Lunar and Planetary Rovers: The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars

ISBN-13: 9780387307749 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 398 str.

Anthony H. Young

Opis

This book fills a need for a complete history of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, drawing on many photographs never before published. It also tells the story of the robotic rovers used on Mars, and concludes with a description of the new designs of rovers planned for The New Vision for Exploration now underway at NASA. The book provides extensive quotes from the astronauts who drove the LRV on the Moon from interviews conducted especially for the book. It also details new material from interviews of engineers and managers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory covering the robotic rovers, Sojourner, Sprit and Opportunity.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"To this reviewer's knowledge, this is the first book ever published on one of the most remarkable space vehicles ever built: the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle, or LRV. ... It is both very readable and very informative, and the many illustrations are excellent, including two sections of good-quality colour plates. Many of these images have never been published before. Definitely recommended." (David Maclennan, Liftoff, Issue 239, 2007)

"Aerospace historian Young has prepared a history of the design, development, and deployment of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) on the moon as part of the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions. ... The book is well organized, with many color and black-and-white photographs. ... A book for those in all areas of space science and engineering and in the history of space exploration. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels." (A. M. Strauss, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (10), June, 2007)

Spis treści

From concept to reality.- The Lunar Roving Vehicle subsystems.- Training for the Moon.- To the Hadley Plains.- Mysterious and unknown Descartes.- Destiny at Taurus-Littrow.- The quest for Mars.- The Vision for Space Exploration.

O autorze

The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars fills the need for a complete history of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17. The book draws on many photographs never before published. It goes on to recount the story of the successful robotic rovers used on Mars, and concludes with a description of the new designs of rovers planned for The New Vision for Exploration now underway at NASA. The text includes extensive coverage of the background, research, design and execution of the Lunar Rover, the Mars Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity missions, and the plans for both manned and unmanned rovers in NASA's future missions. Extensively researched, the book is based on interviews with the astronauts who drove the LRV, and the engineers, past, present and future, who design and build planetary rovers.