FAQ-2-B: sci.space.tech reading list

Reading lists and recommended references are a recurrent theme in
sci.space.* This occurs so often that it seems like there is a FAQ
missing here.

This prototype for a FAQ is being offered by a non-expert (pure
wannabe, as I haven't even made it through my Baker and Makemson), but
it's based on recommendations made in various sci.space.* threads.

This list includes a couple of "space history" books because they have
useful overviews, but focuses mainly on technical references and
theory works. (Jenkins, *Space Shuttle*, kinda falls into both
groups, I gather). This is the reading list for those who are going
to design the X-Prize OSP-replacement. Er, that is, those who want to
know numbers, check models, and do BOTE calculations for any kind of
spaceflight, manned, robotic, reentering or interstellar. I've also
included Tuftes so that you can communicate usefully about your
findings and results.

Most of the "space history" books should be, I think, in a seperate
FAQ, and I may get around to drafting that one of these days. But why
wait for that when you can chew this rag?

Because various local experts have various favorites (and decry
certain other selections), I thought it would be useful to include
information on who recommended the book, or who suggests *not* using
it -- thus the Votes For and Votes Against portion of the entries.

This is a first draft. I am willing to do a couple more drafts, but
in the long term a suitable steward should named Keeper of the FAQ,
and really make this useful, and it should probably go out when the
moderator's FAQ goes out. The format used here is a temporary one; it
should be done in html-compatible citation format, but that's a later
step.

Note that I've left out most publication data for now. I have access
to some of that information already (I saved the list from one of the
schools that was posted a bit ago), but I won't spit in your face if
you send me reminders about that. And there are some references so
familiar that no one bothers to post the whole identification, and
I've missed some of those because I haven't sipped from that cup yet.

Hope this introduction isn't too rambling, and that the list that
follows is useful to the group, and not too small a step towards a
document that helps group members. And now, without further ado:

Note: "name-hearsay" in a vote means that "name" knows of the source,
but has
not reviewed it directly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: NASA
T: Introduction to the Aerodynamics of Flight, NASA SP-367
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: shafer, berndt
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Murray and Cox
T:
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: --
Votes Against: kevinw, om
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Wiesel
T:
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: JRF
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Bate, Mueller, and White
T:
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: JRF
Votes Against: spencer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Prussing and Conway
T:
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: JRF-hearsay, spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Ogata
T: SYSTEM DYNAMICS
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: sstezel
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Ogata
T: MODERN CONTROL ENGINEERING
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: sstezel
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Anderson
T: Modern Compressible Flow
P: [publication data TBD] (0072424435)
Votes For:
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Anderson
T: Hypersonic and High Temperature Gas Dynamics
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: Higgins
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Ely
T: Return from Space
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Loh
T: Re-entry and Planetary Entry Physics and Technology - I,II
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: cate
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Hill & Peterson
T: Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: sstezel
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Hyder et al
T: Spacecraft Power Technologies
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: chrisw
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Tajmar
T: Advanced Space Propulsion Systems
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: --
Votes Against: chrisw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Constantine & Cain
T: Hydrogen Peroxide Handbook
P: [publication data TBD] (R-6931, AD819081)
Votes For: lowther
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Parker
T: Materials for missiles and spacecraft
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Van Dyke
T: An Album of Fluid Motion
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: shafer, kaszeta, shoppa, higgins
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Pope
T: Aerodynamics of Supersonic Flow, 2nd ed (1958)
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Ashkenas, McRuer, and Graham
T: Flight Control Systems
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: shafer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Vallado
T: Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications 2nd ed
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Szebehely (2nd ed w/Mark)
T: Adventures In Celestial Mechanics
P: [publication data TBD] ISBN 0-292-75105-2
Votes For: ingram, winter
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Baker & Makemson
T: An Introduction to Astrodynamics
P: [publication data TBD] (USAF, approx 1961)
Votes For:
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Wertz
T: Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer-hearsay
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Misner, Thorne, Wheeler
T: GRAVITATION
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: mook
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: ---
T: The Standard Handbook for Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineers
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: cate
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Jenkins and Landis
T: Hypersonic
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer, shafer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Jenkins
T: Space Shuttle
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: who doesn't?
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Cooper
T: Before Lift-Off
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: spencer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Schmitt
T: US Manned Spaceflight in the 20th Century
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: cfink, berndt
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Tufte
T: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: kevinw, shafer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Tufte
T: Envisioning Information (did I get it right, Mary?)
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: shafer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Tufte
T: Visual Explanations (did I get it right, Mary?)
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: shafer
Votes Against:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In article ,
says...
This list includes a couple of "space history" books because they have
useful overviews, but focuses mainly on technical references and
theory works.

