FROM THE CHIEF HISTORIAN BORIS CHERTOK'S Rockets and ...

nasa history division
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Recent Publications (continued)
upon the arrival of what would be 300 railroad cars of captured German V-2 rockets
and associated equipment. Later that year, over 100 captured German scientists,
among them Wernher von Braun, would arrive at White Sands to assist in V-2 technology,
launching America’s race to space; tens of thousands of rockets and missiles
have since been fred on the range. Thousands of family members also lived and
worked at the range; their stories can be found inside as well.
Krafft Ehricke’s Extraterrestrial Imperative, by Krafft Ehricke and Marsha Freeman
(Apogee Books Space Series/Collector’s Guide Publishing, Inc., February 2009). A
summation of Krafft Ehricke’s work on encouraging the exploration of space, this
account offers biographic information on the man himself; encompasses details of
his new, innovative ideas; and portrays his thoughts on the importance and value of
space travel for society. Historic and yet topical, this resource also includes many of
Ehricke’s original works, many of which were previously out of print.
Faster Than Sound: The Story of Supersonic Flight, by Bill Gunston (Haynes
Publishing; 2nd edition, February 2009). This is the thrilling story of how test
pilots in the United States and United Kingdom frst pierced the sound barrier in
the late 1940s. Much has happened since then, and as recently as 2003 thousands of
fare-paying passengers were routinely enjoying intercontinental air travel at speeds
of up to Mach 2. The author describes in accessible style the rules and technologies
of supersonic fight, ongoing developments in engine and airframe technology, the
age of supersonic passenger transports like Concorde, and advances in supersonic
fghter and bomber design.
Exploding Superstars: Understanding Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts, by Alain
Mazure and Stéphane Basa (Springer-Praxis, February 2009). The exceptional cosmic
history and the fabulous destinies of exploding stars—supernovae and gammaray
bursters—are highly fertile areas of research and are also very special tools to
further our understanding of the universe. In this book, the authors throw light on
the assemblage of facts, hypotheses, and cosmological conclusions and show how
these “beacons” illuminate their immediate surroundings and allow us to study the
vast cosmos, like searchlights revealing the matter composing our universe.
Probing the New Solar System, by John Wilkinson (CSIRO Publishing, February
2009). Exploration by space probes has revealed many fascinating details about Earth’s
planetary neighbors. This book discusses the latest fndings that have contributed to a
changed understanding of the solar system—and how the revised defnition of a planet
in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union affected this understanding—offering
an up-to-date record of the many recent discoveries made about our solar system
and other planetary systems using ground-based and space probe technology.
ROSETTA: ESA’s Mission to the Origin of the Solar System, edited by Rita Schulz,
Claudia J. Alexander, Hermann Boehnhardt, and Karl-Heinz Glassmeier. Partially
reprinted, with updates and corrections, from the Space Science Reviews, vol. 128/1–
4, 2007 (Springer, March 2009). ROSETTA: ESA’s Mission to the Origin of the Solar
System is the frst book of its kind, which discusses the European Space Agency’s
(ESA) science and instrumentation involved in the Planetary Cornerstone Mission,
ROSETTA. Comets consist of the most primitive material in the solar system. An
in-depth study of this material could provide us with the knowledge to understand
the earliest epoch of the solar system’s formation. Until now, our knowledge of
comets has come from Earth-based telescopes and fyby missions. Rosetta will be