For decades, researchers have used the fruit fly Drosophila to probe the combined effects of microgravity and other conditions of spaceflight with exposure to ionizing radiation. Drosophila melanogaster provides a well-characterized model organism that is both genetically complex and relatively modest in its habitat and life support requirements. Microgravity exposure, a unique biological chall…
Reach for the stars in the updated First Space Encyclopedia! Explore the planets and discover amazing facts about nearby galaxies. A delightful first reference book about space for young astronomers, First Space Encyclopedia takes readers on a journey through the universe, from the beginning of space itself to current space technology. Find out what it takes to be an astronaut, what it is…
More than three decades ago, Frank White coined the term “Overview Effect” to describe the cognitive shift that results from the experience of viewing the Earth from space and in space, from orbit or on a lunar mission. He found that with great consistency, this experience profoundly affects space travelers’ worldviews—their perceptions of themselves, our planet, and our understanding o…
Hoyle begins his story with accomplishments of the astronomers of the ancient world - the Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans - amd their attempts to measure distance between heavenly bodies and to find order in the bewilding motions of the planets. Hoyle then recreates the richly varied lives and works of Copernicus, Kepler, Brache, and Galileo, showing hoe their work set…
During the rapid development of seafaring, when voyages extended farther and farther from home ports, position determination presented a problem for which astronomy offered a practical solution. Solving these problems of navigation were the most important tasks of astronomy in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the first precise tables on the movements of the planets and on other celestial pheno…