To Rise from Earth: An Easy-To-Understand Guide to Space Flight

by Wayne Lee

Book Overview

Provides an overview of the history and technology of space flight, summarizes the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, and looks ahead to possible Mars missions. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816033536
• ISBN13: 9780816033539
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: Facts on File
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Good overview of orbital mechanics and space history

This book is about half what it says in the title, covering the details of orbital mechanics: getting into orbit, changing orbits, and rendezvous. In the second part, it turns more historical, providing brief overviews of both the manned and unmanned space programs, focusing particularly on the space shuttle and on interplanetary expeditions. It's about as clearly and as simply written as a book on such a topic could be and is sumptuously illustrated with appropriate diagrams, photographs, and tables.I quibbled with the occasional inaccuracy on non-central subjects: Michael Collins may now be "pursuing a career in international diplomacy," but after he left the astronaut corps he first became the director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. And Apollo 13 was never in danger of running out of air, since the lunar module needed plenty of extra oxygen to vent out the cabin at the beginning of each moonwalk. But those are peripheral to the core and only of interest to a nitpicker like me, who starts looking for other inaccuracies rather than continuing to pay full attention to the text.It would also have been nice to see more about the technology of space flight than just the orbital mechanics. For example, it might have been worthwhile to discuss the sort of instruments that get put on board a spacecraft and the technology that a satellite uses to determine its position.But anyhow, the book is very good at what it covers. I would recommend it highly to someone who is just learning about space flight, though only mildly to someone who already knows the basic concepts.

A simple, no equations introduction to Space Flight

To Rise From Earth is a good introduction to the science of space flight. A combination of history and science, this well illustrated book explains the basic science of space flight, orbital mechanics and flying to other planets at a level that should be understandable by a high school student. The book is profusely illustrated, and full of marginal comments - Historical facts, Scientific facts, Rules of thumb - which make it very dippable. True to its intent, it explains the pricipals of space flight clearly, without using a single equation. As well as the theory, the book also gives a history of space flight, from the first experiments with rockects by Goddard and von Braun, through the American manned space programs (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo), with a large chapter devoted to the Space Shuttle. A review of unmanned planetary probes is also given, along with a final chapter on future exploration of Mars. Throughout the book focuses on the American space program. One of its shortcomings is that the Russian space program is almost completely ignored. Also some of the Scientific and Historical facts given are wrong. Overall, a very simple, readable and useful reference