Sunday, May 5, 2013

BOOK OF THE MONTH : APRIL 2013

                                                       

Title          : Mission to Mars: 
                   My Vision for Space Exploration
Author     : Buzz Aldrin, Leonard David
Pages        : 272
Publisher : National Geographic
Published : May 7, 2013
ISBN         :10: 1426210175
 

Pioneering astronaut Buzz Aldrin made history as the second man to walk on the moon in 1969, just after Neil Armstrong during the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. More than four decades later, he wants humans to travel far beyond the moon. In his upcoming book, Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration, Buzz Aldrin argues that NASA should strive to put humans on the Red Planet by 2035.
 

The book delves on Aldrin's past, including his service as an Air Force pilot during the Korean War, his initial rejection by NASA and his voyage to the moon ,but also promises a critique of current space policy, examining the economic, political and technological viability of various options to explore the solar system. In his book he  plots out the path he proposes, ie., how the roadtrip to Mars could be ralized.
 

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. Because test pilot experience was no longer a requirement, this was the first selection for which he was eligible. On July 20, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the Moon, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. There has been much speculation about Aldrin's desire at the time to be the first astronaut to walk on the Moon.
 

Aldrin was the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the Moon. After landing on the Moon, he radioed Earth: "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." He gave himself Communion on the surface of the Moon, but he kept it secret because of a lawsuit brought by atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair over the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8.
 

After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return to Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career.
 

In 1985, Aldrin proposed the existence of a special spacecraft trajectory now known as the Aldrin cycler.A spacecraft traveling on an Aldrin cycler trajectory would pass near the planets Earth and Mars on a regular (cyclic) basis. The Aldrin cycler is an example of a Mars cycler. He was also instrumental in the idea of training of astronauts underwater in order to better prepare them for the intricate space walks and duties of maintenance while in space.
 

Books co-authored by Aldrin include Return to Earth (1973), Men From Earth (1989), Reaching for the Moon (2005), Look to the Stars (2009) and Magnificent Desolation (2009). He has also co-authored with John Barnes the science fiction novels Encounter with Tiber (1996) and The Return (2000). "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration" is his latest book.
 

Contents:
 

Foreword by Andrew Aldrin
 

Chapter 1: The View from Air Force One
Chapter 2: Time for Decision-making
Chapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business Case
Chapter 4: Dreams of My Moon
Chapter 5: Voyage to Armageddon
Chapter 6: The March to Mars
Chapter 7: Homesteading the Red Planet
Chapter 8: The Clarion Call


Book Trailer in Youtubehttp://www.youtube.com

Review Courtes : http://press.nationalgeographic.com, www.amazon.comwww.wikipedia.com        

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