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This book takes the reader on a journey through the history of extremely ambitious, large and complex space missions that never happened. What were the dreams and expectations of the visionaries behind these plans, and why were they not successful in bringing their projects to reality thus far? As spaceflight development progressed, new technologies and ideas led to pushing the boundaries of engineering and technology though still grounded in real scientific possibilities. Examples are space colonies, nuclear-propelled interplanetary spacecraft, space telescopes consisting of multiple satellites and canon launch systems. Each of these enormous projects was both technically and socially linked to the time it was conceived. The large OΓÇÖNeill space colonies for instance made sense in the 1970s, when people started to try and find solutions for the limitations the EarthΓÇÖs resources were starting to put on human expansion. They would also enable free environments for various social community experiments, a hot topic in that decade. The idea of launching an interplanetary spacecraft from Earth using nuclear power could only have been developed in the 1950s: before then it would technically not have been possible, while afterwards environmental concerns inhibited such dangerous and polluting projects. Similarly, giant space stations for weather observation and relaying communications signals made sense in the 1950ΓÇÖs and early 1960ΓÇÖs, but were then quickly rendered obsolete by advances in electronics and satellites. Large multi-spacecraft astronomical observatories are only now seriously considered, because advances in micro-propulsion and attitude control have recently made them technically possible, and because economic realities inhibit the development of giant single-element space telescopes. As such, each project described in this book says something about the dreams and expectations of their time, and their demise was often linked to an important change in the cultural, political and social state of the world.For each mission or spacecraft concept, the following will be covered:ΓÇó Description of the design.ΓÇó Overview of the history of the concept and the people involved.ΓÇó Why it was never developed and flowno Analysis related to current technologyo What it would take/cost today o Validity of pro- and con- arguments, both at the time of the project was proposed, today and in the future (i.e., whether the idea is now obsolete, economically not viable and/or technically unfeasible). These analyses will be performed with help from various international experts on the subject.o Lessons learned and technologies obtained from the design and partial development of the concept concerned, and possible smaller derivatives that were further developed.ΓÇó What if the mission was actually carried out ΓÇô consequences, further developments, etc.

In 2019, China astonished the world by landing a spacecraft and rover on the far side of the Moon, something never achieved by any country before. China is now a great space superpower alongside the United States and Russia, sending men and women into orbit, building a space laboratory (Tiangong) and sending probes to the Moon and asteroids.

This book produces convincing evidence that exploiting the potential of space could help solve many environmental and social issues affecting our planet, such as pollution, overcrowding, resource depletion and conflicts, economic inequality, social unrest, economic instability and unemployment.

This story of the Galileo spacecraft probe to Jupiter`s moon provides a unique understanding of the Galileo images of Europa, and examines in detail the physical setting that might sustain extra-terrestrial life in Europa's ocean and icy crust.

This book gives a new insight of Mars by adopting an original outline based on history rather than on subtopic (atmosphere, surface, interior). It focuses on the past and present evolution of Mars and also incorporates all the recent results from the space missions of Mars Express, Spirit and Opportunity.

This volume provides a comprehensive and thorough scientific analysis and documentation of deep-water coral reefs around the world, highlighting the general geological implications for the understanding of ancient coral and carbonate reefs.

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, the collapsed cores of once massive stars that ended their lives as supernova explosions. In this book, Geoff McNamara explores the history, subsequent discovery and contemporary research into pulsar astronomy.

Until the Apollo-Soyuz flight of 1972, the Russian Space Program was shrouded in such complete secrecy that only rumors of failures (or catastrophes) reached the West.

Thisbook provides readers with a clear description of the types of lunar andinterplanetary trajectories, and how they influence satellite-system design. It helpsreaders gain an understanding of the driving subsystems of interplanetary andlunar satellites. The tables and graphs showing features of trajectories makethe book easy to understand.

This book explores the mechanics of star formation, the process by which matter pulls together and creates new structures.

Explorer was the original American space program and Explorer 1 its first satellite, launched in 1958. It introduces the launchers (Juno, Thor, etc.), the launch centers, the ground centers and key personalities like James Van Allen who helped develop and run the spacecraft's exciting programs.

Performing in a high G environment is extremely demanding on the body: pulling G forces blood to the body's extremities, putting the pilot, astronaut or driver at risk of G-Induced Lack of Consciousness (G-LOC).

The very first book on space systems failures written from an engineering perspective. Describes engineering aspects of the spacecraft, making this a valuable complementary reference work to conventional engineering texts.

This book tells the story of Apollo 11 and dispels the myth that NASA faked the moon landings. The author's impressive expertise and knowledge of the Moon landings shines through and seamlessly unites the myriad details of the mission.

Drawing on laboratory and farm studies, the book reviews in detail the current state-of-the-art scientific research knowledge of fish and crustacean nutrition, from larvae to juvenile fish, through to the final stages of harvesting.

In an expanding 2nd edition of How Apollo Flew to the Moon, David Woods tells the exciting story of how the resulting Apollo flights were conducted by following a virtual flight to the Moon and its exploration of the surface.

The technological marvel that facilitated the Apollo missions to the Moon was the on-board computer. He regularly lectures on the Apollo computer and related topics to diverse groups, from NASA's computer engineering conferences, the IEEE/ACM, computer festivals and university student groups.

This updated and expanded second edition of a much lauded work provides a current overview of the impacts of climate change on tropical forests.

The reality of sunlight-based sailing in space began in May 2010, and solar sail technology and science have continued to evolve rapidly through new space missions. It also discusses various sail systems that may use either sunlight or solar wind, and the design, fabrication and steering challenges associated with solar sails.

With climate change and deforestation, debris flows and debris avalanches have become the most significant landslide hazards in many countries. Matthias Jakob has worked on debris flow for over a decade and has had numerous papers published on the topic, as well as working as a consultant on debris flow for municipal and provincial governments.

This book explores intriguing cases in which astronomy has been used as a tool to solve mysteries from art, history, and literature. It clearly explains astronomical concepts with non-technical language and defines terms as needed for wide readership.

This book explores how the commercial suborbital industry is poised to develop into a viable market. It describes how suborbital vehicles operate, how research will be conducted in suborbital flight, and how commercial organizations will train astronauts.

Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual religious importance, while some religions could be practiced equally well anywhere in the universe by any sentient beings.

Beginning with basic facts about the observable universe, this book reviews the complete range of topics that make up a degree course in cosmology and particle astrophysics. This paperback edition targets students of physics, astrophysics and cosmology from advanced undergraduate to early graduate level.

Volcanoes have always fascinated scientists and the general public. This book provides state-of-the-art techniques for real-time volcano monitoring and analysis using space-borne data. The book fills a huge gap in the science of volcano remote sensing.

Written by one of the astronomers who 'lived the dream' of working there this book is a restrospectively expanded diary featuring the 'birth and long life' of what was a truely innovative telescope.

This book takes a new approach on teaching the subject by following the chain of measurement through atmosphere, imaging, detection, spectroscopy, timing and hypothesis testing. It covers all wavelengths: radio, infrared, optical, UV, X-ray, gamma-ray.

Describes the techniques used by volcanologists to successfully predict several volcanic eruptions by combining information from various scientific disciplines, including geodetic techniques. This book includes chapters on the developments in the use of the Global Positioning System and Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry techniques.