Blast Off

by McCracken, Ken

• ISBN13: 9781741106442
• ISBN10: 1741106443
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-01
• Publisher: New Holland Publishers

Summary

From the launch of Sputnik, the world's first satellite, Ken McCracken takes us on a space journey through the heady, early days of space exploration-when scientists were making startling discoveries about space, our atmosphere and the effects of the Sun on the Earth almost daily.

Author Biography

McCracken's own discoveries contributed greatly to saving astronauts' lives, particularly on the Moon landing missions. His pioneering research into the cosmic radiation has taken him from the MIT in Boston, to Australia-developing the CSIRO Division of Mineral Physics and the CSIRO Office of Space Science and Applications. Along the way McCracken has earned several accolades and awards, including being a joint recipient of the Australia Prize for Science in 1995

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 10
Dawn of the Space Age	p. 13
The first stirrings of science	p. 22
Home-brew rockets	p. 26
University days	p. 29
Exploring the Cosmos	p. 41
Meson song	p. 49
Explosions on the Sun	p. 53
Lic Lic Skule Boi	p. 61
Sputnik I	p. 69
Jim van Allen	p. 75
Cupid in the Space Age	p. 83
Satellites-up close	p. 89
My ticket to space	p. 97
Magnetic expressways in space	p. 109
Skyhooks	p. 117
Spudnik	p. 125
There's many a slip	p. 131
An Australian family in Camelot	p. 141
Lunch with the President	p. 149
But for the grace of God	p. 153
Blast off	p. 161
Pioneer 6: an intimate view	p. 166
The excitement of discovery	p. 176
Give them a shovel	p. 187
Someone has to do it	p. 194
Woomera	p. 204
Mentors, advocates and personalities	p. 217
Little green men and other weird tales	p. 230
A better banknote	p. 240
The big change	p. 246
Remote sensing	p. 257
Winding the clock back	p. 263
To the edge of the Solar System	p. 270
Feral physicist farm	p. 276
Our fickle Sun	p. 281
A few reflections	p. 286
The next 50 years in space	p. 291
Sources	p. 299
Further reading	p. 300
About the author	p. 301
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