Frank Carlson Library

This book tells the story of rockets, from their humble beginnings as toys one thousand years ago to their initiation as fearsome weapons of war. Most recently, rockets have enabled human beings to escape the bounds of Earth, travel into space, and explore other worlds.

Goddard (1882-1945) was the most famous scientist in America between the world wars, and his fame continued to grow after his death until 1960, when the biography This High Man proved too holographic, and scientists and historians began to object. He became a historical footnote, but Clary (history, Eastern New Mexico U., Roswell) wants to shed light on the man, not the legend he and his heirs made of him.

Michael J. Neufeld, curator and space historian at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, delivers a brilliantly nuanced biography of Wernher von Braun. Chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich and one of the fathers of the U.S. space program, Wernher von Braun is a source of consistent fascination. Glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, he was a man of profound moral complexities, whose intelligence and charisma were coupled...

The riveting true story of the women who launched America into space. In the 1940s and 50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they recruited an elite group of young women- known as human computers- who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American ballistic missiles. But they were...

Provides an introduction to rocket science, presenting such topics as lift and thrust with simple text and illustrations.

Looks at the science behind rockets and rocketry, with experiments to try at home that demonstrate the principles involved.

This book describes the history of rockets, the parts of a rocket, Yuri Gagarin's orbiting of Earth, and John Glenn's orbiting of Earth.

"Read about rockets and spacecraft that have zoomed into space! ... Discover the manned and unmanned missions, and find out about space travel planned for the future."--Back cover.

Examines the origins, functions, uses, and discoveries of rockets, space probes, and satellites.