NASA—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration created in the wake of the Space Act—has and continues to accomplish those precepts every day. With many hundreds of satellites launched into space and close to 200 human spaceflights, NASA is a proven leader in space exploration. Most of the US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles. NASA is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. The Historical Guide to NASA and the Space Program contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on space missions, astronauts, technical terms, space shuttles, satellites and the international space station. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about NASA and space exploration.

This bestselling reference guide contains the most reliable and comprehensive material on launch programs in Brazil, China, Europe, India, Israel, and the United States. Packed with illustrations and figures, this edition has been updated and expanded, and offers a quick and easy data retrieval source for policy makers, planners, engineers, launch buyers, and students.

The first in-depth, fully illustrated history of global space discovery and exploration from ancient times to the modern era “The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration examines civilization’s continued desire to explore the next frontier as only the Smithsonian can do it.” —Buzz Aldrin, Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 astronaut and author of No Dream Is Too High Former NASA and Smithsonian space curator and historian Roger D. Launius presents a comprehensive history of our endeavors to understand the universe, honoring millennia of human curiosity, ingenuity, and achievement. This extensive study of international space exploration is packed with over 500 photographs, illustrations, graphics, and cutaways, plus plenty of sidebars on key scientific and technological developments, influential figures, and pioneering spacecraft. Starting with space exploration's origins in the pioneering work undertaken by ancient civilizations and the great discoveries of the Renaissance thinkers, Launius also devotes whole chapters to our space race to the Moon, space planes and orbital stations, and the lure of the red planet Mars. He also offers new insights into well-known moments such as the launch of Sputnik 1 and the Apollo Moon landing and explores the unexpected events and hidden figures of space history. The final chapters cover the technological and mechanical breakthroughs enabling humans to explore far beyond our own planet in recent decades, speculating on the future of space exploration, including space tourism and our possible future as an extraterrestrial species. This is a must-read for space buffs and everyone intrigued by the history and future of scientific discovery. "This oversize offering is a space nerd’s dream come true." —Booklist

Military Writers Society of America Awards, Gold Medal for History Highlighting men and women across the globe who have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of space exploration, this book surveys the programs, technological advancements, medical equipment, and automated systems that have made space travel possible. Beginning with the invention of balloons that lifted early explorers into the stratosphere, Ted Spitzmiller describes how humans first came to employ lifting gasses such as hydrogen and helium. He traces the influence of science fiction writers on the development of rocket science, looks at the role of rocket societies in the early twentieth century, and discusses the use of rockets in World War II warfare. Spitzmiller considers the engineering and space medicine advances that finally enabled humans to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. He recreates the excitement felt around the world as Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn completed their first orbital flights. He recounts triumphs and tragedies, such as Neil Armstrong's "one small step" and the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The story continues with the development of the International Space Station, NASA's interest in asteroids and Mars, and the emergence of China as a major player in the space arena. Spitzmiller shows the impact of space flight on human history and speculates on the future of exploration beyond our current understandings of physics and the known boundaries of time and space.

When future generations review the history of the twentieth century they will undoubtedly judge humanity's movement into space space, with both machines and people, as one of its seminal developments. Even at this juncture, the complex nature of spaceflight and the activity that it has engendered on the part of many peoples and governments makes the U.S. civil space program a significant area of investigation. People from form all avenues of experience and levels of education share an interest in the drama of spaceflight. This book is the most up-to-date synthesis of the American civil space program available, and the only one designed especially for use as a college textbook. Written by NASA's chief historian, itit describes the history of this effort from its earliest origins to the early 1990s and offers a powerful analysis of the space program that merges political, economic, technological, scientific, and foreign affairs into a meaningful whole. As in all the Anvil Series texts, it has both a sound historical narrative and a set of key documents which suggest other aspects of the story.

This book is in full-color - other editions may be in grayscale (non-color). The hardback version is ISBN 9781680920512 and the paperback version is ISBN 9781680920505. The NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Handbook (NASA/SP-2014-3705) is the companion document to NPR 7120.5E and represents the accumulation of knowledge NASA gleaned on managing program and projects coming out of NASA's human, robotic, and scientific missions of the last decade. At the end of the historic Shuttle program, the United States entered a new era that includes commercial missions to low-earth orbit as well as new multi-national exploration missions deeper into space. This handbook is a codification of the "corporate knowledge" for existing and future NASA space flight programs and projects. These practices have evolved as a function of NASA's core values on safety, integrity, team work, and excellence, and may also prove a resource for other agencies, the private sector, and academia. The knowledge gained from the victories and defeats of that era, including the checks and balances and initiatives to better control cost and risk, provides a foundation to launch us into an exciting and healthy space program of the future.

Full color publication. This document has been produced and updated over a 21-year period. It is intended to be a handy reference document, basically one page per flight, and care has been exercised to make it as error-free as possible. This document is basically "as flown" data and has been compiled from many sources including flight logs, flight rules, flight anomaly logs, mod flight descent summary, post flight analysis of mps propellants, FDRD, FRD, SODB, and the MER shuttle flight data and inflight anomaly list. Orbit distance traveled is taken from the PAO mission statistics.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a great international, technological, and political achievement. It is the latest step in humankind's quest to explore and live in space. The research done on the ISS may advance our knowledge in various areas of science, enable us to improve life on this planet, and give us the experience and increased understanding that can eventually equip us to journey to other worlds. As a result of the Station s complexity, few understand its configuration, its design and component systems, or the complex operations required in its construction and operation. This book provides high-level insight into the ISS. The ISS is in orbit today, operating with a crew of three. Its assembly will continue through 2010. As the ISS grows, its capabilities will increase, thus requiring a larger crew. Currently, 16 countries are involved in this venture. The sophisticated procedures required in the Station's construction and operation are presented in Amazing 3D Graphics generated by NASA 104 pages of spectacularly detailed color graphics the Space Station as you've never seen it before!