Download or read book Virgin Galactic written by Erik Seedhouse and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-02-23 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years ago when Sir Richard Branson called up Boeing and asked if they had a spare 747, few would have predicted the brash entrepreneur would so radically transform the placid business of air travel. But today, Branson flies airlines on six continents, employs hundreds of jets and, in 2014, was predicting that his spaceship company – Virgin Galactic – would soon open the space frontier to commercial astronauts, payload specialists, scientists and space tourists. With more than 600 seats sold at $250,000 each, what started off as a dream to send people just for the excitement to look back and marvel at Earth, was on the cusp of finally being turned into a business. Then, on October 21, 2014, tragedy struck. SpaceShipTwo was on its most ambitious test flight to date. Seconds after firing its engine, Virgin Galactic’s spaceship was breaking through the sound barrier. In just the three seconds that it took for the vehicle to climb from Mach 0.94 to Mach 1.02, co-pilot Mike Alsbury made what many close to the event believe was a fatal mistake that led to his death and the disintegration of SpaceShipTwo. Miraculously, the pilot, Peter Siebold, survived the 16-km fall back to Earth. Soon after the event Branson vowed to continue his space tourism venture in spite of this. Already a second SpaceShipTwo is being built, and ticket-holders eagerly await the day when Virgin Galactic offers quick, routine and affordable access to the edge of space. This book explains the hurdles Virgin Galactic had and still has to overcome en route to developing suborbital space travel as a profitable economic entity, and describes the missions that will be flown on board SpaceShipTwo Mk II, including high-altitude science studies, astronomy, life sciences, and microgravity physics.
Download or read book The Space Barons written by Christian Davenport and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historic quest to rekindle the human exploration and colonization of space led by two rivals and their vast fortunes, egos, and visions of space as the next entrepreneurial frontier The Space Barons is the story of a group of billionaire entrepreneurs who are pouring their fortunes into the epic resurrection of the American space program. Nearly a half-century after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, these Space Barons-most notably Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, along with Richard Branson and Paul Allen-are using Silicon Valley-style innovation to dramatically lower the cost of space travel, and send humans even further than NASA has gone. These entrepreneurs have founded some of the biggest brands in the world-Amazon, Microsoft, Virgin, Tesla, PayPal-and upended industry after industry. Now they are pursuing the biggest disruption of all: space. Based on years of reporting and exclusive interviews with all four billionaires, this authoritative account is a dramatic tale of risk and high adventure, the birth of a new Space Age, fueled by some of the world's richest men as they struggle to end governments' monopoly on the cosmos. The Space Barons is also a story of rivalry-hard-charging startups warring with established contractors, and the personal clashes of the leaders of this new space movement, particularly Musk and Bezos, as they aim for the moon and Mars and beyond.
Download or read book The Emerald Mile written by Kevin Fedarko and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-07 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of the fastest boat ride in history, on a hand-built dory named the "Emerald Mile," through the heart of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado river.
Download or read book Virgin written by Terry Southern and published by Virgin Books Limited. This book was released on 1996 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Branson was the publisher of a small alternative music magazine in London in the early 1970s when he founded Virgin Records with his partner Simon Draper. Together they recruited and developed new talent in the UK's burgeoning music scene, signing and producing bands such as The Sex Pistols. They also recognized the importance of world music, releasing records by John Lee Hooker, Peter Tosh, and many other blues and reggae artists. Eventually Virgin would grow to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny Kravitz, The Smashing Pumpkins, and more on their hit list. Virgin: A History of Virgin Music was written in part by the late great 20th-century literary icon Terry Southern, with candid commentaries throughout by Branson, Draper and Virgin/EMI CEO Ken Berry on the Virgin artists and the evolution of the record label. Featuring hundreds of rare publicity photos, album covers, candid snapshots and quotes, this is a hectic ride through Virgin's hallowed past and a cool archive of a unique period in 20th-century music history.
Download or read book Virgin Galactic written by Dorling Kindersley Publishing Staff and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-02 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate visual chronicle of the incredible Virgin Galactic space adventure Virgin Galactic The Ultimate Experience with a foreword by Richard Branson, tracks the entire amazing flight experience of SpaceShipTwo, including the craft rocketing at three times the speed of sound to the edge of the atmosphere, the somersaulting fun of zero gravity and the graceful glide back to Earth. You'll explore behind-the-scenes at the Space Port terminal in New Mexico, USA, discover every aspect of SpaceShipTwo and see remarkable artefacts, artworks and photographs. Created in full collaboration. Ideal for anyone interested in space exploration Virgin Galactic The Ultimate Experience gives you the astronaut experience without the $250,000 ticket price.
