Centauri Dreams

Download or read book Centauri Dreams written by Paul Gilster and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-18 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I wrote this book because I wanted to learn more about interstel lar flight. Not the Star Trek notion of tearing around the Galaxy in a huge spaceship-that was obviously beyond existing tech nology-but a more realistic mission. In 1989 I had videotaped Voyager 2's encounter with Neptune and watched the drama of robotic exploration over and over again. I started to wonder whether we could do something similar with Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. Everyone seemed to agree that manned flight to the stars was out of the question, if not permanently then for the indefinitely foreseeable future. But surely we could do something with robotics. And if we could figure out a theoretical way to do it, how far were we from the actual technology that would make it happen? In other words, what was the state of our interstellar technology today, those concepts and systems that might translate into a Voyager to the stars? Finding answers meant talking to people inside and outside of NASA. I was surprised to learn that there is a large literature of interstellar flight. Nobody knows for sure how to propel a space craft fast enough to make the interstellar crossing within a time scale that would fit the conventional idea of a mission, but there are candidate systems that are under active investigation. Some of this effort begins with small systems that we'll use near the Earth and later hope to extend to deep space missions.

Download or read book The Listeners written by James E. Gunn and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2012-06-18 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After fifty-one long years of patient waiting, the message has finally arrived. They have dedicated their lives to trying to decipher the eerie silence that resounds from space and now there is finally a sound after decades of quiet. In the beginning there is a hail of celebration - the Project has finally produced results - but then the questions begin. What does the message mean? Could it be 'We come in peace' or 'Get ready for world domination'? The message baffles Earth. Only one man has the power to make the decision and it could mean intergalactic warfare if he makes the wrong choice. Director MacDonald holds in his hands the fate of Earth, the universe and the Project, which is dedicated to answering questions that have plagued humanity for centuries. Will he make the correct choice?

Download or read book Solar Sails written by Giovanni Vulpetti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-03-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Solar sail technology is very close to becoming an engineering reality and it will soon be used in the exploration of the solar system and beyond. This fascinating book provides an accessible introduction to solar sails and details how they work and what they will be used for in the exploration of space. It also examines current plans for solar sails and how advanced technology, such as nanotechnology, might enhance their performance. Coverage shows how solar sail propulsion will make space exploration more affordable and demonstrates how access to destinations within (and beyond) the solar system will become within reach.

Download or read book Phase Space written by Stephen Baxter and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2012-06-28 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2025. Tied in to Baxter’s masterful Manifold trilogy, these thematically linked stories are drawn from the vast graph of possibilities across which the lives of hero Reid Malenfant have been scattered.

Download or read book The Five Ages of the Universe written by Fred C. Adams and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000-06-19 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes readers on a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity, with a long-term projection of the evolution of the universe.

Download or read book Aurora written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2015-07-09 with total page 509 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'What a saga! Scifi with honest, complex humanity, physics, biology, sociology' - Tom Hanks 'Aurora is a magnificent piece of writing, certainly Robinson's best novel since his mighty Mars trilogy, perhaps his best ever' - Guardian Our voyage from Earth began generations ago. Now, we approach our destination. A new home. Aurora. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, Aurora is the work of a writer at the height of his powers. 'An accessible novel packed with big ideas, wonders, jeopardy and, at the end, a real emotional punch' SFX 'Aurora is Robinson's best book yet . . . Heart-wrenching, provocative' Scientific American 'Kim Stanley Robinson is one of science fiction's greats' Sunday Times Novels by Kim Stanley Robinson: Icehenge The Memory of Whiteness A Short, Sharp Shock Antarctica The Years of Rice and Salt Galileo's Dream 2312 Shaman Aurora New York 2140 Red Moon

Download or read book Dragon Sun written by Michael Ely and published by Pocket Books/Star Trek. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A growing rebellion beneath the surface of the planet Chiron threatens Sheng-ji Yang's dreams of immortality. Meanwhile, Lady Deirdre Skye's life is in jeopardy as the Planetary Council withholds vital supplies, and orders her to turn over research data on the life force awakening on Chiron's surface. Though an ocean apart, Yang and Skye seek an alliance to overcome the forces arrayed against them.