Space Exploration--A History in 100 Objects, Hardcover

From Galileo's telescope to the International Space Station--a photo-filled tour through the milestones of space exploration

This eclectic pop history of space exploration, by scientist-educator Sten Odenwald at NASA, examines 100 objects--all stunningly photographed--and their effect on what we know and how we think about space. Whimsical and uniquely clarifying, Space Exploration--A History in 100 Objects covers the iconic, from Sputnik to Skylab, as well as the lesser-known but utterly important:

• The ancient Greek Antikythera mechanism, the first known analog computer, which predicted astronomical movement.
• Luna 3, the first satellite to glimpse the far side of the moon. The O-ring; the humble, rubber part that doomed the Space Shuttle Challenger.
• Syncom 2, the first geosynchronous satellite, which made international TV possible.
• The V-2 rocket, the first artificial object to cross the threshold of space--and many more

Sten Felix Odenwald is an astronomer, author, and NASA scientist educator. Odenwald has worked as part of the NASA Cosmic Background Explorer's Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment, investigating the cosmic infrared background. The author of four books, including The Astronomy Cafe, The 23rd Cycle, Patterns in the Void, and Back to the Astronomy Cafe, he has also appeared in a number of TV and radio documentaries on astronomy and space weather. Since receiving his PhD in astronomy from Harvard University in 1982, he has been an astronomer in the Washington, DC area, primarily at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Since 2000, he has been actively involved in science and math education at NASA, and was a founding member of the Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum, among many other high-visibility NASA education projects involving space weather issues, archeoastronomy, and the transits of Venus in 2004 and 2012. He is currently the director of the Center for Integrative STEM Education at the National Institute of Aerospace.