Download or read book Burt Rutan s Race to Space written by Dan Linehan and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2011-07-17 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Years ago, Burt Rutan told a reporter for Popular Mechanics, “If we make a courageous decision like the goal and program we kicked off for Apollo in 1961, we will see our children or grandchildren in outposts on other planets.” Legendary science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clark would later recall Rutan’s quote in a piece he wrote about SpaceShipOne and comment, “Fortunately, we need not rely solely on governments for expanding humanity’s presence beyond the Earth.” Burt Rutan’s Race to Space showcases Rutan’s herculean efforts to do just that. Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum displays his most celebrated achievements, including SpaceShipOne, which won the coveted $10 million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight; Voyager, which hangs with SpaceShipOne in the Milestones of Flight gallery; the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer; and the VariEze. His many aerospace innovations preceding his most recently conceived designs, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo, chronicle a progressive, step-by-step attempt to break barriers with engineering know-how and a wondrous imagination, all the while remaining on the forefront of the burgeoning private spaceflight industry. Rutan’s X Prize triumph and subsequent spacecraft designs are not a beginning, nor an end, but are steps in Burt Rutan’s continuing adventure to expand humanity’s presence beyond the Earth and into space.
Download or read book Test Gods written by Nicholas Schmidle and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice In the spirit of The Right Stuff, updated for the 21st century, Test Gods is an epic story about extreme bravery and sacrifice, about the thin line between lunacy and genius. Most of all, it is a story about the pursuit of meaning in our lives—and the fulfillment of our dreams. Working from exclusive inside reporting, New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle tells the remarkable story of the test pilots, engineers, and visionaries behind Virgin Galactic’s campaign to build a space tourism company. Schmidle follows a handful of characters—Mark Stucky, Virgin’s lead test pilot; Richard Branson, the eccentric billionaire funding the venture; Mike Moses, the grounded, unflappable president; Mike Alsbury, the test pilot killed in a fatal crash; and others—through personal and professional dramas, in pursuit of their collective goal: to make space tourism a reality. Along the way, Schmidle weaves his relationship with his father—a former fighter pilot and decorated war hero—into the tragedies and triumphs that Branson’s team confronts out in the Mojave desert as they design, build, and test-fly their private rocket ship. Gripping and novelistic, Test Gods leads us, through human drama, into a previously unseen world—and beyond.
Download or read book Realizing Tomorrow written by Chris Dubbs and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff 2013 Professional Reading List Selection Nearly forty years passed between the Apollo moon landings, the grandest accomplishment of a government-run space program, and the Ansari X PRIZE-winning flights of SpaceShipOne, the greatest achievement of a private space program. Now, as we hover on the threshold of commercial spaceflight, authors Chris Dubbs and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom look back at how we got to this point. Their book traces the lives of the individuals who shared the dream that private individuals and private enterprise belong in space. Realizing Tomorrow provides a behind-the-scenes look at the visionaries, the crackpots, the financial schemes, the legal wrangling, the turf battles, and--underpinning the entire drama--the overwhelming desire of ordinary people to visit outer space. A compelling story of the pioneers of commercial spaceflight--and their efforts to open the final frontier to everyone--this book traces the path to private spaceflight even as it offers an instructive, entertaining, and cautionary note about its future.
Download or read book The Wright Stuff written by Derek Webber and published by Apogee Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounted through a well-selected collection of photographs, this discussion relates a succession of advancements and risk taking, chronicling the evolution of space tourism. Travelling back to the almost simultaneous beginnings of aviation and rocketry, this analysis highlights the crucial names in the industry, honouring them with "The Wright Stuff" awards for their contributions. Illustrating how today's tickets to space have been made possible not just by entrepreneurs and engineers but also by the efforts of artists, regulators, politicians, and some of the earliest aviators, this exploration also touches on today's rapid expansion phase of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights. Clearly depicting how a commercial business can emerge in this swiftly growing field, this unique investigation also provides examples of how space tourists are helping to create reusable technologies of benefit to all.
Download or read book The Art of Pollination written by Martin Flanagan and published by Hardie Grant Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-08 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'This moving book masterfully gets to the heart of what makes Jane Tewson and Igniting Change such unique, uniting powers. I’ve never met anyone quite like Jane. She is an unassuming force of nature who quietly goes about transforming the world and lighting up lives wherever she goes.' – Sir Richard Branson In the early 1980s, Jane Tewson transformed how charity worked in Britain, giving status to people who had previously been given to. The cream of English comedy gathered around her vision, bringing about Comic Relief, now a British institution; and brilliant, fun ideas like Red Nose Day. In 1999, Jane moved to Australia and started her 'intentionally tiny charity', Igniting Change. In The Art of Pollination, Martin Flanagan tells Jane Tewson's inspirational story as a spark for social change.
