Space Books &
Magazines Looking for a good space read
Who needs a space elevator when we can reach orbital
altitude just by stacking up all those space books written
in the past 50 years. Yet, somehow there are still plenty
of new good ones going on the stack every day.
Here we present some space magzines, book stores, space
book lists, and sites dedicated to special topics
such as space collectibles
and space history.
I also include some miscellaneous titles that I find
of particular interest.
There exist only a few magazines aimed
at the general public about space exploration and development.
They are mostly affiliated with space
activist organizations, usually published bi-monthly
or quarterly, and none are very large. (See About
HobbySpace for the local explanation for this.)
Nevertheless, the magazines listed below
provide lots of great articles, news updates, historical
data, and more on government and commercial space projects.
The activist affiliated magazines also give updates
on what's happening with the organizations.
Dwayne Day reviews of a selection of space
news related publications:
Great magazine for the space buff. Includes news updates,
detailed day-by-day descriptions of recent shuttle flights
and ISS logs, lots of space history, and more. Level
ranges from general to semi-technical.
Occasionally found at the larger newsstands in Europe
but seldom in the US. Some university aerospace libraries
carry it.
The NSS is dedicated to creating a "space faring
society", so the magazine empahsizes topics related
to human spaceflight. Each issue typically follows a
given theme, e.g. space tourism, with several articles
by different authors. The level is non-technical.
Subscription comes with membership.
Onlineapplication available.
Launch
Magazine
Started in 2006, this magazine is "devoted to hobby
rocketry and consumer aerospace".
Space
Lifestyle Magazine
Started in 2007 by Newforks
LLC, it is a quarterly "on space and the space
sector. Included in issues of the magazine are personal
accounts of missions, scientists, engineers, business
people, and the science and technology that make the
diverse field of space what it is today".
A newsletter that deals with "the opening of
the Lunar frontier, suggesting how pioneers can make
best use of local resources. Some of the points made
will relate specifically to pioneer life in the lunar
environment." Peter Koch has edited MMM since it
started in 1986. Archive
The Planetary Society emphasizes space science but
is friendly to human spaceflight. Most articles are
science related but presented in a very readable fashion
for the layperson.
Provides an "even mix of science and fiction in
a full-sized (8.5" x 11") format. The science covers
the gamut of anything our readers will need to know
to build, get to, or live in a moon base. The fiction
is near-term, near-Earth, hard science fiction."
Sponsored by the The Artemis
Project - a commercial venture to build a Moon base
within the next decade or two - the magazine gives updates
on the project.
Dedicated histroy journal, with articles written by
both professional and amateur historians. Issues also
include interviews with "key figures and visionaries".
Subscriptions available online at SpaceBusiness.com.
[Click on BookStore in left menu, then search on "Quest".] Back
issues available.
Smthsonian
Air & Space Magazine
This bi-monthly covers both aviation and space topics.
The space articles often are historical in nature but
many cover current developments.
Space
Book Stores and Publishers
These store sites provide books related
to a wide range of space topics. Some sites sell books
directly while others just describe the books and refer
to another online book stores for purchases.
American Astronautical
Society - Univelt Publishing
Univelt is the publisher for the American Astronautical
Society. Catalog includes all kinds of hard-to-get space
books and conference proceedings in areas such as
"..Mars Exploration, Space Travel, Planetary
Missions, JPL, Mission Control, NASA, Astronomy, Astronautics,
Science, Astrophysics, Spaceflight dynamics, the History
of space research, manned missions, planetary studies,
satellite technologies, man-machine interaction, effects
of cosmic radiation, colonization, rocketry & rockets,
shuttles and space stations, interstellar probes,
and much more."
They also publish the proceedings of the Mars society.
Apogee Books
This Canadian press publishes a wide range of space
books including a large range of space history books.
Recently, it also released the collectors book
Space Toys of The 60's.
Microcosm
- Astronautics Books Microcosm
is a rocket
company that has a bookstore on the side (or a bookstore
that builds rockets on the side!) The bookstore provides
a wide range of space related books and offer several
ways to search for the book, author or subject of interest.