hmmm... While that's useful, a list of references on, say, space program
management would also be useful. Murray & Cox would fall into this
category. I'd also include Stephen Johnson's recent Secrets of Apollo.
Tom Kelly's MoonLander also talks a lot about management of a complex
space program.

I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion that for large-scale projects,
management matters more than technology or people. Focusing on the
technology won't lead to an understanding of why, say, Apollo fully
succeeded and ISS is a limited success. Or, to use one of Johnson's
examples, why the early Ranger program was a fiasco and its contemporary
Mariner program was a success.


I've also
included Tuftes so that you can communicate usefully about your
findings and results.

One of the things I'm learning from the CAIB is that getting all
important ideas exposed in a way they can be understood and reviewed is
a serious problem at NASA. Perhaps even moreso than a single person
realizing that there is a significant idea.


A: Murray and Cox
T:
P: [publication data TBD]
Votes For: --
Votes Against: kevinw, om

Actually, I'm a big fan of this book. It is really good, and imho, is
required reading for the folks who hang out around here. Not sure how
you concluded I voted against....

As noted above, this more a story of management and people than
technology.


A: Tufte
T: Envisioning Information (did I get it right, Mary?)
T: Visual Explanations (did I get it right, Mary?)
Votes For: shafer

I'm not Mary, but you got it right.

Please include my "vote for" these books. These two volumes continue the
work of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. (Read that book
first. If you grok it, you'll grok the other books of the trilogy. If
you don't grok it, the other two books won't interest you.)
--
Kevin Willoughby lid

Imagine that, a FROG ON-OFF switch, hardly the work
for test pilots. -- Mike Collins

dave schneider wrote:
Reading lists and recommended references are a recurrent theme in
sci.space.* This occurs so often that it seems like there is a FAQ
missing here.

This prototype for a FAQ is being offered by a non-expert (pure
wannabe, as I haven't even made it through my Baker and Makemson), but
it's based on recommendations made in various sci.space.* threads.

You may have missed:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...d4c00ab&rnum=2

Basically, that was a challenge I put out about 2 years ago
for people to do a 10-book general reading list to cover
the whole field. I think that 10 books is too little in
the final analysis but it was an interesting exercise.

Also, the references section in Jon Leech's old Space FAQ:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...utp ut=gplain

I think this FAQ is an excellent idea, personally.
I think the book listing format needs work (possibly,
split this in 2 sections; 1 short up front section with
title/author/brief explanation/recommenders, 1 longer
section with full bibliography and short reviews and stuff)...
But that's just my personal opinion 8-)


-george william herbert

(George William Herbert) wrote:
You may have missed:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...d4c00ab&rnum=2

Basically, that was a challenge I put out about 2 years ago
for people to do a 10-book general reading list to cover
the whole field. I think that 10 books is too little in
the final analysis but it was an interesting exercise.


Yeah, I was mainly going from stuff in the last 3 months, but certain
books tend to pop up rather frequently.

Also, 2 years ago was just before I was back into the newgroup to any
degree.

Also, the references section in Jon Leech's old Space FAQ:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...utp ut=gplain


And Iain just posted a site to check.

I think this FAQ is an excellent idea, personally.
I think the book listing format needs work (possibly,
split this in 2 sections; 1 short up front section with
title/author/brief explanation/recommenders, 1 longer
section with full bibliography and short reviews and stuff)...

