Voyager to the Planets [Hardcover]

Harry G. Allard (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The dramatic story of the twelve-year journey of the Voyager spacecraft brings our understanding of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune up to date in an easy-to-read text.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5 --This simply written account of the travels of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to the four giant planets of the solar system and their satellites joins a spate of recent books on the subject. NASA has released plenty of spectacular full-color photographs taken by the spacecraft, and Apfel has chosen some of the best of them. Saturn's rings seem to glow in close-up; the motley surface of Uranus's moon Miranda hints at a dramatic past; Saturn's Europa, smoother, proportionately, than a billiard ball, sails through space with quiet elegance. Browsers will be attracted by the bright pictures and spacious layout. The probes themselves are not described in great detail, but Apfel returns to them occasionally, praising NASA's engineers for solving a variety of inflight technical problems--Voyager 2 passed Neptune "hard of hearing, with a touch of arthritis and a slight loss of memory," but it should continue sending data for the next 20 years or so. Harris and Weissman's Great Voyager Adventure (Messner) or Solomon's Album of Voyager (Watts , both 1990) cover the missions more fully, but are aimed at older readers; this makes a fine introduction.
- John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Spectacular color photos of planets and moons, many of the latter newly discovered from the Voyager spacecraft, make this a visual delight. While the accompanying text is sometimes technical, the descriptions of never-seen worlds are compelling. NASA originally designed these spacecraft for a ``Grand Tour'' of the solar system, taking advantage of a favorable planetary alignment that occurs only once in 175 years to make ``planet- hopping'' feasible. Both launched in 1977, Voyager 1 sent back data on Jupiter and Saturn while Voyager 2, after continuing on to Uranus and Neptune, is currently traveling beyond our solar system and is expected to send back data until 2010. A fine celebration of science and engineering. Brief list of further reading; glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (April 22, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395552095
• ISBN-13: 978-0395552094
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,777,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good pictures and information, but for the younger ages., December 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Voyager to the Planets (Hardcover)

Large print, full page color pictures, this book is for younger children with a beginning interest in astronomy, particularly the voyagers. But, if you have a large knowlege of astronomy, particularly the outer planets, you don't need this book to suppliment your collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A history of the Voyager probes., June 14, 2000

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voyager to the Planets (Library Binding)

This large, though thin book contains a history of the space probes Voyagers 1 and 2. The book goes through their creation, and the many discoveries that were made. The pictures are breath taking, and the text is easy to read.

In general, this book will be for those who are interested in those probes as a part of space-history. My Nine-eight-year-old daughter read the book through (to the best of her ability), and enjoyed it immensely.