Types of Spaceships
Past, Present, and Future (The Living in Space Series)
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $5.42
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Martin K. Ettington
About this listen
This book is the seventh volume of The Living in Space Series. Each volume focuses on one particular technology of living in space.
In this book, the focus is on spaceships used to access and travel in space. In my research, I was pretty amazed at how many spaceships have been designed, the large number available in the current era, and that many more are already on the drawing boards.
Some spaceships like the Space Shuttle seemed like a great idea back in the 1970s and 1980s. But due to the compromises in design were very expensive for each flight and kind of dangerous, too. Even though the Space Shuttle was flown for over 30 years, it was eventually cancelled because of cost issues.
The newer transportation systems focus on lowering costs through reusability. This will lead to a much better long term paradigm for expanding people’s entry into space because of the lower costs reusability provides.
I also needed to determine what types of ships to include in this book. What is a valid spaceship? My decision was to use the Von Karmen Line, which says that a spaceship flown higher than 50 miles (80 km) has entered space.
Using the Von Karmen Line includes one manned device - the X-15 experimental rocket plane as a spaceship, although most people wouldn’t think so.
Lastly, I’ve included some notional spaceship designs, which might be used to travel to Mars or other bodies in the solar system.
©2020 Martin K. Ettington (P)2020 Martin K. EttingtonListeners also enjoyed...
-
All About Mars Journeys and Settlement
- The Living in Space Series, Book 2
- By: Martin K. Ettington
- Narrated by: Martin K. Ettington
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A manned mission to Mars has been the dream of humanity at least since the 19th century, when we first saw details of the surface and thought there might be canals filled with water there. Here I’ve looked at the history of unmanned exploration of Mars over the last 50-plus years, proposed missions to Mars, Mars settlements, and other major issues regarding traveling to and living on Mars. Some proposals have lots of details of proposed scenarios, if you want to know all of the engineering and scientific analysis work.
-
Plane Crashes
- The 10 Deadliest Air Disasters and the Lessons We Learned to Improve Aviation Safety
- By: Oliver Elliott
- Narrated by: Tom Brooks
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Air travel is one of the safest modes of transportation, but when an aircraft crashes, the consequence is devastating. Why did they happen? Were they caused by bad weather, mechanical failure, or human errors? In this book, the author introduces the 10 deadliest plane crashes in aviation history. He goes through the key events that brought down the doomed commercial jets, and he discusses how we used the painful lessons to improve aviation safety.
-
-
Provided some additional insights into these mostly well known events.
- By EtotheO on 07-23-24
By: Oliver Elliott
-
Failure Is Not an Option
- Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
- By: Gene Kranz
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race.
-
-
Excellent Book!
- By Kevin on 02-19-13
By: Gene Kranz
-
Rocket Men
- The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon
- By: Craig Nelson
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A richly detailed and dramatic account of one of the greatest achievements of humankind. At 9:32 A.M. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. It carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the last frontier of human imagination: the moon.
-
-
TRULY OUTSTANDING
- By Jeff on 05-24-12
By: Craig Nelson
-
Liftoff
- Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX - and Elon Musk - from a shaky startup into the world's leading-edge rocket company.
-
-
Excellent. Would make a good movie.
- By Andrew Dodson on 03-04-21
By: Eric Berger
-
Ask an Astronaut
- My Guide to Life in Space
- By: Tim Peake
- Narrated by: Robin Ince, Tim Peake - introduction
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on his historic mission to the International Space Station, Ask an Astronaut is Tim Peake's guide to life in space and his answers to the thousands of questions he has been asked since his return to Earth. With explanations ranging from the mundane (how do you wash your clothes or go to the bathroom while in orbit?) to the profound (do humans have a duty to explore the unknown?), all written in Tim's characteristically warm style, Tim shares his thoughts on every aspect of space exploration.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Evelyn Canas on 03-06-18
By: Tim Peake
-
All About Mars Journeys and Settlement
- The Living in Space Series, Book 2
- By: Martin K. Ettington
- Narrated by: Martin K. Ettington
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A manned mission to Mars has been the dream of humanity at least since the 19th century, when we first saw details of the surface and thought there might be canals filled with water there. Here I’ve looked at the history of unmanned exploration of Mars over the last 50-plus years, proposed missions to Mars, Mars settlements, and other major issues regarding traveling to and living on Mars. Some proposals have lots of details of proposed scenarios, if you want to know all of the engineering and scientific analysis work.
