Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space
by Roger D. Launius, Dennis R. Jenkins
Publisher: NASA 2012
Number of pages: 397
Returning to Earth after a flight into space is a fundamental challenge, and contributions from the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in aerodynamics, thermal protection, guidance and control, stability, propulsion, and landing systems have proven critical to the success of the human space flight and other space programs. Without this base of fundamental and applied research, the capability to fly into space would not exist.
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by Boris Chertok - NASA
In this volume the famous spacecraft designer Boris Chertok, who worked under Sergey Korolev, continues his fascinating narrative on the Soviet space program, this time covering 1968 to 1974, the peak years of the Soviet human lunar program.
by David P. Stern - phy6.org
A coherent, self-contained course at the high-school level, also suitable for independent study, rich in history. It deals with the world of gravity -- of massive planets and stars, and the way spaceflight is achieved despite their strong pull.
by J. S. Lewis, M. S. Matthews - University of Arizona Press
Parts of the solar system that are most accessible from Earth are rich in materials of great potential value. Immediate uses of these resources to manufacture propellants, metals, and fluids can support future large-scale space activities.
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Anybody who has watched many movies or television shows has seen them -- the ubiquitous silver suits worn by pilots as they explore the unknown. They are called pressure suits, and one can trace their lineage to Wiley Post or, a bit earlier.