Astronaut: 1961 onwards (all roles and nationalities) (Owners' Workshop Manual)

This is an informative and comprehensive book, covering the past, present and future of its subject in some detail.The main chapters, after a brief one on space fiction and movies, cover roles and missions, selection, training, the spacecraft, entering space, space life, walking in space, and – importantly - getting back!The organisation of chapters and their sections is good, making it easy to ‘dip into’. I also liked the occasional separate panels on topics relevant to the current chapter but which if in-line would interrupt the main text flow. These sometimes involved subjects I’d never thought of e.g. astronaut pre-flight superstitions; the ‘astronauts that weren’t’; and where does space actually ‘start’?The book is necessarily a mix of narrative and technical explanations, but the latter should not be beyond the average reader (whoever that is). If you’ve read the Haynes ‘Saturn 5’ manual, then ‘Astronaut‘ is pitched at a decidedly lower technical level, making it a rather easier read. Having said that, I’ve followed space travel for years, am reasonably technically-minded, and yet found many things I didn’t know and photographs I’d never seen before - I wouldn’t have guessed I’d see a photo of Soyuz being towed for launch by what appears to be a steam train! Btw, the quality of the photographs, visualisations and diagrams is generally excellent.I’m not a teacher, but I reckon there’s plenty here to stimulate questions or further enquiries by an interested reader or a school pupil studying science, engineering or biology. Some other things I liked: The content wasn’t too biased towards the U.S. There is a lot of information and photographs relating to Russian and Chinese equipment and training. For example, the chapter on ‘Getting into Space’ uses the Russian Soyuz as a case study (perhaps because it’s now the only way of getting people to the International Space Station). Also, the book is bang up to date, including as it does a survey of the latest privately-initiated (though sometimes NASA-funded) ventures into space travel, some of which are still on the drawing board.The final chapter covers another topic that perhaps we don’t think about so much: ‘Life after Space’. What do astronauts do when they ‘retire’ and how have their experiences affected them?All in all, Astronaut is a book for my collection, or for gifting to my grandchildren. For reading straight through, or occasional sampling, I recommend it wholeheartedly to any actual or aspiring space buff, or simply anyone interested in the amazing technologies, people and achievements that have characterised the Space Age.

Very good book, excellent present.

This is a fine companion to Haynes growing manuals to spaceflight especially in relation to books on Apollo 11, 13, Luanr Rover,Soyuz, International Space Station & Space Shuttle.It packs a lot in 187 pages and does it well. This book fills in gap in understanding what makes an astronaut.For all the details, which I think enhance the book beyond those who interested in space, this Haynes manual captures the spirit of humankind seeking to spread wings on this new ocean with all its perils and rewards.I recommend this book for anyone wanting to lift mind above the atmosphere whether being novice on all matters of heavens or already a space buff.

Usual lavish Haynes production and very good as always, however I was somewhat put off by the author's belief that Homer's 'Odyssey' was about Jason and the Argonauts! A minor mistake perhaps but its always worrying to find such errors especially when they appear in the first few pages. Apart from that its a good book.

All you need to know about the early space race , those brave young men in their explosive machines , great read .

Excellent Addition to the Space Exploration theme. Apollo 11 - Moon -lunar Module- Saturn V and Mars Mission. TitlesAs stated by other reviewers on the series there’s a few slight errors in identification in photo text but not to worry .. some superb subjects covered..And ..having strategically placed them in and around the home I’ve achieved notable success in killing off the ‘ Love Island ‘ brain dead generation that have entered my living space attempting to enter into a meaningful conversation about such delinquent TV excrement.Astute class Nuclear Submarines - German Infantryman 1939-45 and English Electric Class 50 seems to do the trick :-) Thank you Haynes couldn’t do it better myself without having an argument ,showing them the door and turfing them out. Obviously they’re a good read and sit well with the motor mechanics manuals . Highly Recommend

The history

ricevuto in ottime condizioni

J'aime beaucoup cette collection qui donne de nombreux détails.Je n'ai pas eu le temps de tout lire, mais un bon ouvrage de référence pour un passionné d'Astronautique.

Quite informative about the doing and being of astronauts.And then I'm going to mention a photo caption error on page 53 which amuses me. On page 53 which is opening pages of Chapter Three, Selection and Equipment, the chapter introduction ends with the phrase, " ... although high standards naturally still apply." and immediately below that comment about high standards the caption for a pages 52-53 photo of the 7 Mercury astronauts standing next to a USAF jet makes the fundamental error of misidentifying the jet as a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom when it actuality is a Convair F-106B which has tail number 90158 which is visible in the original uncropped image. Several sources comment that the photograph was taken on 01/21/1961 & has several reference numbers through the decades, those being, S61-01250, L71-2971, and EL-1996-0090. NOTE: F-4 Phantom has a much larger intake which is located lower on fuselage side and is beneath aft cockpit canopy, compared to F-106B intake which is fully behind cockpit canopy. And, the F-4 has individually opening canopies for forward and aft seats whereas the F-106 in the image has a single canopy covering both the forward and aft seat positions. I really have to wonder how the editors made That error.Book arrived in mail this afternoon and has only been in my possession for about an hour and a half now.My overall impression of book remains high but there is this nagging question of how many more fundamental errors are in the text and captions. While I did have the knowledge to identify this error, I do not have enough detailed knowledge of astronaut programs around the world to identify pretty much any other errors the text or captions might include. Other people with more knowledge will have to do that.

This is a great book. It arrived very quickly.