Author Topic: Spaceflight Book Thread (Read 224835 times)

DMeader · « **Reply #40 on:** 02/02/2009 02:43 pm »

Quote from: Jorge on 02/02/2009 02:24 pm

Quote from: elmarko on 02/02/2009 10:40 am
Some great suggestions here.

I'm still confused about the Jenkins books. Am I after the first 100 missions book, or the history of the development book?

Or both?

They are the same book. The Third Edition is the one with "the first 100 missions" subtitle, and is the most recent.

There are differences across the three editions. I've bought each one as they came out, and wouldn't part with any of them.

Jorge · « **Reply #41 on:** 02/02/2009 09:57 pm »

Quote from: DMeader on 02/02/2009 02:43 pm

Quote from: Jorge on 02/02/2009 02:24 pm
Quote from: elmarko on 02/02/2009 10:40 am
Some great suggestions here.

I'm still confused about the Jenkins books. Am I after the first 100 missions book, or the history of the development book?

Or both?

They are the same book. The Third Edition is the one with "the first 100 missions" subtitle, and is the most recent.

There are differences across the three editions. I've bought each one as they came out, and wouldn't part with any of them.

This is true, and not just updates either. There was material on Buran and other topics in the second edition that was deleted from the third for space reasons (the publisher has a limit on how many pages they can bind in a single volume).

The fourth edition, to be published after shuttle retirement, may become a multivolume set in order to restore previously deleted material.

Malderi · « **Reply #42 on:** 02/02/2009 10:23 pm »

I'd highly recommend "Two Sides of the Moon" by Dave Scott and Alexei Leonov. It's a dual autobiography that goes back and forth between first-person perspectives. It's just as interesting to read about their experiences growing up in 1920's America vs. Soviet Union (and WW2) as it is their space race experiences. Leonov has many insights into Gagarin and Korolev that I found fascinating.

Also, "Roving Mars" by Steve Squyres, if you're interested in that.

"Titans of Saturn" (about Cassini) is a very interesting book, written as a how-to for international project managers. It doesn't have much technical information or history, but it's extremely detailed in how the overall project was managed and how they kept dozens of teams in many countries working together, on-budget and on-time.

elmarko · « **Reply #43 on:** 02/05/2009 01:43 pm »

I just finished reading Dark Side of the Moon.

Wow, talk about a hatchet job. Thing is, I can see where he's coming from on a lot of the points he brings up, regarding how pointless the space race was, but I can imagine it annoyed a lot of people when it came out.

brihath · « **Reply #44 on:** 02/05/2009 02:17 pm »

I read quite a few but some highlights are:

Entering Space- I think Joe Allen was either the writer or narrator. Great book at the beginning of the Shuttle era. Nice pics.

Korolev- Great biography and excellent insight into the political games played in the early Soviet manned program.

Deep Black by William Burroughs- Good book on the spy satellite programs. Dated now but still a fascinating read.

Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane- I loved it for its honesty and irreverence.

Red Star in Orbit- Jim Oberg got lots of information for this one at a time that getting that info must have been much harder than now.

For fiction- 2001: A Space Odyssey. It will always be my favorite, but you have to read The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke, the short story that 2001 was based upon.

aurora899 · « **Reply #45 on:** 02/06/2009 09:45 am »

For fiction, I would recommend "Shuttle" by David C. Onley, a rather battered copy of which I still have on my bookshelf. It was published back in 1981, around the time of the first space shuttle mission. Basically, it tells the story of the first (disastrous) orbital test flight of NASA's new airborne launch system; a large hypersonic jet carries the shuttle orbiter to the edge of the atmosphere where it fires its own SSMEs and then climbs into orbit. (Rather like the pre-credits from the James Bond film "Moonraker" there is no explanation of where the liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel is kept). Anyway, the orbiter and its hypersonic carrier aircraft end up mated in low earth orbit after a problem just prior to separation and NASA is forced to launch a rescue mission.
As the blurb on the back cover reads, "a stunning story of rescue in space that grips to the very last page."

elmarko · « **Reply #46 on:** 02/06/2009 05:12 pm »

Are Jim Oberg's books any good?

PS, JimO, you can reply if you want but you may be slightly biased...

DMeader · « **Reply #47 on:** 02/06/2009 06:06 pm »

Quote from: elmarko on 02/06/2009 05:12 pm

Are Jim Oberg's books any good?

PS, JimO, you can reply if you want but you may be slightly biased...

Yes. Enough said.

MATTBLAK · « **Reply #48 on:** 02/07/2009 09:05 pm »

Quote from: elmarko on 02/06/2009 05:12 pm

Are Jim Oberg's books any good?

PS, JimO, you can reply if you want but you may be slightly biased...

Mr Oberg's books are terrific.

kneecaps · « **Reply #49 on:** 03/17/2009 02:44 pm »

Quote from: Jorge on 02/02/2009 09:57 pm

The fourth edition, to be published after shuttle retirement, may become a multivolume set in order to restore previously deleted material.

Ah! I have the 3rd edition and i've read it to death, one of my prized books! Please push for a multivolume set as I would really like to see the missing material.

(On a side note, I found a copy of Sutton for £15).

LMSenus · « **Reply #50 on:** 03/18/2009 12:25 am »

Has anybody mentioned Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton? I read that a few years ago and it was quite good.

I second the motion re: Kranz's book. I think I may take both books with me on vacation this June for a re-read.

Has anybody read Gene Cernan's book Last Man on the Moon?

Andrewwski · « **Reply #51 on:** 03/18/2009 01:08 am »

Yes, I've read all that you mentioned.

Don't remember too much about Cernan's though. It was a few years ago. Didn't stick out as one of the best, but I do think it was good nonetheless.

Blackstar · « **Reply #52 on:** 03/18/2009 01:11 am »

Quote from: LMSenus on 03/18/2009 12:25 am

Has anybody mentioned Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton? I read that a few years ago and it was quite good.

It's not good. It was ghost-written for them and contains a lot of mistakes.

Andrewwski · « **Reply #53 on:** 03/18/2009 01:15 am »

Maybe that's why I didn't remember it.

I've read too many astro-authored books that all but the best get jumbled together.

LMSenus · « **Reply #54 on:** 03/18/2009 01:19 am »

Quote from: Blackstar on 03/18/2009 01:11 am

Quote from: LMSenus on 03/18/2009 12:25 am
Has anybody mentioned Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton? I read that a few years ago and it was quite good.

It's not good. It was ghost-written for them and contains a lot of mistakes.

I read it years ago... guess I'm dropping that from the re-read list.

elmarko · « **Reply #55 on:** 03/30/2009 10:58 am »

Bumping the thread because I'm half way through Dragonfly, and all I can say is "holy crap".

Is there any evidence that some of the problems of those years are still around? Because reading it is really frustrating!

elmarko · « **Reply #56 on:** 03/30/2009 11:04 am »

And one other thing. It's generally accepted that JimO's Star-Crossed Orbits is a great book, but is Red Star in Orbit any good?

Edit: Not that I'll find it for cheap anywhere, of course.

Jorge · « **Reply #57 on:** 03/30/2009 08:05 pm »

Quote from: elmarko on 03/30/2009 10:58 am

Bumping the thread because I'm half way through Dragonfly, and all I can say is "holy crap".

Is there any evidence that some of the problems of those years are still around? Because reading it is really frustrating!

Some of it is gone. In particular the climate of fear created by Goldin/Abbey is no longer there. Other problems remain, of course.

Jim · « **Reply #58 on:** 03/30/2009 08:24 pm »

Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge
The Soviet Space Race with Apollo
Which are two books made from
Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945- 1974

by Asif Siddiqi

elmarko · « **Reply #59 on:** 03/30/2009 09:41 pm »

Looks like those are very highly regarded, Jim. Thanks for the tip.

PS, looks like I'm going to have to get JimO's books despatched from the US