In just 50 years, space exploration has advanced from the Luna 1, the first artificial object to overcome Earth's gravitational field, to the New Horizons Mission, which will reach Pluto in 2015. Progress has been spectacular, and it bodes well for the remarkable achievements to come. Space Probes is the first complete and fully illustrated history of the international space exploration programme. Thoroughly up to date, it is organized by destination and includes every space probe launched by all countries active in space exploration - the United States, the USSR/Russia, the European Union, Japan, China and India. Each probe is described as to its objective, its technology, the hurdles overcome, the successes and failures of the mission, the information gained and the lessons learned. Fascinating photographs and technical drawings give an inside view of each mission, and special features focus on key engineers and physicists and the fruits of their research. After a section on the history of astronomy, Space Probes covers missions to: The moon, the first objective; Venus, our sister planet; Mars, the red planet; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the giant planets; Mercury; The sun; Comets; Asteroids and the dwarf planets; Future missions. The book also includes sections on the Apollo Space Program, the USSR-USA space race and a cross-referenced chronological index of all the probes. Engaging and accessible, Space Probes is a comprehensive and expertly researched encyclopedia of humanity's space explorations, an adventure that has not finished astonishing us.
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.65
Trade in Space Probes: 50 Years of Exploration from Luna 1 to New Horizons for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.65, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
Ever since Sputnik made Earth orbit in 1957, mankind has been flinging tiny flecks of metal...farther and farther from home in an effort to get a grip on our solar system's secrets.... Philippe Seguela compiles them all, cataloging each unmanned mission that one or another earthbound nation has hurled toward a heavenly body..... Seguela also looks at spacecraft still in transit, including the Pluto-bound New Horizons. They may look like sci-fi space junk, but Seguela sees the majesty therein: Just like the pyramids and great cathedrals, solar-system space probes represent glorious monuments to human ingenuity.--Aaron Leitko"Washington Post" (11/14/2011)
About the Author
Philippe Seguela is a professor of neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He has been passionate about space exploration for more than 30 years. James Oberg, the NBC News space consultant, is a well-known interpreter of space exploration. He spent 22 years as a NASA space engineer and has written 10 books and more than a thousand articles about space flight.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By D J Wilson
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found this to be great and very informative book. It covers probe missions from the 1950s up till the late 2000s. Useful for anyone who wants know the history of unmanned space flight.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a book packed full of amazing photos and loads of information. It's such a shame that the mission Juno just missed out on being published in it, but it's still a great read. I think the layout of the book makes it easier to find what you want, and once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. A highly recommended read if you are interested in all space missions, especially those that flew to the Moon and Mars.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Major New Book
24 Nov 2011
By edward belbruno
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I am excited about this major new book by Philippe Seguela, the first of its kind on the history of space probes. It is beautifully illustrated and hard to put down. He captures the excitement of space exploration, with detailed descriptions of each space probe, with magnificient illustrations and photographs. It is spellbinding. If you want to learn all about the wonders of space exploration, this is book to buy. This can serve as a reference on the subject for years to come.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a wonderful history
18 Jan 2012
By Jerry Saperstein
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
It seems that few people feel the excitement today of satellites blasting off into space to explore the dimensions of our Solar System and beyond.
Phillipe Seguela sets forth the history of space probes since their beginning, a mere 53 years ago. In that time, we have gone from having no direct contact with our Moon and companion planets to a point where Pluto will be revealed to some degree in 2015 by a passing probe and we have already examined the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, the Sun, comets and asteroids and more.
This is a beautifully illustrated volume and Seguela's writing style is easy-to-live with. He packs a lot of information into these pages about technical details of the space probes, their designers, namesakes, the physics of space travel and more.
This is the kind of book I wish was given to more children to excite them about science and technology. I know my young grandson will soon have a copy of his very own and I hope it keeps him company for many hours.
A great history of the international development of space probes.
Jerry
Phillipe Seguela sets forth the history of space probes since their beginning, a mere 53 years ago. In that time, we have gone from having no direct contact with our Moon and companion planets to a point where Pluto will be revealed to some degree in 2015 by a passing probe and we have already examined the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, the Sun, comets and asteroids and more.
This is a beautifully illustrated volume and Seguela's writing style is easy-to-live with. He packs a lot of information into these pages about technical details of the space probes, their designers, namesakes, the physics of space travel and more.
This is the kind of book I wish was given to more children to excite them about science and technology. I know my young grandson will soon have a copy of his very own and I hope it keeps him company for many hours.
A great history of the international development of space probes.
Jerry
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's a Coffee Table Book!
22 Aug 2012
By TedJ in LA
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the old Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man", the assistant runs to warn her soon-to-be-on-the-menu boss "It's a cookbook!" Unfortunately, that's my reaction to this beautiful but sparsely detailed new book on space probes: "It's a coffee table book!"
The cover makes you salivate for Jane's Space Directory-type descriptions, tables and charts with mission objectives, velocities, distances, encounter dates etc in ten-point pica, but alas, it's not what you get on the inside. Each mission is given a perfunctory 2-6 pages with minimal narrative and full page color illustrations and photos, but only the most basic diagrams of the probes or landers themselves. Technical detail is almost entirely omitted. Interspersed are for-beginners-only one page tributes to Galileo, Magellan, Lowell, Goddard, Carl Sagan, etc with a paragraph or two on who they were. Logically organized and beautifully illustrated and rendered, the book is only a basic -- if comprehensive -- overview of what I regard as the single greatest human accomplishment of my lifetime: the 50 year exploration of every major planet and moon in our solar system.
If you're looking for rich technical detail on the probes themselves or the worlds they've visited, you need to look elsewhere.
The cover makes you salivate for Jane's Space Directory-type descriptions, tables and charts with mission objectives, velocities, distances, encounter dates etc in ten-point pica, but alas, it's not what you get on the inside. Each mission is given a perfunctory 2-6 pages with minimal narrative and full page color illustrations and photos, but only the most basic diagrams of the probes or landers themselves. Technical detail is almost entirely omitted. Interspersed are for-beginners-only one page tributes to Galileo, Magellan, Lowell, Goddard, Carl Sagan, etc with a paragraph or two on who they were. Logically organized and beautifully illustrated and rendered, the book is only a basic -- if comprehensive -- overview of what I regard as the single greatest human accomplishment of my lifetime: the 50 year exploration of every major planet and moon in our solar system.
If you're looking for rich technical detail on the probes themselves or the worlds they've visited, you need to look elsewhere.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Science & Nature > Astronomy & Cosmology > Astronomy > Star Gazing
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Aeronautics & Aerospace > Astronautics
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Engineering Physics
- Books > Science & Nature > Physics > Applied Physics > Astrophysics
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
