This Is Rocket Science: True Stories of the Risk-taking Scientists who Figure Out Ways to Explore Beyond
..three, two, one… we have liftoff! From the award-winning author of Are We Alone? comes a title to propel young imaginations far into space. This Is Rocket Science explores the past, present, and future of space travel.The compelling text—vetted by NASA scientists—is a combination of history, science, human drama, and future challenges. Readers learn how fireworks in ancient China developed into the fire arrows used by Genghis Khan; we meet Sir Isaac Newton, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and learn how their imaginations shaped rocketry. We revisit the era of Sputnik, the satellite that launched a superpower space race, ending with moonwalks and a rendezvous in space. Finally we look forward to the future challenges of Mars and beyond. We also get a sneak peek at new technologies like space elevators, solar sails, ion propulsion, and more.
Читать This Is Rocket Science: True Stories of the Risk-taking Scientists who Figure Out Ways to Explore Beyond онлайн беплатно
THIS IS ROCKET SCIENCE
TRUE STORIES OF THE RISK-TAKING SCIENTISTS WHO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO EXPLORE BEYOND EARTH
by Gloria Skurzynski
FOR MEGAN ALANE GLORIA LEDESMA, WHO WILL LIVE IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD—GS
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
John M. Fahey, Jr.,
President & Chief Executive Officer
Gilbert M. Grosvenor,
Chairman of the Board
Tim T. Kelly,
President, Global Media Group
John Q. Griffin,
Executive Vice President; President, Publishing
Nina D. Hoffman,
Executive Vice President; President, Book Publishing Group
Melina Gerosa Bellows,
Executive Vice President, Children’s Publishing
PREPARED BY THE BOOK DIVISION
Nancy Laties Feresten,
Vice President, Editor in Chief, Children’s Books
Jonathan Halling,
Design Director, Children’s Publishing
Jennifer Emmett,
Executive Editor, Reference & Solo Titles, Children’s Books
Carl Mehler,
Director of Maps
R. Gary Colbert,
Production Director
Jennifer A. Thornton,
Managing Editor
STAFF FOR THIS BOOK
Suzanne Fonda,
Project Editor
David M. Seager,
Art Director
Lori Epstein, Gloria Skurzynski,
Illustrations Editors
Priyanka Lamichhane,
Associate Editor
Grace Hill,
Associate Managing Editor
Lewis R. Bassford,
Production Manager
Susan Borke,
Legal and Business Affairs
Manufacturing and Quality Management
Christopher A. Liedel,
Chief Financial Officer
Phillip L. Schlosser,
Vice President
Chris Brown,
Technical Director
Nicole Elliott, Rachel Faulise,
Managers
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is exceedingly grateful to rocket scientist Ed Skurzynski and to dedicated editor Suzanne Patrick Fonda and art director David Seager for their continuous support. Deep thanks also to Françoise Ulam; to David S. Nolan; Marc Rayman at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Mike Wright and Betty Humphery at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Norman Chaffee, Roger Weiss, and Mike Gentry at NASA Johnson Space Center; Gwen Pitman at NASA Media Services; Linda S. Sandoval at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Suzanne DuBeau Rostek at Astrotech Space Operations, Inc; Valerie-Anne Lutz van Ammers at the American Philosophical Society Library; Andrew Ilin at Ad Astra; Roger G. Gilbertson at SpaceX; Jordin Kare at Laser-Motive; and, for her continuing inspiration to students, to France Anne Cordova, President of Purdue University and former NASA Chief Scientist, the youngest person and first woman to hold that position.
The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 325 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.
For more information, please call 1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463) or write to the following address:
National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.
Visit us online at www.nationalgeographic.com/books
For librarians and teachers: www.ngchildrensbooks.org
More for kids from National Geographic: kids.nationalgeographic.com
For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights: [email protected]
Copyright © 2010 Gloria Skurzynski. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Skurzynski, Gloria.
This is rocket science: true stories of the risk-taking scientists who figure out ways to explore beyond Earth / by Gloria Skurzynski.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-4263-0717-1
1. Rocketry—Biography. 2. Aerospace engineers—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Rocketry—History—Juvenile literature. 4. Rockets (Aeronautics)—History—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
TL781.85.A1S58 2010
629.4092’2—dc22
2009020386
Version: 2017-07-05
IN THE 13TH CENTURY THE CHINESE DESIGNED FIRE ARROWS TO USE AS WEAPONS AGAINST INVADING MONGOL ARMIES.
1
FIRE ARROWS
Some inventions happen by accident. Two thousand years ago, Chinese scientists searched for a way to make people immortal. They mixed chemicals with liquids and drank them, hoping this would keep them alive forever. Instead, they often died quickly because their experiments contained poisons.
One of the main ingredients in those potions was saltpeter, a potassium nitrate compound found in dry caves in southern China. Alchemists (the scientists searching for eternal life) used saltpeter to dissolve ores and minerals. They learned how to make pure sulfur by heating iron pyrite, also known as fool’s gold. And they could easily obtain carbon from coal or charcoal. During centuries of experimentation, the alchemists discovered that if saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon were combined, the mixture would burn.
