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Space Systems Failures: Disasters and Rescues of Satellites, Rockets and Space Probes
In the 1960s and 1970s deep space missions were dispatched in pairs in case one was lost in launch or failed during its journey Following the triumphs of the Viking landings on Mars in 1976 and both Voyagers spacecraft successfully surveying the outer giant planets of the Solar System, it was decided by NASA to cut costs and send out just a single probe. Although Magellan successfully mapped Venus by radar, it suffered from problems during the flight. Then came the loss of Mars Observer, whose engine exploded as it was preparing to enter Mars orbit because it was using technology designed for Earths satellites and the engine was not suited to spending several months in space. Later came the high-profile losses of Mars Climate Observer and Mars Polar Lander - a consequence of the faster, better, cheaper philosophy introduced by Dan Goldin in 1993. Even the highly successful Galileo mission suffered a major setback when its high-gain antenna (also based on satellite mission suffered a major setback when its high-gain antenna (also based on satellite communication technology) failed to deploy fully, greatly diminishing the crafts radio transmission capabilities, forcing the ground crew to re-programme the on-board computer to enable it to fulfil its mission and provide stunning images of Jupiter and its moons. In Space Systems Failures, David Harland (here working with co-author Ralph Lorenz) describes the many quite fascinating tales of woe involving failures of rockets, satellites and deep space missions in his inimitable style, providing a unique insight into the trials and tribulations of exploration at the high frontier. .
Price: $19.62
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The Pre-Paid Legal Story: The Story of One Man, His Company, and Its Mission to Provide Affordable Legal Protection for Everyone
It began by accident In 1969 Harland Stonecipher came face-to-face with the high price of justice when a car accident he was involved in found its way into the courts. Even though the accident was not his fault, the staggering costs of legal protection nearly destroyed him financially. This traumatic experience planted the seeds of a vision that would eventually become Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc., the company that is revolutionizing justice in America by giving average citizens access to top lawyers for as little as $15 a month. Inside, discover the dramatic story of Pre-Paid Legal and its army of enthusiastic associates who together make legal protection not just a privilege for the few, but a right for all. About the AuthorsHarland C. Stonecipher is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. He lives in Ada, Oklahoma. James W. Robinson, the author of the bestselling The Excel Phenomenon and Empire of Freedom, is senior adviser to the United States Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Los Angeles..
Price: $11.50
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Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
David Harland opens with a review of the robotic probes, namely the Rangers which returned television before crashing into the Moon, the Surveyors which 'soft landed' in order to investigate the nature of the surface, and the Lunar Orbiters which mapped prospective Apollo landing sites. He then outlines the historic landing by Apollo 11 in terms of what was discovered, and how over the next several missions the program was progressively geared up to enable the final three missions each to spend three days on comprehensive geological investigations. He concludes with a review of the robotic spacecraft that made remote-sensing observations of the Moon. Although aimed at the enthusiast, and can be read as an adventure in exploration, the book develops the scientific theme of lunar geology, and therefore will be of use as background reading for undergraduate students of planetary sciences. In addition, with the prospect of a resumption of human missions, it will help journalists understand what Apollo achieved after the 'flags and footprints' of the Apollo 11 landing in July1969 and will commemorate the fortieth anniversary of that momentous event. Highlighted as a "Commemorative Edition" on the cover, this second edition will have a new Foreword by one of the original astronauts and a short extra section at the end previewing the prospect of a renewal of human exploration of the Moon. It will include new extra high quality graphics which are only now available and 32 pages of colour illustrations. .
Price: $23.00
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Apollo: The Definitive Sourcebook (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
On 25 May 1961, John F Kennedy announced the goal of landing an American man on the Moon by the end of the decade. This challenge forced NASA to review the planned lunar landing of a three-man spaceship named Apollo in the mid-1970s. In 1962, it was decided that a specialized vehicle would accompany the main spacecraft, to make the lunar landing while the mothership remained in lunar orbit. To send these vehicles to the Moon would require the development of an enormous rocket. Development was protracted, but in December 1968 Apollo 8 was launched on a pioneering mission to perform an initial reconnaissance in lunar orbit. When Apollo 17 lifted off from the Moon in December 1972, the program was concluded. Now, at long last, there is a real prospect of a resumption of human exploration of the Moon. This book provides an overview of the origins of the Apollo program and descriptions of the ground facilities, launch vehicles and spacecraft that will serve as an invaluable single-volume sourcebook for space enthusiasts, space historians, journalists, and programme-makers on radio and TV. It supplements tha other books that have focused on the politics and management of the Apollo program, the astronauts, and their training and exploits. .
Price: $39.90
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The First Men on the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11 (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
The First Men on the Moon offers a lively definitive account of the Apollo 11 mission based on the in-flight transcripts post-flight debriefing, with illustrative contextual pictures, especially featuring recent scans of the original Hasselblad film and including conversations among the crew in the spacecraft that were not transmitted. The introductory chapters review the motivation to land on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, the development of the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft as the means of doing so, the selection of potential landing sites, the precursor missions, and the backgrounds of the three men who were to fly Apollo 11. The final chapters will discuss what was learned of the moonrocks, and review the follow-on missions. In addition to having many ‘small’ in-line black-and-white illustrations with the text running around them, the book features the high-resolution scans recently produced by NASA from the original Hasselblad film, reproduced in a substantial color section. David Harland's impressive expertise in, and considerable experience wriring about, the Moon landings shines through and seemlessly unites the myriad details From the reviews of Harland's Exploring the Moon: "A detailed guide to what the astronauts did during their stays on the lunar surface. Walk(s) the reader through the prospecting excursions and then incorporate(s) decades of subsequent analysis to put the explorations of dust, rocks, craters, and rilles into geologic context." SKY & TELESCOPE "Very well illustrated… All aficionados of the Apollo program will find much to appreciate in [this book].” "…this is an interesting account of one of the most extraordinary decades in history…a very different book. David Harland probably knows more about the nuts and bolts of the Russian and American space programs than any other author and it shows.” LUNAR & PLANETARY INFORMATION BULLETIN
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Price: $16.33
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Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1927
They built some of the first communal structures on the empire's frontiers. The empire's most powerful proconsuls sought entrance into their lodges. Their public rituals drew dense crowds from Montreal to Madras..
Price: $31.49
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Robotic Exploration of the Solar System: Part I: The Golden Age 1957-1982 (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide in Robotic Exploration of the Solar System a detailed history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System. As in their previous book Lunar Exploration, the subject will be treated wherever possible from an engineering and scientific standpoint. Technical descriptions of the spacecraft, of their mission designs and of instrumentations will be provided. Scientific results will be discussed in considerable depth, together with details of mission management. The book will be comprehensive, covering missions and results from the 1950s until the present day, and some of the latest missions and their results will appear in a popular science book for the first time. The authors will also cover many unflown missions, providing an indication of the ideas that proved to be unfulfilled at the time but which may still be proven and useful in the future. Just like Lunar Exploration, this book will use sources only recently made available on the Soviet space program, in addition to some obscure and rarely used references on the European space program. Unflown European projects of the 1960s and 1970s, a subject never before treated, will also be covered. .
Price: $26.06
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