-
Plane Crashes
- The 10 Deadliest Air Disasters and the Lessons We Learned to Improve Aviation Safety
- By: Oliver Elliott
- Narrated by: Tom Brooks
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Air travel is one of the safest modes of transportation, but when an aircraft crashes, the consequence is devastating. Why did they happen? Were they caused by bad weather, mechanical failure, or human errors? In this book, the author introduces the 10 deadliest plane crashes in aviation history. He goes through the key events that brought down the doomed commercial jets, and he discusses how we used the painful lessons to improve aviation safety.
-
-
Provided some additional insights into these mostly well known events.
- By EtotheO on 07-23-24
By: Oliver Elliott
-
Failure Is Not an Option
- Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
- By: Gene Kranz
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race.
-
-
Excellent Book!
- By Kevin on 02-19-13
By: Gene Kranz
-
Rocket Men
- The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon
- By: Craig Nelson
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A richly detailed and dramatic account of one of the greatest achievements of humankind. At 9:32 A.M. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. It carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the last frontier of human imagination: the moon.
-
-
TRULY OUTSTANDING
- By Jeff on 05-24-12
By: Craig Nelson
-
Liftoff
- Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX - and Elon Musk - from a shaky startup into the world's leading-edge rocket company.
-
-
Excellent. Would make a good movie.
- By Andrew Dodson on 03-04-21
By: Eric Berger
-
Ask an Astronaut
- My Guide to Life in Space
- By: Tim Peake
- Narrated by: Robin Ince, Tim Peake - introduction
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on his historic mission to the International Space Station, Ask an Astronaut is Tim Peake's guide to life in space and his answers to the thousands of questions he has been asked since his return to Earth. With explanations ranging from the mundane (how do you wash your clothes or go to the bathroom while in orbit?) to the profound (do humans have a duty to explore the unknown?), all written in Tim's characteristically warm style, Tim shares his thoughts on every aspect of space exploration.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Evelyn Canas on 03-06-18
By: Tim Peake
-
Moon Shot
- The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings
- By: Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, Jay Barbree, and others
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, and the space race was born. Desperate to beat the Russians into space, NASA put together a crew of the nation's most daring test pilots: the seven men who were to lead America to the moon. The first into space was Alan Shepard; the last was Deke Slayton, whose irregular heartbeat kept him grounded until 1975. They spent the 1960s at the forefront of NASA's effort to conquer space, and Moon Shot is their inside account of what many call the 20th century's greatest feat - landing humans on another world.
-
-
A Definitive Summary of Our Manned Space Missions
- By Robert on 08-15-19
By: Alan Shepard, and others
-
Project Azorian
- The CIA and the Raising of the K-129
- By: Norman Polmar, Michael White
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite incredible political, military, and intelligence risks, and after six years of secret preparations, the CIA attempted to salvage the sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 from the depths of the North Pacific Ocean in early August 1974. This audacious effort was carried out under the cover of an undersea mining operation sponsored by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.
-
-
interesting history
- By Ed on 02-10-24
By: Norman Polmar, and others
-
Moon Shot
- The Inside Story of Man's Greatest Adventure
- By: Dan Parry
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
‘It didn’t matter that they were now three miles beyond their target site, that communications were dropping out and that they were running low on fuel. All that mattered to Neil as he searched for a safe spot to land was that boulders littered the surface below. “Thirty seconds,” called mission control. In truth, the flight controllers were now no more than spectators, just like everybody else. No more needed to be said. It was down to Armstrong
-
-
Wow.
- By Shellbin on 02-04-12
By: Dan Parry
-
Where Is My Flying Car?
- By: J. Storrs Hall
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The science fiction of the 1960s promised us a future remade by technological innovation: We’d vacation in geodesic domes on Mars, have meaningful conversations with computers, and drop our children off at school in flying cars. Fast-forward 60 years and we’re still stuck in traffic in gas-guzzling sedans and boarding the same types of planes we flew in over half a century ago. What happened to the future we were promised? In Where Is My Flying Car?, J. Storrs Hall sets out to answer this deceptively simple question.
-
-
More than just flying cars
- By Daniel Fudge on 09-10-23
By: J. Storrs Hall
-
China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats
- By: Robert Gandt
- Narrated by: Thomas Block
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the China Clipper shattered aviation records on its maiden six-day flight from California to the Orient in 1935, the flying boat became an instant celebrity. This lively history by Robert Gandt traces the development of the great flying boats as both a triumph of technology and a stirring human drama. He examines the political, military, and economic forces that drove its development and explains the aeronautical advances that made the aircraft possible.
