, émergeant de vagues blanches et cotonneuses. C'était comme si la Terre elle-même se gonflait de précaution, se protégeant contre une menace invisible venue des confins de l'espace.

"The Accelerating Universe is not only an informative book about modern cosmology. It is rich storytelling and, above all, a celebration of the human mind in its quest for beauty in all things." (Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams)

Americans are fascinated by the undeniable mystique of the elite world of Navy fighter pilots. In Bogeys and Bandits, Robert Gandt takes listeners on a thrilling ride in the FA-18 Hornet, one of the fastest, sleekest, and deadliest aircraft in the world. Gandt lived and worked with several pilots learning to fly the Hornet: the identical twins from Middle America; the computer nerd with a penchant for speed; the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman, trying to live up to a proud legacy; and two women dealing with the post-Tailhook world of the Navy.

Get up close and personal with science as Andrew Kessler narrates his hilarious journey inside NASA’s Phoenix Mars mission - a historic enterprise manned by a motley crew of rocket scientists. The Phoenix Mars mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian arctic.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Drones are in the newspaper, on the TV screen, swarming through the networks, and soon, we're told, they'll be delivering our shopping. But what are drones? The word encompasses everything...

'You must be a spy!' the Russian exclaimed. I laughed and raised my glass. True stories filled with humor, cultural mistakes and experiences; how in the early days of the Russian Federation, one man built a personal diplomacy with people who had never before even met an American—or spoke English. Familiarity brings understanding--and trust--but not everything goes smoothly.

Reusable rockets and mass production of spacecraft and their components mean that the cost of access to and operation in space is dropping rapidly and making ever more space businesses economically viable. There are now already thousands of space start-up companies. The space economy is expected to grow to several trillion dollars over the next decades. Space technology may help solve challenges on Earth, ranging from climate change over food and energy security to quality healthcare.