Download or read book Virgin Galactic written by Ruth O'Rourke and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate visual chronicle of the incredible Virgin Galactic space adventure Virgin Galactic The Ultimate Experience with a foreword by Richard Branson, tracks the entire amazing flight experience of SpaceShipTwo, including the craft rocketing at three times the speed of sound to the edge of the atmosphere, the somersaulting fun of zero gravity and the graceful glide back to Earth. You'll explore behind-the-scenes at the Space Port terminal in New Mexico, USA, discover every aspect of SpaceShipTwo and see remarkable artefacts, artworks and photographs. Created in full collaboration. Ideal for anyone interested in space exploration Virgin Galactic The Ultimate Experience gives you the astronaut experience without the $250,000 ticket price.
Download or read book Space and Innovation written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-27 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After decades of innovation, satellites now play a discrete but pivotal role in the efficient functioning of modern societies and their economic development. This publication provides the findings from a OECD Space Forum project on the state of innovation in the space sector.
Download or read book Reach for the Skies written by Richard Branson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-04-28 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the world's most famous business leaders (and a well-known avian fanatic) explores the pioneers of flight. Bestselling author and billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has always been obsessed with the skies. To promote a new Virgin Airlines route, he became the first man to water ski behind a blimp. His Virgin Galactic venture will soon offer ordinary people the opportunity to experience spaceflight aboard the first commercial spaceliner, SpaceShipTwo. In Reach for the Skies, Branson examines the history of aviation over the last two hundred years, putting the spotlight on trailblazers such as: *Tony Jannus, who made the first ever commercial flight over Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1914. *Leo Valentin, the "bird man" who jumped from 9,000 feet wearing a pair of wooden wings in the 1950s. *Steve Fossett, who broke 130 world records in planes, balloons, and airships. The pioneers of flight-not just the world-famous Wright Brothers, but also lesser known visionaries and dreamers-made it possible for any of us with the desire and the commitment to reach for the skies ourselves.
Download or read book Spaceport Earth written by Joe Pappalardo and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Tackles the ever-changing, twenty-first-century space industry and what privately funded projects like Elon Musk’s SpaceX mean for the future of space travel.” —Foreign Policy Creating a seismic shift in today’s space industry, private sector companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin are building a dizzying array of new spacecraft and rockets, not just for government use, but for any paying customer. At the heart of this space revolution are spaceports, the center and literal launching pads of spaceflight. Spaceports cost hundreds of millions of dollars, face extreme competition, and host operations that do not tolerate failures—which can often be fatal. Aerospace journalist Joe Pappalardo has witnessed space rocket launches around the world, from the jungle of French Guiana to the coastline of California. In his comprehensive work Spaceport Earth, Pappalardo describes the rise of private companies and how they are reshaping the way the world is using space for industry and science. Spaceport Earth is a travelogue through modern space history as it is being made, offering space enthusiasts, futurists, and technology buffs a close perspective of rockets and launch sites, and chronicling the stories of industrial titans, engineers, government officials, billionaires, schemers, and politicians who are redefining what it means for humans to be a spacefaring species. “Private companies and rich people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have taken over the exploration of space. Pappalardo explores this new sort of spacefaring at the outer reaches of business and technology.” —The New York Times “For anyone obsessed with how spaceflight grew into what it is today, this book is a must-have.” —Popular Mechanics
Download or read book The Rise of Private Actors in the Space Sector written by Alessandra Vernile and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-12 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a broad set of information and data on the rise of private actors in the space sector, organized into different topics covering the various trends that have shaped the space sector during the last decade. The book, written in a descriptive fashion, concludes with recommendations for future analytical research on the topic.
Download or read book Geopolitics of the Outer Space written by Bohumil Doboš and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a comprehensive geopolitical analysis of European space activities. By studying outer space as a physical and socio-economic space as well as a military-diplomatic area, the author helps readers understand outer space as a geopolitical environment. The book also offers insights into the behavior and strategies of different actors, with a special focus on the European space strategy and the nature of the European space program and diplomacy.
Download or read book The Privatization of Space Exploration written by Lewis D. Solomon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Space was at the center of America's imagination in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy's visionary statement captured the mood of the day: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." The Apollo mission's success in July 1969 made almost anything seem possible, but the Cold War made space flight the province of governmental agencies in the United States. When the Apollo program ended in 1972, space lost its hold on the public interest, as the great achievements wound down. Entrepreneurs are beginning to pick up the slack-looking for safer, more reliable, and more cost effective ways of exploring space. Entrepreneurial activity may make create a renaissance in human spaceflight. The private sector can energize the quest for space exploration and shape the race for the final frontier. Space entrepreneurs and private sector firms are making significant innovations in space travel. They have plans for future tourism in space and safer shuttles. Solomon details current US and international laws dealing with space use, settlement, and exploration, and offers policy recommendations to facilitate privatization. As private enterprise takes hold, it threatens to change the space landscape forever. Individuals are designing spacecraft, start-up companies are testing prototypes, and reservations are being taken for suborbital space flights. With for-profit enterprises carving out a new realm, it is entirely possible that space will one day be a sea of hotels and/or a repository of resources for big business. It is important that regulations are in place for this eventuality. These new developments have great importance, huge implications, and urgency for everyone.