-
-
Never been this disappointed
- By doug reiter on 08-09-21
By: Robert Gandt
-
Flying the SR-71 Blackbird
- In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission
- By: Richard H. Graham
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Skunk Works. The aircraft flew so fast and high that not one was ever shot down, even by a missile. SR-71 pilot and instructor Colonel Richard Graham offers a rare cockpit perspective on how regular Air Force pilots and navigators transformed themselves into SR-71 Blackbird crews, turning their unique aviation talents to account in an unprecedented way.
-
-
This book is basically void of content or story.
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-22
-
Stealth
- The Secret Contest to Invent Invisible Aircraft
- By: Peter Westwick
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen US aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating.
-
-
Good Overview of the original development
- By Amazon Customer on 08-01-22
By: Peter Westwick
-
Across the Airless Wilds
- The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings
- By: Earl Swift
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this astonishing rediscovery of the final Apollo moon landings, the acclaimed author of Chesapeake Requiem reveals that these extraordinary yet overshadowed missions - distinguished by the use of the revolutionary lunar roving vehicle - deserve to be celebrated as the pinnacle of human adventure and exploration.
-
-
Insights into the development and use of the rover
- By Douglas H. Holly on 07-19-21
By: Earl Swift
-
You Are Here
- From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
- By: Hiawatha Bray
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of the rise of modern navigation technology, from radio location to GPS—and the consequent decline of privacy. What does it mean to never get lost? You Are Here examines the rise of our technologically aided era of navigational omniscience—or how we came to know exactly where we are at all times. Filled with tales of scientists and astronauts, inventors and entrepreneurs, You Are Here tells the story of how humankind ingeniously solved one of its oldest and toughest problems—only to herald a new era in which it’s impossible to hide.
-
-
I'm here - do you care
- By Nicholas E. Ertz on 04-13-14
By: Hiawatha Bray
-
SR-71, the Blackbird, Q&A
- By: Terry Pappas
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Higher, farther, faster - what every real aviator aspires to. The SR-71 was the epitome of this dream for three decades. The only way to beat the SR-71 was to rocket into space, and every astronaut in the office with me in the 1960s would have loved to have flown the Blackbird. In many ways it placed greater demand on piloting proficiency than any spacecraft.
-
-
Great in sight on life and times of Blackbird crew
- By J Bo on 11-11-15
By: Terry Pappas
-
How We'll Live on Mars
- By: Stephen Petranek
- Narrated by: Stephen Petranek
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within 20 years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen.
-
-
Watch Mars on NatGeo
- By Nathaniel on 12-01-16
By: Stephen Petranek
-
Pinpoint
- How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds
- By: Greg Milner
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last 50 years, humanity has developed an extraordinary shared utility: the global positioning system. Omnipresent, free, and available to all, GPS powers everything from your phone to the Internet to the Mars Rover. Greg Milner tells the sweeping story of GPS, from its conceptual origins as a bomb guidance system to its present ubiquity.
-
-
This is not a book.
- By Patrick🍀 on 12-07-16
By: Greg Milner
Related to this topic
-
The Case for Mars
- The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must
- By: Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner, Arthur C. Clarke - Foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.
-
-
Compelling
- By Michael D. Busch on 04-16-18
By: Robert Zubrin, and others
-
Landing Eagle: Inside the Cockpit During the First Moon Landing
- By: Michael Engle
- Narrated by: Sean Tivenan
- Length: 1 hr and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Landing Eagle: Inside the Cockpit During the First Moon Landing, author Mike Engle gives a minute by minute account of the events that occurred throughout Eagle’s descent and landing on the Moon. Engle, a retired NASA engineer and Mission Control flight controller, uses NASA audio files of actual voice recordings made inside Eagle’s cockpit during landing to give the listener an inside-the-cockpit perspective on the first Moon landing.
-
-
Wanted to like this
- By R. Winchester on 07-16-19
By: Michael Engle
-
Apollo 11
- The Inside Story
- By: David Whitehouse
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint.
-
-
Space Race Revivalism
- By Doug on 06-14-19
By: David Whitehouse
-
Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program
- By: Pat Duggins
- Narrated by: Pat Duggins
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Journalist Pat Duggins, National Public Radio's resident "space expert", chronicles the planning stages of the Space Shuttle program in the early 1970s, the thrill of the first flight in 1981, construction of the International Space Station in the 1990s, and the decision in the early 2000s to shut the program down.
