Escape from Earth

Escape from Earth
Author: Fraser MacDonald
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1610398696

The long-buried truth about the dawn of the Space Age: lies, spies, socialism, and sex magick. Los Angeles, 1930s: Everyone knows that rockets are just toys, the stuff of cranks and pulp magazines. Nevertheless, an earnest engineering student named Frank Malina sets out to prove the doubters wrong. With the help of his friend Jack Parsons, a grandiose and occult-obsessed explosives enthusiast, Malina embarks on a journey that takes him from junk yards and desert lots to the heights of the military-industrial complex. Malina designs the first American rocket to reach space and establishes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But trouble soon finds him: the FBI suspects Malina of being a communist. And when some classified documents go missing, will his comrades prove as dependable as his engineering? Drawing on an astonishing array of untapped sources, including FBI documents and private archives, Escape From Earth tells the inspiring true story of Malina's achievements--and the political fear that's kept them hidden. At its heart, this is an Icarus tale: a real life fable about the miracle of human ingenuity and the frailty of dreams.

Comparison of Trajectory Profiles and Nuclear-propulsion-module Arrangements for Manned Mars and Mars-Venus Missions

Comparison of Trajectory Profiles and Nuclear-propulsion-module Arrangements for Manned Mars and Mars-Venus Missions
Author: Edward A. Jr Willis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 36
Release: 1971
Genre: Nuclear propulsion
ISBN:

A brief comparison is made between opposition class (with three impulse return), conjunction class, Venus swing-by to Mars and Mars-Venus double stopover trajectories. Vehicle configurations based on NERVA-I engines of varying life and restart capability are considered. It is found that the opposition and Venus swingby trajectories to Mars yield competitive mission performance; the double stopover entails about 30-percent penalties in initial mass and trip time; and that the minimum-weight vehicle uses a single, restartable engine.

Off Armageddon Reef

Off Armageddon Reef
Author: David Weber
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 804
Release: 2008-01-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429920572

Humanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out. Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever. 800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent. Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new. And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church...and, inevitably, lead to war. It's going to be a long, long process. And David Weber's epic Off Armageddon Reef is can't-miss sci-fi. Safehold Series 1. Off Armageddon Reef 2. By Schism Rent Asunder 3. By Heresies Distressed 4. A Mighty Fortress 5. How Firm A Foundation 6. Midst Toil and Tribulation 7. Like A Mighty Army 8. Hell's Foundations Quiver 9. At the Sign of Triumph At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

New Treasury of English

New Treasury of English
Author: Folens Publishers
Publisher: Folens Limited
Total Pages: 100
Release: 1996-10
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781852760168

Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds

Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds
Author: David C. Catling
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 595
Release: 2017-04-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0521844126

A comprehensive and authoritative text on the formation and evolution of planetary atmospheres, for graduate-level students and researchers.