NASA's Voyager Missions: Exploring the Outer Solar System and Beyond (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) [Paperback]

Ben Evans (Author), David M. Harland (Author)

Book Description

Series: Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration | Publication Date: April 15, 2008

For the first time, in one volume, Ben Evans with David Harland will not only tell the story of the hugely successful Voyager missions, but also that of the men and women who have devoted their entire working lives to them. Illustrated with stunning images, some in color, they describe the missions from their conception, through their spectacular encounters with the outer planets and on to their ultimate and, as yet, unknown destination among the stars in the so-called Voyager Interstellar Mission

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "This book, as was to be expected from a volume in the excellent Springer-Praxis series in astronomy and space sciences, is absolute quality… Especially if you're interested in the scientific aspects (planetary science, that is) of the Voyager missions, you won't be disappointed. It's all very well covered, extensively, with lots of interesting details and totally up-to-date (Galileo results are included in the discussions and there's a preview of the Cassini and JIMO (to Jupiter's moons) missions). The author… is definitely an excellent science writer, offering an approach that… convey(s) the sheer excitement of solar system exploration in every sentence… The book has a lot of stunning black-and-white photographs and many illustrations and diagrams, and it even features a middle section with 13 colour plates… All in all a great book. Very, very much recommended! Don't let yourself be scared off by its considerable price. It's worth every penny." from an Amazon review "The potential reader is an amateur astronomer or a science student attracted by space science. … it should find a place on the shelves of a library for undergraduate students. … Finally, we would like to point out that this book makes an excellent case for unmanned spaced missions … ." (Fernande Grandjean and Gary J.Long, Physicalia, Vol. 57 (3), 2005) "This book, as was to be expected from a volume in the excellent Springer-Praxis series in astronomy and space sciences, is absolute quality. … It’s all very well covered, extensively, with lots of interesting details and totally up-to-date … . Very readable also, nowhere dry or dull. … The book has a lot of stunning black-and-white photographs and many illustrations and diagrams, and it even features a middle section with 13 colour plates. … All in all a great book. Very, very much recommended!" (P. Lemmens, www.amazon.com, October, 2004) "The book … does have a contemporary feel to it, this aspect being enhanced by the inclusion of material relating to the Galieleo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini encounter with Saturn, currently in its early days. … the authors wisely have sought not to shower their intended readership with a surfeit of detail describing the hardware, but have concentrated on the results. … The authors succeed in relaying the excitement experienced in the lead up to a Voyager flyby of a gas giant." (David Graham, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, Vol. 114 (4), 2004) "The Voyager 1 & 2 missions launched in 1977 revolutionised our knowledge of the outer solar system. … This book summarises the missions, how they were planned and executed, what went wrong and what worked better than expected. Most of all it explains what we learnt about the planets that we never knew before. … this book is such a thoroughly good read, you should read it now. Highly recommended." (Roger Feasey, ASS - Journal of the Auckland Astronomical Society, December, 2004) "The book is a valuable resource for those interested in the background and design of the Voyager mission. It is well illustrated throughout, despite the fact that much of the scientific discussion has been drawn from outside Voyager." (A J R Prentice, The Physicist, Vol. 41 (5), September/October, 2004) "As the voyagers breach the boundary of the solar system, we are brought up to date with their history and achievements. This fascinating narrative, suffused with David Harland’s authoritative technological knowledge, ensures a comprehensive understanding of the missions’ genesis, execution and discoveries. … Skilfully employing information from many sources close to Voyager’s political and technical progress, Evans has provided a superbly written record of these missions, set in their (now) historical context." (Steve Ringwood, Astronomy Now, November, 2004) "A very readable book telling the story of the exploration of the outer planets. It starts with an excellent, brief history of the legends about and the discovery of the outer planets … . is further enriched by more recent studies from the Hubble space telescope, ground-based observations, and other spacecraft missions. There is an excellent biography and about six pages of Internet references … . A great read for anyone interested in the most current information about the outer planets … . Highly recommended." (D. B. Mason, CHOICE, April, 2004)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Springer (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852337451
• ISBN-13: 978-1852337452
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #838,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Voyager...and much more!, January 9, 2007

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space1966 (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: NASA's Voyager Missions: Exploring the Outer Solar System and Beyond (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

