The Interstellar Age

The Interstellar Age PDF Author: Jim Bell
Publisher: Dutton
ISBN: 1101983892
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
The story of the men and women who drove the Voyager spacecraft mission— told by a scientist who was there from the beginning. --Publisher

Forging the Future of Space Science

Forging the Future of Space Science PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309215897
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
From September 2007 to June 2008 the Space Studies Board conducted an international public seminar series, with each monthly talk highlighting a different topic in space and Earth science. The principal lectures from the series are compiled in Forging the Future of Space Science. The topics of these events covered the full spectrum of space and Earth science research, from global climate change, to the cosmic origins of life, to the exploration of the Moon and Mars, to the scientific research required to support human spaceflight. The prevailing messages throughout the seminar series as demonstrated by the lectures in this book are how much we have accomplished over the past 50 years, how profound are our discoveries, how much contributions from the space program affect our daily lives, and yet how much remains to be done. The age of discovery in space and Earth science is just beginning. Opportunities abound that will forever alter our destiny.

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication PDF Author: National Aeronautics Administration
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781501081729
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Book Description
Addressing a field that has been dominated by astronomers, physicists, engineers, and computer scientists, the contributors to this collection raise questions that may have been overlooked by physical scientists about the ease of establishing meaningful communication with an extraterrestrial intelligence. These scholars are grappling with some of the enormous challenges that will face humanity if an information-rich signal emanating from another world is detected. By drawing on issues at the core of contemporary archaeology and anthropology, we can be much better prepared for contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, should that day ever come.

Murmurs of Earth

Murmurs of Earth PDF Author: Carl Sagan
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307802027
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In 1977, two extraodinary spacecraft called Voyager were launched to the stars. Affixed to each Voyager craft was a gold-coated copped phonograph record as a message to possible extra-terrestrial civilizations that might encounter the spacecraft in some distant space and time. Each record contained 118 photographs of our planet; almost 90 minutes of the world's greatest music; an evolutionary audio essay on "The Sounds of Earth"; and greetings in almost sixty human languages (and one whale language). This book is an account, written by those chiefly responsible for the contents of the Voyager Record, of why they did it, how they selected the repertoire, and precisely what the record contains.

Prospects for Interstellar Travel

Prospects for Interstellar Travel PDF Author: John H. Mauldin
Publisher: Univelt
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Book Description
A detailed introduction is presented to the problems of interstellar space travel. The general topics discussed include: basics of travel in space, advanced propulsion methods; relativity and interstellar travel; relativistic drives and problems; starships as systems; missions; astrogation, observation, and communication; technological requirements and hazards; biological requirements; personal, social, and political considerations; interstellar life and civilizations; long-term prospects.

Deep Space Propulsion

Deep Space Propulsion PDF Author: K. F. Long
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461406072
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Book Description
The technology of the next few decades could possibly allow us to explore with robotic probes the closest stars outside our Solar System, and maybe even observe some of the recently discovered planets circling these stars. This book looks at the reasons for exploring our stellar neighbors and at the technologies we are developing to build space probes that can traverse the enormous distances between the stars. In order to reach the nearest stars, we must first develop a propulsion technology that would take our robotic probes there in a reasonable time. Such propulsion technology has radically different requirements from conventional chemical rockets, because of the enormous distances that must be crossed. Surprisingly, many propulsion schemes for interstellar travel have been suggested and await only practical engineering solutions and the political will to make them a reality. This is a result of the tremendous advances in astrophysics that have been made in recent decades and the perseverance and imagination of tenacious theoretical physicists. This book explores these different propulsion schemes – all based on current physics – and the challenges they present to physicists, engineers, and space exploration entrepreneurs. This book will be helpful to anyone who really wants to understand the principles behind and likely future course of interstellar travel and who wants to recognizes the distinctions between pure fantasy (such as Star Trek’s ‘warp drive’) and methods that are grounded in real physics and offer practical technological solutions for exploring the stars in the decades to come.

