Explore the latest books of this year!
Bookbot

Patrick Stakem

    Lonaconing Residency Iron Technology & the Railroad
    Space Weather
    T. H. Paul and J.A. Millholland Master Locomotive Builders of Western Maryland
    Computer Virtualization and the Cloud
    Spaceports
    Stem - Engineering Process
    • 2018

      The book discusses the Engineering process, a road map developed over time to simplify design, implementation, and testing. It is applicable across a broad range of applications, from building a cathedral, to designing ap software.One key part of the process is that it can be enhanced and modified, to incorporated new knowledge. Although the teachers are experts in their particular area, and know how to present grade-appropriate material, they may not know how to find and access the advanced resources they need, or where to get help in a particular topic area.STEM programs are seen as critically important in the education system, world-wide. It is getting to be a complex, interconnected, global ecosystem. Advances in the subject areas of STEM will take place only by those who know how to exploit this ecosystem for knowledge.

      Stem - Engineering Process
    • 2018

      Spaceports

      • 28 pages
      • 1 hour of reading

      A port is a point of departure or arrival. This book covers the topic of Spaceports. Like an airport or a train station, these are hubs that people and cargo come to for a transportation system. Some launch sites allow for vertical launch, and some allow for horizontal take off and landing. These are indistinguishable from airports, although the run ways are usually longer. Spaceports are the gateway to orbit for people and supplies. They are key to continued exploration of the solar system, and enhanced human exploration beyond the Earth. As we shall see, spaceports can be placed... in space. The pending Deep Space Gateway is one of these. The Russians prefer the term Cosmodrome. This book will not discuss purely military launch sites, and it is not intended to be exhaustive.

      Spaceports
    • 2018

      This book covers the topic of weather in space, which is defined by our Sun. It interacts with our atmosphere and magnetic field (actually the atmosphere and magnetic field of all the planets and moons), to influence our weather. It can impact our technology. The study of Space Weather depends on space physics. All of out Space Weather originates with the Sun. The first serious study's of the subject were undertaken in the International Geophysical Year, in 1957. Actually stretching 18 months, this period saw the first launches of Earth Satellites, and amazing discovery's. We have to be able to predict Space Weather Storms, if we want humans to live and work in space. Space weather affects our satellites, produces the Northern (and Southern) Lights, and can affect communications, the electric grid, aviation and more.

      Space Weather
    • 2018

      Planetary Defense

      • 68 pages
      • 3 hours of reading

      This book covers the topic of Earth's Planetary Defense. This is not for the purposes of repelling an alien invasion, although the military has probably thought of that. Any civilization that could reach us is undeniably more technological advanced. We are focused, however, on big chunks of rock that could cause massive damage, and end civilization as we know it. It has happened - ask the dinosaurs. Ocean impacts, and Earth is covered by 75% water, recall, could trigger massive Tsunamis.The National Science and Technology Council is on record as saying we are unprepared as a nation for a large asteroid impact event. The last impact of a object some 10 km in size, 66 million years ago, caused an "extinction event." A four meter asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere about once a year. For seven meters, its 5 years. That size produces a Hiroshima-sized explosion. For 20 meter asteroids, its twice per century. We just had one in 2013. We have had a success rate of four asteroids detected before they hit Earth's surface. It's the ones we don't detect that should trouble us. That, and the fact we don't have a clue on what to do about it, if its detected.

      Planetary Defense
    • 2018

      This book will discuss the exploration of the four largest planets in our solar system, all located beyond the orbit of Mars. The first two, Jupiter and Saturn are termed the Gas Giants, and the next two, Neptune and Uranus, are the Ice Giants.Each has an extensive set of moons, and a ring system. Each is also unique in many ways. They have been explored extensively, and more information is gained every day about their composition and behavior. It's thought that some of the larger moons might harbor life beneath an icy crust. Some of the larger moons could provide a landing site and outpost for humans. There is a lot more to learn about these systems, and how the planets and the solar system in general formed, and behaves.

      Exploration of the Gas Giants and the Ice Giants, Space Missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
    • 2018

      Space Telescopes

      • 110 pages
      • 4 hours of reading

      This book covers the topic of Telescopes in Space. Observation of the night skys started way before Civilaization. Early humans looked at all the lights in the sky, saw that some moved, and some where still. What did it all mean?The initial assumption was that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and everything traveled around it. But, by observations, some

      Space Telescopes
    • 2018

      This book covers the topic of the LOP-G, a renaming and restructuring of the Deep Space Gateway, a joint Russian-US effort, and associated missions. This is a step beyond the International Space Station, which will be beyond its useful lifetime in a few years, and will be decommissioned, with some parts being reused, and some re-entered. This will result in a new era of human space exploration, further from Earth. Whether we refer to the emerging facility as a Gateway, a Colony, a settlement, or a habitat, we are talking of a permanently occupied facility. We can consider the habitat to be in orbit (about something), or on the surface of another body, other than Earth. These projects will differ in detail, but will all consist of self-sufficient structures somewhere other than Earth, with an associated logistics train. The Gateway would be continuously crewed.

      Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway
    • 2018

      NASA's Ships and Planes

      • 74 pages
      • 3 hours of reading

      This book discusses the resources and infrastructure that NASA developed and applied to support space missions in the early 1960's. When the first satellite, Vanguard, went up in 1958, there was no world-wide network of tracking stations. Thus, a series of ground stations, tracking ships, and tracking aircraft were required. When the crewed capsules of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs splashed down in the ocean, they were retrieved by U. S. Naval vessels for NASA. NASA has a couple of Ocean-going tugs to retrieve the solid rocket boosters used in the Shuttle Program. In addition, the size of the Shuttle external tank required water transportation on a barge, from the assembly point to the launch site. The Shuttle itself was flown from place to place on top of a specially modified 747 aircraft.

      NASA's Ships and Planes
    • 2017

      This book describes two men whose careers intersected at the Mount Savage Locomotive Works in Western Maryland. T.H. Paul was Master Mechanic of the Works. But left to form his own business based in Frostburg. He focused on narrow gauge locomotives. His break with the Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad, owner of the Mount Savage Shops, was amicable. He sent business to Mount Savage, and they sent him business concerning narrow gauge and mining equipment, which they did not manufacture. Its was a win-win. When the Mount Savage Locomotive Works Catalog came out in 1889, Paul's engines were featured prominently. James A. Millholland had come to Mount Savage with his father, also James Millholland, in 1866. He worked at the Mount Savage Locomotive Works and the Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad, then for the Georges Creek & Cumberland Railroad. Paul's father was a Mill Wright, and Millholland's was a railroad man. Both Paul & Millholland became Master Mechanics of the Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad. And, both men contributed to the state-of-the-art in 19th century railroads, and both had patents granted to them. Both were key figures in the Industrialization that was taking place in western Maryland and the Nation as a whole in the 19th century.

      T. H. Paul and J.A. Millholland Master Locomotive Builders of Western Maryland