Other Space Book
Stores & Publishers
HobbySpace
Shopping
Many of the general space stores listed in the Shopping
section also sell space books.
Saturn
Press
Saturn Press specializes "in rocketry publications,
offering books, posters, and booklets for modelers
and space enthusiasts." Most of these are by
Peter
Alway.
These sites provide lists of space
books in various categories. Some of these sites also
provide links to the major book stores where they can
be purchased online.
ASR
Bookstore - Applied
Space Research, which plans to send a lander to
the moon and return with surface samples, offers a
list of relevant space exploration books.
Collect classic space books such as
the famous1950's introductory books about spaceflight
from Wernher von Braun, Arthur C. Clarke, Willy Ley
and others. There are also many technical books of historical
interest.
Boston
Books -Space Books
"Used and out-of-print books on spaceflight, aviation,
science and technology. We also offer selected historical
reprints, as well as biographies on related topics "
Used Book Info
These sites provide info on out of print books. They
offer lookups on titles and authors on new, used,
rare, and out of print books and give information
on their availablity and price:
In the Stream of Stars : The Soviet-American
Space Art Book
William K. Hartmann et.al. - 1991 - present a broad
sampling of both American and Soviet/Russian space
art.
Visions of Space
By David A.
Hardy with a forword by Arthur C. Clarke this
book traces the history of space art and displays
the work of 75 artists. Published by Paper Tiger/Dragon's
World.
Hardyware: The Art of David A. Hardy
The Art of Chesley Bonestell
By Ron Miller and Frederick C. Durant
Apollo: An Eyewitness Account by Astronaut/Explorer
Artist/MoonWalker
Alan Bean with Andrew Chaikin.
PUPNIKS: The Story of Two Space Dogs by Ruth
Lubka - (Marshall
Cavendish, 2003) ISBN 0761451374 - "[Pupniks]
tells the story of Belka and Strelka, whose flight
and earth orbit in 1960 paved the way for Gagarin's
flight one year later. For very young children (4-7),
PUPNIKS includes photos of the dogs and facts about
other animal astronauts, as well as info about Krushchev's
gift of Strelka's pup Pushinka to JFK in 1961. For
more info, see www.marshallcavendish.com.
"
Relics
of the Space Raceby Russell Still
Now in its 2nd ed., this book gives a history of the
space program in the first half of the book and then
the second half provides a guide to space collectibles.
251 pages, softcover, PR Products, Roswell, Ga. Review
at Science Book Board.
Robbins
Medallions: Fact and Fiction by Howard Weinberge
History of the gold and silver commemorative mediallions
produced by the Robbins Company for all astronauts from
Apollo 7 to the shuttle flights. The medallions were
flown as mementos by the astronauts and then kept as
souveniers for family and friends.
The existence of the medallions was not publicized
by NASA. Howard Weinberge offers the first complete
history of the medallions and corrects various myths
about them.
Time
Life: A Man on the Moon 30th Anniversary Commemorative
Book Set
A special 3 volume edition of Andrew Chaikin's monumental
history of the Apollo lunar missions from Time
Life Home. Includes over 500 photos and illustrations.
Tom Hanks, whose HBO series “From the Earth to the Moon.”
was inspired by this book, gives an introduction. Also,
some of Alan Bean's paintings are included.
SpaceBusiness.com
Check the Bookstore at SpaceBusiness.com, sponsored
by the International Space Business Council, for books
related to space commerce, industry studies, etc.
High Power Rocketry
Amazon: US
Created for the adult enthusiast, each issueof High Power Rocketry comes
with great model designs and instructionals, reviews of the latest equipment
and technology and profiles of the people who share in your love of rocketry.
Air & Space
Amazon: US
Smithsonian's Air and Space Magazine offers fascinating articles about
aviation history, events and personalities.
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Amazon: US
Analog Science Fiction and Fact contains compelling, hard-to-put-down futuristic
sci-fi stories and scientific features.
