Getting Off the Planet: Training Astronauts

Getting off the Planet is the story of how a group of dedicated scientists, working with some of the nation's finest pilots, prepared for space flight by meticulous research and patient, relentless testing. The book provides a piece of space history largely missing until now. Earlier explorers, whatever the hazards, could count on having Earth's amenities: food, drinking water, breathing air and gravity. Space explorers had to take their life-support equipment with them. They also had to understand and solve the problems of such a mysterious, dangerous place before anyone had ever visited the space environment. For the first time ever, Dr. Randall M. Chambers, space pioneer who designed and conducted many of the earliest astronaut research and training programs, takes the reader behind the scenes and describes significant space flight preparations. Co-author is Mary Jane Chambers, the scientist's wife, who has had a long career as a journalist. When they met as students at Indiana University in 1949, Mary Jane was eyeing a career as a foreign correspondent. Instead, she soon found herself a front row seat at a drama about a different kind of foreign place: outer space. Mrs. chambers has doggedly insisted that Getting off the Planetbe enjoyable, interesting reading for space fans in all stages of scientific knowledge. She has banished the scientist's usual props: formulas and footnotes and has instead "translated" science projects into understandable language. Together, the authors have also recollected some humorous anecdotes which inevitably occurred during research and training projects. The book is richly illustrated with pictures of astronauts, test pilots, scientists and engineering technologists in experimental projects rarely seen before.Features / Reviews:Table of ContentsChapter 1: From the Beginning Chapter 2: Getting Started Chapter 3: Some Glimpses into Early Space Research Projects Chapter 4: The Biosatellite Pioneers Chapter 5: Astronaut Selection and Training"”with Stress, Distress, Zeal and Determination Chapter 6: Acceleration Forces and Stresses: Coping with Gravity Chapter 7: Early Mars Experiments Chapter 8: Microgravity and Weightless Simulations Chapter 9: Atmospheric Pressure Factors Chapter 10: More Glimpses into Early Space Research Projects Chapter 11: All Dressed Up for Space Exploration Chapter 12: So Much for Creature Comforts Chapter 13: Into Space with Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Chapter 14: Exploring the Moon and Returning to Earth Chapter 15: The Shuttle Programs: New Spacecraft, New Missions Chapter 16: Preparing for Sky Lab and Other Space Stations Chapter 17: Meeting the Public Chapter 18: Serendipities Galore!Paperback: 120 pages Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc (January 1, 2006) Language: English Book Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches