Author: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2014-10-23
Total Pages: 138
ISBN-13: 9781502933911
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Some exploratory enterprises start with fanfare and end with a quiet burial; some start with hardly a notice, yet end up significantly advancing mankind's knowledge. The Interplanetary Pioneers more closely fit the latter description. When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration started the program a decade ago it received little public attention. Yet the four spacecraft, designated Pioneers 6, 7, 8, and 9, have faithfully lived up to their name as defined by Webster, "to discover or explore in advance of others." These pioneering spacecraft were the first to systematically orbit the Sun at widely separated points in space, collecting information on conditions far from the Earth's disturbing influence. From them we have learned much about space, the solar wind, and the fluctuating bursts of cosmic radiation of both solar and galactic origin. These Pioneers have proven to be superbly reliable scientific explorers, sending back information far in excess of their design lifetimes over a period that covers much of the solar cycle. This publication attempts to assemble a full accounting of this remarkable program.
Author: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2014-10-23
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781502933768
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Some exploratory enterprises start with fanfare and end with a quiet burial; some start with hardly a notice, yet end up significantly advancing mankind's knowledge. The Interplanetary Pioneers more closely fit the latter description. When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration started the program a decade ago it received little public attention. Yet the four spacecraft, designated Pioneers 6, 7, 8, and 9, have faithfully lived up to their name as defined by Webster, "to discover or explore in advance of others." These pioneering spacecraft were the first to systematically orbit the Sun at widely separated points in space, collecting information on conditions far from the Earth's disturbing influence. From them we have learned much about space, the solar wind, and the fluctuating bursts of cosmic radiation of both solar and galactic origin. These Pioneers have proven to be superbly reliable scientific explorers, sending back information far in excess of their design lifetimes over a period that covers much of the solar cycle. This publication attempts to assemble a full accounting of this remarkable program.
Author: Andrew Kessler
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2014-07-15
Total Pages: 295
ISBN-13: 1497641403
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A space enthusiast goes inside mission control with a motley crew of rocket scientists in this “fascinating journey of discovery peppered with humor” (Publishers Weekly). The Phoenix Mars mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian arctic. Its purpose was to find out how climate change could turn a warm, wet planet (read: Earth) into a cold, barren desert (read: Mars). Along the way, Phoenix discovered a giant frozen ocean trapped beneath the north pole of Mars, exotic food for aliens, and liquid water, and laid the foundation for NASA’s current exploration of Mars using the Curiosity rover. This is not science fiction. It’s fact. And for the luckiest fanboy in fandom, it was the best vacation ever. Andrew Kessler spent the summer of 2008 in NASA’s mission control with one hundred thirty of the world’s best planetary scientists and engineers as they carried out this ambitious operation. He came back with a story of human drama about modern-day pioneers battling NASA politics, temperamental robots, and the bizarre world of daily life in mission control.