5 space books all space fans should read

[Spaceception]

 

[StrandedonEarth]

For those who can't watch the video, for one reason or another...

1. RocketMan, by Nancy Conrad and Howard Klausner

2. How Apollo Flew to the Moon, by David Woods

3. This New Ocean by Swenson, Grimwood, and Alexander

4. Dyna-Soar, by Robert Godwin

5. The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut

6. Breaking the Chains of Gravity, by Amy Shira Teitel

Hmm, I saw 6 go by. I haven't read any of them, I'll have to give them a go

Edited March 25, 2016 by StrandedonEarth

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I started reading Breaking the Chains of Gravity, by Amy Shira Teitel but didn't have the time to get much reading in so I took it back to the library- I liked the pacing and feel of the writing though and will borrow it again to finish it. Spoiler: early rockets guys were crazy.

[Dfthu]

No martian? 

[Steel]

1 hour ago, Dfthu said:

No martian? 

I think this is because the video is intended for people who want books on actual spaceflight, as opposed to novels. "The Sirens of Titan" seems to have been included just to placate people who complain when there is no mention of science fiction.

[Nikolai]

For my money, Carrying the Fire was pretty darned good.  As was Deke!, but the piecemeal nature of it might put some readers off.

[kerbiloid]

"Pocketbook of Young Scout", 2250 A.D. edition.

"100 ways to grow and cook potatoes in vacuum."

"Physics for Elementary Schools, Vol. I"

[benzman]

13 hours ago, Nikolai said:

For my money, Carrying the Fire was pretty darned good.  As was Deke!, but the piecemeal nature of it might put some readers off.

Agree on both books.

[Mr Shifty]

How can the list not have Chaikin's A Man on the Moon? Mary Roach's Packing for Mars is pretty excellent as well.

[p1t1o]

I recommend "Ignition!: An informal history of rocket propellants" (available for free here: http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf)

Written in quite an accessible manner, very illustrative for those interested in rocketry, engineering or chemistry/chemical engineering.

[ModZero]

"Ignition!" is fantastic, though by the end it kinda starts getting crazy with chemistry. I guess this must how mathematics must feel to other people. Not only it's a very informative book, though, but also a source of fantastic conversation starters.

[p1t1o]

31 minutes ago, ModZero said:

"Ignition!" is fantastic, though by the end it kinda starts getting crazy with chemistry. I guess this must how mathematics must feel to other people. Not only it's a very informative book, though, but also a source of fantastic conversation starters.

Definitely right on the conversational anecdotes, you wouldn't believe how many people I have converted to rocketry with the story about lemon oil!

Ok, its zero, but still a really good read!

[ModZero]

1 hour ago, p1t1o said:

Definitely right on the conversational anecdotes, you wouldn't believe how many people I have converted to rocketry with the story about lemon oil!

Ok, its zero, but still a really good read!

See, that's because you went with the lemon oil. I go with butyl mercaptan, and the test stand still keeping the smell 10 years later. And maybe the mercury injection. People like scary stories.

Edited March 29, 2016 by ModZero

[KerbonautInTraining]

So Sci-Fi isn't part of this list?

Even then, it's worth mentioning Stephen Baxter's NASA trilogy. They contain a very good dose of actual science.

(I've been fanboy-ing over them for months now, they are really really good)

[ModZero]

1 hour ago, KerbonautInTraining said:

So Sci-Fi isn't part of this list?

Uhhh...

On 24 March 2016 at 10:23 PM, StrandedonEarth said:

5. The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut

That's not exactly documentary ;-) (or is it?)

[Basto]

Good books!  I would add Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot to that list. 

[wumpus]

Some I have recommended:

Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship: by George Dyson.  Freeman Dyson's (the guy behind Orion) son covers the project.  Not all space opera is sci-fi.

Space Flight: by Carsbie Adams.  Extremely dated (it was rush-written after Sputnik and shows it), it is one of the few books I've ever seen that covers space flight from basics to fuels and delta-v, and orbital mechanics.  If you need one book to take you from STEM undergraduate to budding rocket scientist (and boy was that an issue post-sputnik) this is for you.  Available used on amazon.

[Jeb1969]

1. Lost Moon (Apollo 13) by Jim Lovell and Jeffery Kluger: A really fine and compelling read, chopped full of Aerospace and Spaceflight terminology, also this book was the book Ron Howard used to base the popular 1995 film after.

2. Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz: Like Lost Moon this book has the same terminological vibe only it covers more than just the Apollo 13 Mission.

3. Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr. : This memoir of a former NASA employee is set in the  gritty coal mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia where a teenaged Homer, heir to his father's position as a mining engineer is determined to reach for the skies without the need for mines, so much to say it is very "Prodigious"

4. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe: An interesting if not slightly satirical look at the USA Breaking the sound barrier, and the Mercury Seven Astronauts. 

[benzman]

Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane.  A well written, technically interesting and often hilariously funny look at what it was really like to be a NASA astronaut in the shuttle era.

At The Edge Of Space by Milton Thompson.  Not strictly a space book, but a rattling good read about the X-15 project.  Lots of great anecdotes and plenty of technical information.  Eight X-15 pilots flew high enough to qualify as astronauts.  Joe Engle and Neil Armstrong flew the X-15.  Joe Engle went went on to fly the shuttle.  We all know what happened to Neil.

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by benzman

[stibbons]

Coincidentally, this list bubbled up shortly after I watched Amy Shira Teitel give a talk about the Dyna Soar for the Sydney science festival. That talk made me want to read more about the Dyna Soar, as well as pick up her book.

[The Raging Sandwich]

Isn't she the person that's always on the Science Channel?

Anyways, two really good books about the Apollo Program are:

Apollo: The Epic Journey To The Moon by David Reynolds. I got it from the National Air and Space Museum on vacation. It talks about in depth how the Apollo Program came about and the struggles behind it.

And Apollo Through The Eyes Of The Astronauts by Stephen Hawking. I've read them both cover to cover. 

[jwenting]

On 3/25/2016 at 10:23 PM, StrandedonEarth said:

For those who can't watch the video, for one reason or another...

1. RocketMan, by Nancy Conrad and Howard Klausner

2. How Apollo Flew to the Moon, by David Woods

3. This New Ocean by Swenson, Grimwood, and Alexander

4. Dyna-Soar, by Robert Godwin

5. The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut

6. Breaking the Chains of Gravity, by Amy Shira Teitel

Hmm, I saw 6 go by. I haven't read any of them, I'll have to give them a go

Yes, the 6th is her own book.

[KSK]

On 29 March 2016 at 4:50 AM, Mr Shifty said:

How can the list not have Chaikin's A Man on the Moon? Mary Roach's Packing for Mars is pretty excellent as well.

Both of those would get my vote too. "Packing for Mars" could easily be re-titled 'everything you didn't know about human spaceflight and were afraid to ask'.

[razark]

On 3/28/2016 at 10:50 PM, Mr Shifty said:

How can the list not have Chaikin's A Man on the Moon?

I need to find another copy of that.  I've managed to lose two of them already.  That, and I keep losing copies of Zubrin's The Case for Mars, for some reason.

Edited August 22, 2016 by razark