The Magician of Mojave and His Flying Innovations
by Dan Linehan
This heavily illustrated history traces Rutan’s evolution toward becoming one of the great aerospace designers of all time. It starts with Rutan’s early career when he developed aircraft for the Rutan Aircraft Factory, a period marked by some of his greatest leaps in aerospace design; his founding of Scaled Composites, where many of his design breakthroughs are still kept under intense proprietary secrecy; his elegant SpaceShipOne design, a true engineering marvel; and SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle that would in many ways be the culmination of Rutan’s childhood dream and life’s work (to quote poet and aviator John Magee), to slip “the surly bonds of earth” and “trod the high, untrespassed sanctity of space.” Learn more
This heavily illustrated history traces Rutan’s evolution toward becoming one of the great aerospace designers of all time. It starts with Rutan’s early career when he developed aircraft for the Rutan Aircraft Factory, a period marked by some of his greatest leaps in aerospace design; his founding of Scaled Composites, where many of his design breakthroughs are still kept under intense proprietary secrecy; his elegant SpaceShipOne design, a true engineering marvel; and SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle that would in many ways be the culmination of Rutan’s childhood dream and life’s work (to quote poet and aviator John Magee), to slip “the surly bonds of earth” and “trod the high, untrespassed sanctity of space.” Learn more
Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA's First Space Plane
by Piers Bizony
From aerospace historian and author Piers Bizony, this superbly designed and lavishly illustrated book marks a special moment in history: the final mission of the space shuttle. Noted space and science author Piers Bizony has put together a retrospective that covers the entire space shuttle program. In addition to covering every space shuttle mission, the book also covers the development and design of the space shuttle, as well as the technical specifications of the vehicle and details of its major assemblies and subassemblies. A full double-gatefold provides a large-scale technical drawing of the space shuttle. Learn more
by David Baker
The NASA Space Shuttle Owners’ Workshop Manual explores the shuttle’s design, construction, and use and provides detailed information about the technical attention required before and after a mission. This manual contains a full explanation of the operation of its systems for life support, electrical power production, cooling, propulsion, flight control, communications, landing, and avionics. More than 250 photographs and technical illustrations complement the authoritative text, giving insight into this marvel of space-age technology. Learn more
SpaceShipOneAn Illustrated History
by Dan Linehan
SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History chronicles the development of the world’s first commercial manned space program—a program that includes an airborne launcher (the White Knight), a space ship (SpaceShipOne), rocket propulsion, avionics, simulator, and full ground support. Packed with more than 230 photos, illustrations, exclusive diagrams and interviews with the individuals who made air-and-space history happen, SpaceShipOne provides a full picture of this classified project—from the conception and design to the deals that brought together Scaled Composites’ Burt Rutan and Virgin Airlines’ Sir Richard Branson to the plans for building a fleet of commercial suborbital spaceships and launch aircraft. Learn more
One Giant Leap
One Giant LeapApollo 11 Remembered
by Piers Bizony
The first moon landing in July 1969 captured the imagination of the world as no subsequent “space spectacular” has. Forty years later, space historian Piers Bizony has produced a stunning visual record of this unparalleled mission. Drawing on high-resolution images from the entire suite of Apollo 11’s on-board film magazines, the book presents a complete picture of the mission: the launch, the astronauts’ lives inside the spacecraft, the landing and moon walk, and finally the return to earth to worldwide acclaim. Accompanying these remarkable images, many published here for the first time, is Bizony’s fascinating essay on the lasting cultural and emotional impact of the mission. Quotes from astronauts, scientists, and literary commentators add an extra dimension to Bizony’s account. Learn more
The first moon landing in July 1969 captured the imagination of the world as no subsequent “space spectacular” has. Forty years later, space historian Piers Bizony has produced a stunning visual record of this unparalleled mission. Drawing on high-resolution images from the entire suite of Apollo 11’s on-board film magazines, the book presents a complete picture of the mission: the launch, the astronauts’ lives inside the spacecraft, the landing and moon walk, and finally the return to earth to worldwide acclaim. Accompanying these remarkable images, many published here for the first time, is Bizony’s fascinating essay on the lasting cultural and emotional impact of the mission. Quotes from astronauts, scientists, and literary commentators add an extra dimension to Bizony’s account. Learn more
