With the retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet in 2011, the role of getting people, satellites and other instruments into space falls to private companies. As of June 2011, there have been only 523 people to reach the 100 kilometer mark (considered human spaceflight), and only 24 have traveled beyond low Earth orbit. It is projected that within ten years, the number of people who will have flown into space will increase by about 600 percent due...

"A fact and photo-filled introduction to space flight's famous first, near misses, and disasters. Discover the daring and dangerous world of space exploration from lift-off to landing"--Back cover.

Top secret information about the United States first satellite launch in 1958 has been erased from the mind of American scientist Luke Lucas who must cure his own amnesia if he wants any chance to make the space shot successful.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" when the Apollo 11 landed on the moon. But it wasn't just one man who got us to the moon. The Moon Landing explores the people and technology that made the moon landing possible. Instead of examining one person's life, it focuses on the moon landing itself, showing the events leading up to it and how it changed the world. The book takes readers through the history...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to the moon? This beautifully illustrated picture book will take you on a journey to find out. You can fly into outer space, walk on the moon and take a look at our world from a very, very long way away!

The author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers?...

Explores how the human body behaves in zero gravity, answering questions about how astronauts go to the bathroom, why they grow taller, and why burping is risky in space.

"Join an astronaut for a day as she goes on her first ever spacewalk, and new crew members arrive. Find out how she trained for her mission and what it's like living and working in space. How do you eat and drink at zero gravity? How do space toilets work? What are space suits designed for?" -Provided by Publisher

"Aliens are coming! A year after young engineering student Rip Cantrell discovered the first flying saucer buried deep in the sands of the Sahara, another saucer is brought up from the bottom of the Atlantic. The recovery is funded by a pharmaceutical executive who believes that the saucer holds the key to an anti-aging drug formula that space travelers would need to voyage between galaxies. But one of his technicians, Adam Solo, an alien marooned...

Discusses the development of reusable spacecraft and how they have been used and describes the typical flight of a space shuttle.