-
-
End of the Shuttle
- By Jean on 09-25-14
By: Pat Duggins
-
In the Shadow of the Moon
- A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969
- By: Francis French, Colin Burgess
- Narrated by: Gary L. Willprecht
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure.
-
-
Interesting book for space afficionados
- By Leslie F. on 04-21-16
By: Francis French, and others
-
Into the Black
- The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her
- By: Rowland White, Richard Truly
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America's top engineers and pilots.
-
-
Great Story About a Flawed Spacecraft
- By John on 12-04-16
By: Rowland White, and others
-
The Case for Mars
- The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must
- By: Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner, Arthur C. Clarke - Foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.
-
-
Compelling
- By Michael D. Busch on 04-16-18
By: Robert Zubrin, and others
-
Landing Eagle: Inside the Cockpit During the First Moon Landing
- By: Michael Engle
- Narrated by: Sean Tivenan
- Length: 1 hr and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Landing Eagle: Inside the Cockpit During the First Moon Landing, author Mike Engle gives a minute by minute account of the events that occurred throughout Eagle’s descent and landing on the Moon. Engle, a retired NASA engineer and Mission Control flight controller, uses NASA audio files of actual voice recordings made inside Eagle’s cockpit during landing to give the listener an inside-the-cockpit perspective on the first Moon landing.
-
-
Wanted to like this
- By R. Winchester on 07-16-19
By: Michael Engle
-
Apollo 11
- The Inside Story
- By: David Whitehouse
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint.
-
-
Space Race Revivalism
- By Doug on 06-14-19
By: David Whitehouse
-
Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program
- By: Pat Duggins
- Narrated by: Pat Duggins
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Journalist Pat Duggins, National Public Radio's resident "space expert", chronicles the planning stages of the Space Shuttle program in the early 1970s, the thrill of the first flight in 1981, construction of the International Space Station in the 1990s, and the decision in the early 2000s to shut the program down.
-
-
End of the Shuttle
- By Jean on 09-25-14
By: Pat Duggins
-
In the Shadow of the Moon
- A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969
- By: Francis French, Colin Burgess
- Narrated by: Gary L. Willprecht
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure.
-
-
Interesting book for space afficionados
- By Leslie F. on 04-21-16
By: Francis French, and others
-
Into the Black
- The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her
- By: Rowland White, Richard Truly
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America's top engineers and pilots.
-
-
Great Story About a Flawed Spacecraft
- By John on 12-04-16
By: Rowland White, and others
-
Our Robots, Ourselves
- Robotics and the Myth of Autonomy
- By: David A. Mindell
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Our Robots, Ourselves, David Mindell offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the cutting edge of robotics today, debunking commonly held myths and exploring the rapidly changing relationships between humans and machines. Drawing on firsthand experience, extensive interviews, and the latest research from MIT and elsewhere, Mindell takes us to extreme environments-high atmosphere, deep ocean, and outer space - to reveal where the most advanced robotics already exist.
-
-
MUST READ
- By ryan salcido on 10-01-16
By: David A. Mindell
-
Rocket Billionaires
- Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race
- By: Tim Fernholz
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world.
-
-
Interesting book; hard to listen to
- By K. Thai on 04-12-18
By: Tim Fernholz
-
Last Days of the Concorde
- The Crash of Flight 4590 and the End of Supersonic Passenger Travel
- By: Samme Chittum
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 25, 2000, a Concorde, the world's fastest passenger plane, was taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris when it suddenly burst into flames. An airliner capable of flying at more than twice the speed of sound, the Concorde had completed 25 years of successful flights, whisking wealthy passengers - from diplomats to rock stars to corporate titans - between continents on brief and glamorous flights. Yet on this fateful day, the chartered Concorde jet, en route to America, crashed and killed all 109 passengers and crew onboard and four people on the ground.
-
-
A Solid Introduction
- By Reggie on 03-03-19
By: Samme Chittum
-
Mars Direct
- Space Exploration, the Red Planet, and the Human Future
- By: Robert Zubrin
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The human race is at a crossroads. In the coming years, we will make decisions regarding our human spaceflight program that will lead to one of two familiar futures: the open universe of Star Trek, where we allow ourselves the opportunity to spread our wings and attempt to flourish as an interplanetary species - or the closed, dystopian, and ultimately self-destructive world of Soylent Green. If we ever hope to live in the future that is the former scenario, our first stepping stone must be a manned mission to Mars.
-
-
Not what i thought it was going to be..
- By DUDE on 05-07-13
By: Robert Zubrin
-
Beyond
- Our Future in Space
- By: Chris Impey
- Narrated by: Julie McKay
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beyond dares to imagine a fantastic future for humans in space - and then reminds us that we're already there. Human exploration has been an unceasing engine of technological progress, from the first homo sapiens to leave our African cradle to a future in which mankind promises to settle another world. Beyond tells the epic story of humanity leaving home - and how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the Earth.
-
-
OTHER WORLDS
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 01-10-16
By: Chris Impey
-
Kelly
- More Than My Share of It All
- By: Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, Maggie Smith, Brig. Gen. Leo P. Geary USAF - ret. - foreword
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson led the design of such crucial aircraft as the P-38 and Constellation, but he will be more remembered for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. His extraordinary leadership of the Lockheed "Skunk Works" cemented his reputation as a legendary figure in American aerospace management.
-
-
Memoir of a Legend
- By Jean on 08-26-19
By: Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, and others
-
Harnessing the Sky
- Frederick "Trap" Trapnell, the U.S. Navy's Aviation Pioneer, 1923-1952
- By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., Dana Trapnell Tibbitts
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A pilot of calculated courage, "Trap" entered the Navy when test pilots were more like stuntmen than engineers. Airplanes had not yet come into their own as weapons of war, and they had an undeveloped role in the fleet. His vision and leadership shaped the evolution of naval aviation through its formative years and beyond. When the threat of war in 1940 raised an alarm over the Navy's deficiency in aircraft - especially fighters - Trap was appointed to lead the Flight Test Section to direct the development of all-new Navy airplanes.
-
-
Superb Book
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-27-19
By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., and others
-
Flying the SR-71 Blackbird
- In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission
- By: Richard H. Graham
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Skunk Works. The aircraft flew so fast and high that not one was ever shot down, even by a missile. SR-71 pilot and instructor Colonel Richard Graham offers a rare cockpit perspective on how regular Air Force pilots and navigators transformed themselves into SR-71 Blackbird crews, turning their unique aviation talents to account in an unprecedented way.
-
-
This book is basically void of content or story.
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-22
-
Stealth
- The Secret Contest to Invent Invisible Aircraft
- By: Peter Westwick
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen US aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating.
-
-
Good Overview of the original development
- By Amazon Customer on 08-01-22
By: Peter Westwick
-
Moon Shot
- The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings
- By: Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, Jay Barbree, and others
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, and the space race was born. Desperate to beat the Russians into space, NASA put together a crew of the nation's most daring test pilots: the seven men who were to lead America to the moon. The first into space was Alan Shepard; the last was Deke Slayton, whose irregular heartbeat kept him grounded until 1975. They spent the 1960s at the forefront of NASA's effort to conquer space, and Moon Shot is their inside account of what many call the 20th century's greatest feat - landing humans on another world.
-
-
A Definitive Summary of Our Manned Space Missions
- By Robert on 08-15-19
By: Alan Shepard, and others
-
Insiders Reveal Secret Space Programs & Extraterrestrial Alliances
- By: Michael E. Salla
- Narrated by: Jerry Lord
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Classified space programs have been an integral part of a complex jigsaw puzzle concerning UFOs, extraterrestrial life, ancient civilizations and advanced aerospace technologies, which have long defied any coherent understanding. Now finally, we have something to put all the pieces together with the disclosures of secret space program whistleblower, Corey Goode. A detailed investigation of Goode’s and other insider testimonies reveals the big picture of a parallel world of secret space programs and extraterrestrial alliances.
-
-
A waste of time
- By Roland Vellanoweth on 03-09-19
By: Michael E. Salla
-
SR-71, the Blackbird, Q&A
- By: Terry Pappas
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Higher, farther, faster - what every real aviator aspires to. The SR-71 was the epitome of this dream for three decades. The only way to beat the SR-71 was to rocket into space, and every astronaut in the office with me in the 1960s would have loved to have flown the Blackbird. In many ways it placed greater demand on piloting proficiency than any spacecraft.
-
-
Great in sight on life and times of Blackbird crew
- By J Bo on 11-11-15
By: Terry Pappas