Michael H. Gorn Books

This volume from the NASA "Monograph in Aerospace History" series, first published in 1996, features a comprehensive study enriched with photographs and illustrations. It delves into significant aspects of aerospace history, providing visual context and insights that enhance the reader's understanding of the subject. The inclusion of visual materials makes it a valuable resource for those interested in the evolution of aerospace exploration and technology.

Spacecraft chronicles the historic and contemporary most important spacecraft. American, Soviet (then Russian), and Chinese rockets, shuttles, satellites, labs, and more are chronicled--

For the past 75 years, the U.S. government has invested significant time and money into advanced aerospace research, as evidenced by its many experimental X-plane aircraft and rockets. NASA's X-Planes asks a simple question: What have we gained from it all? To answer this question, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the X-plane's long history, from the 1946 X-1 to the modern X-60. The chapters describe not just the technological evolution of these models, but also the wider story of politics, federal budgets, and inter-agency rivalries surrounding them. The book is organized into two sections, with the first covering the operational X-planes that symbolized the Cold War struggle between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, and the second section surveying post-Cold War aircraft and spacecraft. Featuring dozens of original illustrations of X-plane cross-sections, in-flight profiles, close-ups, and more, this book will educate general readers and specialists alike.

The book offers a comprehensive history of flight-testing Xplanes, featuring detailed accounts of iconic aircraft such as the X-1 and XZ-15, piloted by aviation legends like Chuck Yeager. It explores groundbreaking NASA and Defense Department programs that advanced aeronautical technology for military, space, and commercial applications. With a thoroughly updated text, three new chapters, and a wealth of rare photographs, this work serves as an essential resource for aviation enthusiasts and anyone interested in the evolution of manned flight.

This book tells the remarkable story of space exploration from the early twentieth century to the present, with compelling coverage--including a wealth of illustrations--of every US space mission ever undertaken, including those of projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, and the development of the Space Shuttle. The exciting story is brought right up to the present by explaining the function of NASA's two windows in the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. This book is the first illustrated history of NASA--the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--ever to be published. It underlines the personalities involved--the personal ambitions and temperaments of astronauts, pilots, scientists and engineers, and the influence of America's presidents on the country's space program--as much as the technological advances that have made space exploration possible. It is authoritatively and engagingly written, and profusely illustrated throughout with 500 stunning photographs.