Space Probes

Book excerpt: The first complete, up-to-date history of space probe exploration. In just 50 years, space exploration has advanced from the Luna 1, the first artificial object to overcome Earth's gravitational field, to the New Horizons Mission, which will reach Pluto in 2015. Progress has been spectacular, and it bodes well for the remarkable achievements to come. Space Probes is the first complete and fully illustrated history of the international space exploration program. Thoroughly up to date, it is organized by destination and includes every space probe launched by all countries active in space exploration -- the United States, the USSR/Russia, the European Union, Japan, China and India. Each probe is described as to its objective, its technology, the hurdles overcome, the successes and failures of the mission, the information gained and the lessons learned. Fascinating photographs and technical drawings give an inside view of each mission, and special features focus on key engineers and physicists and the fruits of their research. After a section on the history of astronomy, Space Probes covers missions to: The moon, the first objective Venus, our sister planet Mars, the red planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the giant planets Mercury The sun Comets Asteroids and the dwarf planets Future missions. The book also includes sections on the Apollo Space Program, the USSR-USA space race and a cross-referenced chronological index of all the probes. Engaging and accessible, Space Probes is a comprehensive and expertly researched encyclopedia of humanity's space explorations, an adventure that has not finished astonishing us.