I'll take that into consideration.

But that's just my personal opinion 8-)


hey, if personal opinion didn't play a part in this....

Thanks.

/dps

Kevin Willoughby wrote:
[...]
hmmm... While that's useful, a list of references on, say, space program
management would also be useful. Murray & Cox would fall into this
category. I'd also include Stephen Johnson's recent Secrets of Apollo.
Tom Kelly's MoonLander also talks a lot about management of a complex
space program.

I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion that for large-scale projects,
management matters more than technology or people. Focusing on the
technology won't lead to an understanding of why, say, Apollo fully
succeeded and ISS is a limited success. Or, to use one of Johnson's
examples, why the early Ranger program was a fiasco and its contemporary
Mariner program was a success.

You've got a valid point, and there probably is considerable overlap
between management books and either history or technical books, but my
inclination is to put the management emphasis in a seperate list from
the technical.

My first cut is a list that s.s.t readers can use to answer questions
such as "how big a rocket is required to reach Pluto if we launch from
Mars instead of Earth?" and "can we design a turbopump that uses xyz
to reduce symptom q?" and "what happens if we use X delta-v at the Z
apsides?"....

The management emphasis, and how to do projects, sounds like a list
for s.s.policy to me. That's set in firm guacamole for the moment.

Votes Against: kevinw, om

Actually, I'm a big fan of this book. It is really good, and imho, is
required reading for the folks who hang out around here. Not sure how
you concluded I voted against....

I musta clipped from the wrong place; sorry, I'll correct the vote in
a bit.

Thanks for the feedback.

/dps

On 18 Nov 2003 21:39:04 -0800, (dave schneider) wrote:

Reading lists and recommended references are a recurrent theme in
sci.space.* This occurs so often that it seems like there is a FAQ
missing here.


[Description & list snipped]

This is an excellent start. Of course, since you're including the "nuts
and bolts" books, you have to have Sutton.

As far as history goes, I'd add:

R. Dale Reed, _Wingless Flight_
Don Wilhelms' _To A Rocky Moon_
Walter McDougal, _The Heavens and the Earth_
William Burrows' _This New Ocean_
Willy Ley's _Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space
New York: Viking Press, 1968
(This is the 4th and final edition of Ley's book,
which goes by slightly different titles
with each edition.)
Frank Winter, _Rockets into Space_
(no relation)


You might also want to visit my Web site, where I have reviews of a
number of books about space.

http://www.chris-winter.com/

Chris Winter

On 18 Nov 2003 21:39:04 -0800, (dave schneider) wrote:

Reading lists and recommended references are a recurrent theme in
sci.space.* This occurs so often that it seems like there is a FAQ
missing here.


[Description & list snipped]

This is an excellent start. Of course, since you're including the "nuts
and bolts" books, you have to have Sutton.

As far as history goes, I'd add:

R. Dale Reed, _Wingless Flight_
Don Wilhelms' _To A Rocky Moon_
Walter McDougal, _The Heavens and the Earth_
William Burrows' _This New Ocean_
Willy Ley's _Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space
New York: Viking Press, 1968
(This is the 4th and final edition of Ley's book,
which goes by slightly different titles
with each edition.)
Frank Winter, _Rockets into Space_
(no relation)


You might also want to visit my Web site, where I have reviews of a
number of books about space.

http://www.chris-winter.com/

Chris Winter

"Christopher P. Winter" wrote:
[good comments noted]

Thanks!

/dps

"Christopher P. Winter" wrote:
[good comments noted]

Thanks!

/dps

Some that I particularly like:

A: Eckart
T: Lunar Base Handbook
Votes For: Cate

A: Larson and Pranke
T: Human Spaceflight - mission analysis and design
Votes For: Cate

A: US Air Force
T: Space Planners Guide
Votes For: Cate

I also think keeping such a FAQ is a good idea. And I like
that you keep track of who votes for or against.

-- Vince