Return to Earth
New York: Random House, 1973. Book Club Edition. 338, illus., front board weak & strengthened with glue, DJ scuffed, DJ edges worn and rubbed: small edge tears and chips. More
New York: Random House, 1973. Book Club Edition. 338, illus., front board weak & strengthened with glue, DJ scuffed, DJ edges worn and rubbed: small edge tears and chips. More
New York: Random House, 1973. First Edition. First Printing. 338, illus., sticker residue on front DJ, rear DJ flap creased, slight wear to top & bottom DJ edges. More
Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1981. Second Edition [stated]. Presumed first printing thus. Trade paperback. ix, [1], 106, [4] pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Map. Bibliography. Index. NASA maintains an internal history program for two principal reasons: (1) Sponsorship of research in NASA-related history is one way in which NASA responds to the provision of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that requires NASA to "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof." (2) Thoughtful study of NASA history can help agency managers accomplish the missions assigned to the agency. Understanding NASA's past aids in understanding its present situation and illuminates possible future directions. More
Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1970. Book Club Edition. 511, illus., notes, glossary, sticker residue ins front flyleaf, DJ edges worn: small tears, small chips missing, sticker residue. More
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1960. 645, illus., graphs, figs, tables, refs, app, index, name stamped ins front flyleaf, pencil underlining on a few pages, DJ worn. More
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 352 pages. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations (some in color). Index. Cover has wear, chips, tears and soiling. Derived from a Kirkus review: The Astronauts are our new heroes, "part pilot, part engineer, part explorer, part scientist, " They're also, organization men supreme, sounding remarkably alike. The book presents the seven essaying why they joined Project Mercury (the reasons embrace pride in country and in self), the meaning of teamwork and training, the physical and psychological exams (almost all make sub rosa cracks re headshrinkers), and, most important, a full-scale record of the preparations for and enactment of the first sub-orbital and orbital take-offs by participants Shepard and Grissom, Glenn and Carpenter. It's the latters' accounts which prove the most exciting and exemplary, especially the Friendship 7 flight. So for all the Redstone, Atlas, Canaveral, NASA details and all the challenges and courageous responses shown. The book is a rewarding revelation. More
Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1997. Collector's Edition, Number 1103 of 3000. Hardcover. [4], 352 pages. Frontis (color). Illustrations. (some in color). Index. Removed from original shrinkwrap for cataloguing. The Easton Press's books are known for their elegant covers. Each book has the following features: Bound in genuine leather; Spine accented with 22 kt gold; Printed on archival paper; and Gilded page edges. The special contents of this edition were copyrighted in 1997 by The Easton Press. Facsimile signatures of Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, and John Glenn on front cover. Authentic signatures of Carpenter, Cooper and Glenn are on the Collector's Edition page above the number of the limited edition. Laid in are Certificates of Authenticity signed by Carpenter and dated 6 Nov., 1996, Cooper and dated 13 Nov 96, and Glenn dated 12-4-96 . Each signature was witnessed, Cooper's by Susan Cooper. The certificate indicated that the Authors received 25 additional unnumbered copies over and above the 3000 individually numbered copies. The Certificates are also signed by Roy S. Pfeil, Publisher. Thus, there are two Carpenter. Cooper, and Glenn autographs each! Also laid in is an unattached Easton bookplate. More
Washington, DC: GPO, 1985. Quarto, 41, wraps, illus., figures, tables, reading list, index, log on pp. 31-32 partially completed in pencil, some wear to cover edges. More
Washington, DC: GPO, 1985. Quarto, 41, wraps, illus., figures, tables, reading list, index, ink notation on front cover, pencil erasure on title page. More
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. xiii, [1], 210 pages. Illustrations (some color). Ex-library with usual library markings. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Henry S. F. Cooper Jr. was a writer who reached beyond the planet to pioneer reporting on space travel. Mr. Cooper, a descendant James Fenimore Cooper, was the author of eight books and a longtime writer for The New Yorker. Mr. Cooper celebrated scientific achievement, addressed scientific failure and demystified what was behind both. Mr. Cooper had hoped to join The New Yorker since he was a teenager. After college, at an editor’s invitation, he submitted two Talk of the Town articles — one on a cockroach hunter, the other on a meteorologist ensconced in Belvedere Castle in Central Park — but received no response. He then spent what he remembered as a few miserable months at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Finally, he was summoned by the editor, William Shawn, who was so impressed with his two articles that he simply asked, “When can you start?” He wrote for the magazine for 35 years. He also contributed to The New York Times Book Review and other publications. More
San Diego, CA: American Astronautical Soc. 1980. 290, illus., figures, refs, index, lib stamps (some crossed out in marker), rough spot ins rear bd, bookplate removed ins fr board. More
Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974. Reprint from AIAA. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Wraps. Quarto. [5], 67 pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Maps. Figures. Tables. Charts. Glossary of Terms. Slight wear to cover and spine edges. Reprinted with permission from American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Prepared by Members of the AIAA Technical Committees on Space Systems and Space and Atmospheric Physics. This book outlines the potential achievements of solar system exploration, and provides a sourcebook of information on the solar system and the technology being brought to bear for its exploration. This Review is one of a series of Assessments and Reviews prepared in the public interest by the AIAA. The AIAA is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society (ARS), founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society (AIS), and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences (IAS), founded in 1932 as the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. More
Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1963. First Printing. 272, illus., index, DJ stained, some wear to DJ edges and small chips missing, DJ in plastic sleeve Book intended for junior and senior high school students. Topics covered include planning earth satellites, designing rockets, the Explorers, the Vanguard, the Sputniks, orbiting observatories, weather satellites, and astronauts and cosmonauts, among many others. More
Washington, DC: GPO, 1963. Quarto, 206, wraps, tables, pencil notes on title page & on card in front of title pg, part of front card cut off, pencil name on front cover. More
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962. First Edition. 587, illus., figures, tables, chapter review questions, bibliography, index, slight discolor inside boards & flyleaves. More
Washington DC: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1996. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 2 Volume set. Volume I, xxx, 793, [1] pages; ISBN 156347106X and Volume II, xxxii, 643, [5] pages; ISBN 1563471078. Formulae, Maps, Illustrations. Diagrams. References. Appendix. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index. Series Listing. Bradford Parkinson (February 16, 1935) is an American engineer and inventor, and United States Air Force colonel best known as the father of the Global Positioning System (along with Roger L. Easton and Ivan A. Getting). He attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1957, but decided to join the Air Force because of its superior educational opportunities. Parkinson then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his M.S. in Aeronautics, graduating in 1961. After several years in the Air Force, he entered a Ph.D. program at Stanford University, graduating in 1966. In 1973 he became manager of the NAVSTAR GPS development program, where he remained until 1978 when he retired from the Air Force. In 1984, Parkinson became a professor at Stanford University, where today he is a professor emeritus. In 2003 he shared the Draper Prize with Ivan A. Getting for his contributions to the invention of the Global Positioning System. In 2004 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2016 he received the Marconi Prize. More
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962. 245, illus., appendix, glossary, index, DJ worn and scuffed: tears, small pieces missing. Foreword by Wernher von Braun. More
DeKalb, IL: Northern IL University Press, 1969. Quarto, 331, illus., figures, tables, index, paper clip indentations & rust stains on a few pages, some foxing to fore-edge & inside boards. More
Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1997. Collector's Edition, number 1103 of 3000. Hardcover. [12], 227, [3] pages. Color Frontis. Illustrations. Recently removed from shrinkwrap for cataloguing. The Easton Press's books are known for their elegant covers. Each book has the following features: Bound in genuine leather; Spine accented with 22 kt gold; Printed on archival paper; and Gilded page edges. The special contents of this edition were copyrighted in 1997 by The Easton Press. Facsimile signature of Wally Schirra on front cover. Authentic signature of Wally Schirra is on the Collector's Edition page above the number of the limited edition. Laid in is a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Wally Schirra and dated 23 Oct '96 and witnessed by Josephine F. Schirra and dated 23 Oct '96. The certificate indicated that the Author received 25 additional unnumbered copies over and above the 3000 individually numbered copies. The Certificate is also signed by Roy S. Pfeil, Publisher. Thus, there are two Schirra autographs! Also laid in is an unattached Easton bookplate. More
Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Office, 1976. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Format is approximately 10.75 inches by 14 inches. ix, [1], 459, Illustrated endpapers (color map at front, black and white map at back). Illustrations (with 400 plates [most in color]). Maps. Appendix A--The Landsat System. Appendix B--Glossary of Technical Terms. Appendix C--Index of Plates. Cover has some wear and soiling. Some edge soiling. Minor ink marks on some pages noted. This is a compendium of outstanding Landsat satellite photographs depicting the Earth's surface from space. Paul Lowman is a geologist, with degrees from Rutgers and the University of Colorado. He was hired by NASA in 1959, the first geologist to be employed by the agency. He took part in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab programs as principal investigator for terrain photography. He was Principal Investigator for a Shuttle Imaging Radar Experiment, covering the Canadian Shield, in 1984. More
Washington, DC: GPO, 1966. Hardcover. xv, [1], 681, [3] pages. Illustrations. Fold-out charts. Footnotes. Sources and bibliography. Appendices. Index. Ex-library with usual library markings. Inside rear board scuffed. Pocket at rep. This is one of the NASA Historical Series. Boards somewhat worn, scuffed, and scratched. The authors argue that Project Mercury, from its inception in the fall of 1958, was preeminently an engineering, rather than a scientific, enterprise. Loyd Sylvan Swenson, Jr., Ph.D. 1932-2016 was Professor Emeritus, University of Houston, History Dept., author and NASA historian, A third generation Texan born in Waco, Loyd graduated Waco High School, Rice Institute (University), served as Lt. in the US Navy, and attained his Masters and Ph.D. from Claremont College. He taught his entire career at University of Houston, with an interim year at Harvard Project Physics, Boston. He co-authored the history of the Mercury and Apollo space programs and was considered an authority on the work of Albert Einstein, beginning with his research and publications on aether drift, and was a major contributor to the field of history of science and technology. More
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974. First Edition. First Printing. 307, illus., index, some wear and small tear to DJ edges, introduction by Wernher von Braun. More
Tarzana, CA: American Astronautical Soc. 1972. 185, figures, footnotes, lib stamps (some crossed out in marker), glue stain inside rear board, bookplate removed ins front board. More
Albuquerque, NM: University of NM Press, 1952. 611, illus., figs, tables, biblio, app, index, ink name & remains of lib stamp ins fr flylf, DJ quite worn: sm tears, sm pcs missing. More
Washington, DC: NASA, 1969. Quarto, 30, wraps, tables, references. More