Book recommendations?

[Qwarkk]

So KSP has lead me down the road of addiction to all things spaceflight, and now i want to learn anything and everything about aerospace, orbital mechanics, astronomy etc etc etc. I'd love some recommendations for some informative books / documentaries / films I could get that aren't so advanced they'll make my head hurt but do go into things with depth.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

[Sam!]

history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_spaceflight

physics 101 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics

news http://www.space.com/news

Hope you have fun, i added some music, movies and a short story for when ja' wanna watch something after studying and cool down the brain.

-movies-

-short story-

http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/When_Gods_Blink

-music-

Neat Beats - Turning on the Large Hadron Collider

Arvo Pärt - Fratres

Duster - Echo, Bravo

 

 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Sam!
text error

[LordFerret]

Khan was a great suggestion.

Also in that realm, one among MANY others, MIT OpenCourseware ...

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/
 

[Spaceception]

Wizards, Aliens, and Starships, physics and math behind fantasy and science fiction.

https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Aliens-Starships-Physics-Fantasy/dp/0691147159

[p1t1o]

Time to roll out this old chesnut again!

https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf

If the pdf doesn't load or appears corrupt, try another browser, the document does work.

Its written in quite an informal, documentary style, but is a widely respected brief history of rocket fuel research. Hardcopies go for several hundred dollars.

 

This is also an excellent document detailing the design history of the safeguard anti-ballistic missile system:

http://srmsc.org/pdf/004438p0.pdf

Pretty easy to read, lots of official detail. Even if you are not too interested in the military aspect, the rocketry of this particular project is fascinating, and gives some insight into how high-priority projects of this ilk are run.

 

Novels-wise, these are excellent:

Seveneaves, Neal Stephenson

Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson

The Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton - OK this one is more a bit of fun, but I really like it. WorldWarZ in space essentially. And the space combat is dealt with quite nicely, the only real handwavy-part is their FTL drives.

 

Music wise? Erm...well this was the first "compact disc" I ever bought

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Various-Artists-Space-Themes/dp/B000YILH46

 

Oh and if you havn't already found it, this site is indispensable:

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/

Intended for people writing science fiction, it is a repository for lots of space related information. Especially good for different forms of propulsion, from current to near future to more exotic hypotheticals.

 

Another excellent resource for documents and books:

https://archive.org/

Worth a ruffle through, lots of NASA docs on there.

 

 

tip-top-tip: when googling, use the term "filetype:pdf" (without quotes) to find documents. Of course you can enter other file types.

 

[legoclone09]

If you haven't read The Martian yet, go read it. Now.

I've also heard the 2001: A Space Odyssey books are good.

[Andem]

Ender's Game.

[legoclone09]

22 minutes ago, Andem said:

Ender's Game.

^ Yes! Great book! Rest of the series was OK, though.

[Cydonian Monk]

I'm a big fan of Henry Petroski's engineering books, but particularly "To Engineer is Human."

https://www.amazon.com/To-Engineer-Is-Human-Successful/dp/0679734163

He does a very nice job of taking basic engineering mistakes and drilling down into them in ways that ye lesser mortals average folk can understand. Very good introduction to a few engineering principles without reading like a textbook. It's not entirely aerospace, but the mindset the book covers is very much cross-discipline.

 

I also really like Gene Kranz's "Failure is Not an Option," which is an excellent recollection of his experiences in mission control. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1439148813

[MaxxQ]

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam - The true story of a kid in a West Virginia coal mining town (Coalwood, WV, natch), who was inspired to become a rocket scientist when he watched Sputnik fly over one night.  While Hickam never actually became a rocket scientist, he DID end up working for NASA training astronauts in the zero-gee simulator (AKA really big swimming pool).  The movie October Sky was based on that book (and is also an anagram of Rocket Boys).  The rockets used in the movie were designed and built (and flown) by Ky Michaelson of Rocketman, a high-power/amateur rocketry kit and motor manfacturer.  After the film was released, he offered a kit of the final rocket (several hundred $$) that included a machined aluminum DeLaval nozzle exactly like the one used in the movie (removed for flight).

Like most book-to-movie adaptations, the book is much better than the film, although the film wasn't bad at all.  There's a lot more detail on Homer's learning process, especially considering the challenges of getting the kinds of books and other materials in a town and school where the only way you leave is in a casket, being a star football player, or marrying one of the Ohio coal company men managing the town.

[razark]

The Right Stuff - Wolfe

The Case for Mars - Zubrin

A Man on the Moon - Chaikin

Edited September 29, 2016 by razark

[0111narwhalz]

If you're looking for a game that's like KSP but with more physics and moar dakka, Children of a Dead Earth is a great one. You might recall the threads that have sprung up over time asking for N-body orbital mechanics in KSP. In CoaDE N-body is in full effect. This means perturbations, Lagrange points, and a whole host of other interesting side effects. It's also real-scale, which means Jupiter is bloody massive, and ridiculously far away. If you've ever played From the Depths and wanted even more customisable guns (and more kinds), you're in for a treat. Railguns, coilguns, conventional guns, lasers, flak missiles, nuclear missiles, drones, radiators, armor of a dozen kinds, decoys, nuclear-thermal, ion, and chemical drives (maybe even FFD), powerplants, and beautiful, glorious plate-by-plate destruction. All of which are based upon real-world maths. Those familiar with KSP will immediately recognize such mainstays as ∆V, V_e or I_sp, and transfer orbits (though they look a little different).

Pretty much the only downside I can figure is the graphics and ship aesthetics. As far as I have seen, all ships have circular cross-sections. They take the form of cigar-shaped tubes with guns and radiators protruding from their skins. I'm sure you'll grow to love them, though, just as you've grown to love KSP's sometimes-awkward aesthetic.

_{Totally not a QSwitched salesperson. I swear.}

[Dispatcher]

1 hour ago, razark said:

The Right Stuff - Wolfe

The Case for Mars - Zubrin

A Man on the Moon - Chaikin

I have "The Case for Mars".  Good stuff.

[Qwarkk]

These are all great suggestions, thanks everyone. Plenty of reading to do!