The book is an excellent overview of the Voyager missions sent to explore the largest planets of our solar system: Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. The book gives a complete account of the spacecrafts' respective journeys and their discoveries but most important the author also brings up-to-date information that has been gathered since the Voyagers executed their fly-bys of those distant moons (information gathered via ground-based telescopes, Hubble and other spacecraft like Galileo). Although the Cassini spacecraft now orbiting planet Saturn will certainly add more information about the planet and its moons than the book contains, this work will remain as a true reference for a long time.
The books is solid account of what we know of our solar system.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction to the Spectacular Missions of the Voyager Space Probes to the Outer Solar System, December 28, 2006

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: NASA's Voyager Missions: Exploring the Outer Solar System and Beyond (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

In the last decade Springer-Praxis has published a significant number of new titles on the history of space exploration. Some are better than others, of course, and unfortunately this is not one of the more notable entries in the series. Written for the non-specialist, "NASA's Voyager Missions" offers a general introduction to what turned out to be a stunning "grand tour" of the outer gas giants of the solar system in the latter 1970s and 1980s. The basics of the story are present including the mission's origins in the 1960s, its launch in 1977, encounters with the outer planets, and the scientific windfall that resulted from the mission. This work also discusses the individuals who devoted their entire working lives to them, from the planetary work of the 1970s and 1980s to the recent Voyager Interstellar Mission.

These missions, launched from Kennedy Space Center in 1977 were intended only to image Jupiter and Saturn as they flew by, essentially a windshield tour. As the mission progressed, with the successful achievement of all its early objectives, additional flybys of the two outermost giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, proved possible--and irresistible--to mission scientists. Eventually, between them, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 explored all the giant outer planets, 48 of their moons, and the unique systems of rings and magnetic fields those planets possess. The two Voyagers took well over 100,000 images of the outer planets, rings, and satellites, as well as millions of magnetic, chemical spectra, and radiation measurements. Without question, they returned information to Earth that revolutionized the science of planetary astronomy.

This work is suited for introductory history and science classes, but it is too unsophisticated for the serious student. It leaves unanswered a myriad of questions, and fails to explore issues of interest to historians. Unfortunately, the full history of this mission still awaits its historian. There are some other good works on the subject but those also fail to tell the story fully. Among those other books are Henry C. Dethloff and Ronald A. Schorn, "Voyager's Grand Tour: To the Outer Planets and Beyond" (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003); Robert S. Kraemer, "Beyond the Moon: Golden Age of Planetary Exploration 1971-1978" (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001); and David W. Swift, "Voyager Tales: Personal Views of the Grand Tour" (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1997). These other works should be read along with "NASA's Voyager Missions" to gain a more rounded portrait of the Voyagers missions and their accomplishments.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Higly recommended!, September 12, 2004

By 

P. Lemmens (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NASA's Voyager Missions: Exploring the Outer Solar System and Beyond (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

This book, as was to be expected from a volume in the excellent Springer-Praxis series in astronomy and space sciences, is absolute quality. Although I haven't read its American `competitor' Voyager's Grand Tour by Henry C. Dethloff, I cannot believe that it could be done better than this. Especially if you're interested in the scientific aspects (planetary science, that is) of the Voyager missions, you won't be disappointed. It's all very well covered, extensively, with lots of interesting details and totally up-to-date (Galileo results are included in the discussions and there's a preview of the Cassini and JIMO (to Jupiter's moons) missions). The author may not be a planetary scientist himself, he is definitely an excellent science writer, offering an approach that's technical and detailed (and `problem-conscious') enough to satisfy even professional astronomers while he's writing in such a way so as to convey the sheer excitement of solar system exploration in every sentence. Very readable also, nowhere dry or dull.
The book is more heavily focused on the scientific results of the voyager missions than it is on the technical, engineering parts of it, but that is really not a problem. Most of the on-board instrumentation of the Voyager probes is explained well enough. The book has a lot of stunning black-and-white photographs and many illustrations and diagrams, and it even features a middle section with 13 colour plates. There's a bibliography and also a huge list of useful internet resources. All in all a great book. Very, very much recommended! Don't let yourself be scared off by its considerable price. It's worth every penny.