Centauri Dreams

Centauri Dreams PDF Author: Paul Gilster
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475738943
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
I wrote this book because I wanted to learn more about interstel lar flight. Not the Star Trek notion of tearing around the Galaxy in a huge spaceship-that was obviously beyond existing tech nology-but a more realistic mission. In 1989 I had videotaped Voyager 2's encounter with Neptune and watched the drama of robotic exploration over and over again. I started to wonder whether we could do something similar with Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. Everyone seemed to agree that manned flight to the stars was out of the question, if not permanently then for the indefinitely foreseeable future. But surely we could do something with robotics. And if we could figure out a theoretical way to do it, how far were we from the actual technology that would make it happen? In other words, what was the state of our interstellar technology today, those concepts and systems that might translate into a Voyager to the stars? Finding answers meant talking to people inside and outside of NASA. I was surprised to learn that there is a large literature of interstellar flight. Nobody knows for sure how to propel a space craft fast enough to make the interstellar crossing within a time scale that would fit the conventional idea of a mission, but there are candidate systems that are under active investigation. Some of this effort begins with small systems that we'll use near the Earth and later hope to extend to deep space missions.

The Science of Interstellar

The Science of Interstellar PDF Author: Kip Thorne
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393351386
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Book Description
A journey through the otherworldly science behind Christopher Nolan’s award-winning film, Interstellar, from executive producer and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Kip Thorne. Interstellar, from acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, takes us on a fantastic voyage far beyond our solar system. Yet in The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who assisted Nolan on the scientific aspects of Interstellar, shows us that the movie’s jaw-dropping events and stunning, never-before-attempted visuals are grounded in real science. Thorne shares his experiences working as the science adviser on the film and then moves on to the science itself. In chapters on wormholes, black holes, interstellar travel, and much more, Thorne’s scientific insights—many of them triggered during the actual scripting and shooting of Interstellar—describe the physical laws that govern our universe and the truly astounding phenomena that those laws make possible. Interstellar and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s14).

Voyager's Greatest Hits

Voyager's Greatest Hits PDF Author: Alexandra Siy
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
ISBN: 1607349558
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 87

Book Description
It has been over forty years since the Voyager mission sent the twin space probes into space. They traveled to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and now they journey beyond our solar system into interstellar space, where no probe has ventured before. Learn the fascinating story of the scientists, how the Voyager probes work, where the probes have been and what they’ve seen, and what they carry on board—including the Golden Record, a recording of sounds and images about life on Earth. Critically acclaimed science writer Alexandra Siy chronicles the ongoing saga of the Voyagers in a lively story full of nail-biting moments, inspiring scientists, and incredible NASA images. An engaging and captivating STEM title that deserves a place in most libraries—School Library Journal STARRED REVIEW A lively, informative, and inspiring story of space exploration—Kirkus Reviews A timely introduction to the Voyager mission—Booklist It's an engaging and readily accessible account of a remarkable—and ongoing—scientific success story—Publisher's Weekly Chicago Public Library’s 2017 Best of the Best Books selection

The Vinyl Frontier

The Vinyl Frontier PDF Author: Jonathan Scott
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472956117
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
'Bursts with gloriously geeky detail.' The Telegraph Have you ever made someone you love a mix-tape? Forty years ago, a group of scientists, artists and writers gathered in a house in Ithaca, New York to work on the most important compilation ever conceived. It wasn't from one person to another, it was from Earth to the Cosmos. In 1977 NASA sent Voyager 1 and 2 on a Grand Tour of the outer planets. During the design phase of the Voyager mission, it was realised that this pair of plucky probes would eventually leave our solar system to drift forever in the unimaginable void of interstellar space. With this gloomy-sounding outcome in mind, NASA decided to do something optimistic. They commissioned astronomer Carl Sagan to create a message to be fixed to the side of Voyager 1 and 2 – a plaque, a calling card, a handshake to any passing alien that might one day chance upon them. The result was the Voyager Golden Record, a genre-hopping multi-media metal LP. A 90-minute playlist of music from across the globe, a sound essay of life on Earth, spoken greetings in multiple languages and more than 100 photographs and diagrams, all painstakingly chosen by Sagan and his team to create an aliens' guide to Earthlings. The record included music by J.S. Bach and Chuck Berry, a message of peace from US president Jimmy Carter, facts, figures and dimensions, all encased in a golden box. The Vinyl Frontier tells the story of NASA's interstellar mix-tape, from first phone call to final launch, when Voyager 1 and 2 left our planet bearing their hopeful message from the Summer of '77 to a distant future.