New Book on Pioneer

Hello all,

I'm a longtime lurker and sometime contributor to sci.space.history,
hoping that I can be excused for a bit of shameless self-promotion of my
just-published book on the Pioneer project...a description follows...

Mark Wolverton

-------------
The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes
Joseph Henry Press, 2004, ISBN: 0-309-09050-4, $24.95

The first spacecraft to explore the secrets of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn,
and the void beyond Pluto, the Pioneer space probes have been the
trailblazers of the space age, truly going where no man has gone before.

Emblazoned with the nude figures of a man and a woman, etched
representations of our human form, the Pioneer generation of probes were
aptly named. Launched into the inky depths of space, they were more than
mere machines, they were humanity's first emissaries into deep space.
And the pictorial inscriptions that adorned the crafts embodied the
hopes and dreams of everyone involved in the Pioneer program...our
message in a bottle.

Perhaps the most efficient, reliable, and cost effective program to come
out of NASA, the Pioneer missions are a shining example of how a small
and talented group of people can, against all odds, pull something off
that has never been done before. Indeed, more than thirty years after
its launch in 1972, Pioneer 10 is still cruising into interstellar
space, sending back data as it courses through the galaxy while Pioneer
6, in solar orbit, is more than 35 years old and humankind's oldest
functioning spacecraft. But despite their enduring contributions, the
Pioneer project remains a footnote in space history, little more than a
humble prologue to its inheritors.

The Depths of Space recounts the long overdue history of Pioneer both as
a scientific and technological achievement and as the story of the
exceptional people who made the program possible. This tight narrative
captures the black-coffee buzz of full-throttle, deadline-driven
production, the sharp, intense thrill of discovery, the pang of anxiety
that accompanies looming danger and ultimate loss, and the satisfaction
and pride of creating an enduring legacy.
----------------

Mark Wolverton wrote:
Hello all,

I'm a longtime lurker and sometime contributor to sci.space.history,
hoping that I can be excused for a bit of shameless self-promotion of my
just-published book on the Pioneer project...a description follows...

Mark Wolverton

-------------
The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes
Joseph Henry Press, 2004, ISBN: 0-309-09050-4, $24.95

snip

Speaking for myself I think no apology is necessary. I'm looking
forward to reading it. Congrats on its publication! As far as I'm
concerned anyone who actually publishes accounts of these *historical*
missions has a gold-card pass to shamelessly self-promote 24/7/365 here.
You can't get more on-topic than that.

--
bp
Proud Member of the Human O-Ring Society Since 2003

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:29:03 GMT, Bruce Palmer
wrote:

Speaking for myself I think no apology is necessary.

....Actually, he should be apologizing. For not contributing to ssh
more :-)

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

Bruce Palmer wrote:

Speaking for myself I think no apology is necessary. I'm looking
forward to reading it.

Read it online free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10739.html

--


Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii

Indeed, more than thirty years after
its launch in 1972, Pioneer 10 is still cruising into interstellar
space

What happened to 11?

On 29 Jun 2004 18:36:18 GMT, (G EddieA95) wrote:

Indeed, more than thirty years after
its launch in 1972, Pioneer 10 is still cruising into interstellar
space

What happened to 11?

....It was picked up by some EBEs on the way to Earth, and should be up
for auction on eBay sometime next week.

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 07:55:28 -1000, "Alex R. Blackwell"
wrote:

Bruce Palmer wrote:

Speaking for myself I think no apology is necessary. I'm looking
forward to reading it.

Read it online free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10739.html

....It's not the whole book, just a sample chapter. However, I suspect
it'll be on .ebooks inside of a week :-)

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

G EddieA95 wrote:
Indeed, more than thirty years after
its launch in 1972, Pioneer 10 is still cruising into interstellar
space


What happened to 11?

Read the book...


--

Mark Wolverton
Freelance Science Writer

home.earthlink.net/~exetermw

Knowledge is an island in a sea of mystery. ~ Chet Raymo

OM wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 07:55:28 -1000, "Alex R. Blackwell"
wrote:

Read it online free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10739.html


...It's not the whole book, just a sample chapter.

Sigh. For the URL-challenged, there is a big "Read it online - FREE"
link in the upper left corner: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309090504/html/

As one will see, The *entire* book is online. The only drawback is that
one has to scroll page by page, but there are ways around this ;-)

--


Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:44:31 -1000, "Alex R. Blackwell"
wrote:

Sigh. For the URL-challenged, there is a big "Read it online - FREE"
link in the upper left corner: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309090504/html/

....That link honestly did *not* appear on the page when I pulled it
up. Either way, the page-at-a-time is an annoyance. but as you said
there *are* ways around it.

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr