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Space Exploration for Dummies (ISBN - 0470445734) PDF

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Preview Space Exploration for Dummies (ISBN - 0470445734)

Cynthia Phillips, PhD Scientist at the SETI Institute Shana Priwer Professional writer Learn to: • Relive the greatest discoveries, challenges, and triumphs of space programs • Celebrate the scientific advancements that can be attributed to space exploration • Appreciate life in space — whether in a capsule or on a space station • Peek at future missions Space Exploration Making Everything Easier!™ Open the book and find: • Descriptions of space milestones and future missions • An easy-to-follow chronological structure • Color and black-and-white photos • The nitty-gritty details of becoming an astronaut • A grand tour of the solar system through space missions • Explanations of tragedies and narrow escapes • Facts on the creation of space stations by NASA and the USSR • Ten places to look for life beyond Earth Cynthia Phillips, PhD, and Shana Priwer are the coauthors of 14 books on subjects including astronomy, Einstein, da Vinci, the physics of the built environment, and a variety of other topics. Phillips works at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute. Priwer works for an architectural/design software company. $19.99 US / $23.99 CN / £14.99 UK ISBN 978-0-470-44573-0 Space/Astronomy Go to dummies.com® for more! Your comprehensive guide to remarkable achievements in space Do you long to explore the universe? This plain-English, fully illustrated guide explains the great discoveries and advancements in space exploration throughout history, from early astronomers to the International Space Station. You’ll learn about the first satellites, rockets, and people in space; explore space programs around the world; and ponder the controversial question: Why continue to explore space? • Take a quick tour of astronomy — get to know the solar system and our place in the galaxy, take a crash course in rocket science, and live a day in the life of an astronaut • Run the Great Space Race — trace the growth of the Space Age from Sputnik to the Apollo moon landings and meet the robots that explored the cosmos • Watch as space exploration matures — from the birth of the Space Shuttle to the creation of the Mir Space Station to successes and failures in Mars exploration, see how space programs reached new levels • Journey among the planets — check out the discoveries made during historic voyages to the inner and outer reaches of the solar system • Understand current exploration — review the telescopes in space, take a tour of the International Space Station, and see the latest sights on Mars • Look into the future — learn about upcoming space missions and increased access to space travel Space Exploration Phillips Priwer spine=.76” by Cynthia Phillips, PhD, and Shana Priwer Space Exploration FOR DUMmIES ‰ LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH- OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA- TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. Space Exploration For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926385 ISBN: 978-0-470-44573-0 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 About the Authors Cynthia Phillips is a scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. She works at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, studying the geology of the solar system and the potential for life beyond Earth. Dr. Phillips served as an affi liate of the Imaging team for the Galileo spacecraft during its mission to Jupiter and has provided input for the design of a future mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. She received her BA in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Physics at Harvard University (magna cum laude) and her PhD in Planetary Science, with a minor in Geosciences, from the University of Arizona. Dr. Phillips has taught astronomy, physics, biology, geology, math, and planetary science to students from junior high to college age and has given public lectures to general audiences on a variety of topics. She has extensive experience in explaining diffi cult health, scientifi c, and other concepts to diverse audiences. Shana Priwer has an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia University and a graduate degree in architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Her graduate thesis focused on using cutting-edge computer techniques to design buildings and produce 3-D renderings and animations of their interiors and exteriors. Priwer worked for an architecture fi rm for several years. She also has construction experience and has done carpentry and masonry on historic buildings. Priwer currently works for a software company that makes programs used by architects to produce two- and three-dimensional designs (the technology is also used by animation houses and others in the fi lm industry). She enjoys writing on a variety of medical, technical, and other topics, for both children and adults. Cynthia Phillips and Shana Priwer are the coauthors of 14 books on subjects including astronomy, Einstein, da Vinci, the physics of the built environment, and a variety of other topics. Dedication To our children: Zoecyn, Elijah, Benjamin, and Sophia. Authors’ Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the many people who made this book possible, from our agent, Barbara Doyen, to our acquisitions editor, Mike Lewis; our project editor, Georgette Beatty; our copy editor, Jen Tebbe; our technical reviewer, David Whalen; and all the other members of the staff at Wiley. Thanks also to Matt Harshbarger and Jon Prince of Precision Graphics for their work on the illustrations. Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Senior Project Editor: Georgette Beatty Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis Copy Editor: Jennifer Tebbe Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen Technical Editor: David J. Whalen Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Editorial Assistant: Jennette ElNaggar Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South Cover Photo: PhotoLink Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services Project Coordinator: Katherine Crocker Layout and Graphics: Samantha Allen, Reuben W. Davis, Melissa K. Jester, Mark Pinto Special Art: Precision Graphics (precisiongraphics.com) Proofreaders: John Greenough, Christopher M. Jones Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Contents at a Glance Introduction ................................................................ 1 Part I: Space Exploration: Where, Who, and How ........... 7 Chapter 1: Space Exploration in a Nutshell ....................................................................9 Chapter 2: A Tour of the Universe .................................................................................19 Chapter 3: Yes, It’s Rocket (And Spacecraft) Science After All .................................33 Chapter 4: The Life and Times of an Astronaut ...........................................................51 Chapter 5: Tragedies in Space ........................................................................................63 Part II: The Great Space Race ..................................... 81 Chapter 6: A Small Beeping Sphere and the Dawn of the Space Age ........................83 Chapter 7: What a Ride! The First People in Space .....................................................93 Chapter 8: Sending Robots to the Moon .....................................................................109 Chapter 9: Man on the Moon: Project Apollo .............................................................119 Chapter 10: Continued Lunar Exploration after Apollo 11 .......................................137 Chapter 11: Going on a Grand Tour of the Solar System ..........................................155 Chapter 12: The First Space Stations and the End of the Space Race.....................177 Part III: Second-Generation Missions ......................... 195 Chapter 13: The Space Shuttle and Mir Space Station: The Dawn of Modern Space Exploration ..................................................................197 Chapter 14 : Prime Time for the Space Shuttle: From the 1980s into the 21st Century ..................................................................................................215 Chapter 15: Revenge of the Red Planet: Successes and Failures in Mars Exploration .....................................................................................................223 Chapter 16: Exploring the Inner Solar System ...........................................................233 Chapter 17: Voyages to the Outer Solar System ........................................................245 Part IV: Current Space Exploration ............................ 257 Chapter 18: What a View! Telescopes in Space..........................................................259 Chapter 19: A Symbol of Global Cooperation: The International Space Station ....273 Chapter 20: New Views of Mars in the New Millennium ...........................................285 Part V: The Future of Space Exploration ..................... 295 Chapter 21: More in Store: Upcoming Space Missions .............................................297 Chapter 22: Increasing Access to Space .....................................................................313 Chapter 23: Why Continue to Explore Space? ............................................................323 Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................... 331 Chapter 24: Ten Places to Look for Life beyond Earth .............................................333 Chapter 25: Ten Ways Space Travel Isn’t Like Television or the Movies ...............339 Chapter 26: Ten Types of Everyday Items Brought to You Courtesy of NASA ......345 Index ...................................................................... 351

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