Book Review: Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight by Joe Pappalardo

There is no doubt that private space companies have reinvigorating American efforts to return to space on US systems since the unceremonious lapse of American manned launch capabilities with the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.  Spaceport Earth is more about that reinvigoration in the US than about global launch capability although it does touch on that. First the facts.  The book is 218 pages of text divided into 10 topical chapters and an epilogue.  A source list, acknowledgements, and an index. The book essentially covers developments in private space since the first flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipOne in 2003 through to the book’s publication last year.  Many things … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Into the Black by Rowland White

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] I am a space enthusiast and have been since I was a kid and saw the Apollo-Soyuz missions on the TV news. I was thrilled when the Shuttle first flew in 1981 and followed the program through to it’s final mission in 2011. I was thrilled when given the opportunity to review Into the Black and the quality of the story is amazing. The book is the story of the development and first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia from the … More after the Jump…

Spaceplanes

In addition to being a historian and political junkie I am also a Space nut. I was hugely disappointed to see the shuttle program shut down with its replacement being cancelled because we plan to rely on the private sector. I do plan on buying SpaceX stock if they ever have an IPO though. I ran across the below infographic on Space.com and decided to pass it along because I think the whole spaceplane concept is intriguing. Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Last Shuttle Mission

The last shuttle mission will go up on Friday July 8th. The Mission, STS-135 by Space Shuttle Atlantis will the 135th and final shuttle mission and mark the end of an era at NASA. What is really pathetic is the fact that their is no follow on manned orbiter for the US space program. We, the US, has ceded the lead in space to Russia and China and probably Japan. The president has decreed that henceforth the US will depend on other countries and private companies to put American Astronauts into orbit. That is just pathetic and I cannot understand the logic behind that decision. Everybody should have to observe … More after the Jump…