Intense, colorful, and dramatic --the man who hit a golf ball on the moon -- he was among the most private of America's public figures and, until his death in 1998, he guarded the story of his life zealously. Light This Candle, based on Neal Thompson's exclusive access to private papers and interviews with Shepard's family and closest friends -- including John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper -- offers a riveting, action-packed account of Shepard's life. Among the first men to fly off aircraft carriers, he was one of the most fearless test pilots. He endured long separations from his devoted wife and three daughters to fly dangerous missions, working his way up the ranks despite clashes with authority over his brazen flying maneuvers and penchant for risky pranks. Hugely competitive, he beat out John Glenn for the first Mercury spaceflight and then overcame a rare illness to return to space again on Apollo 14. He took every challenge head-on and seemed to win every time. Long overdue, Light This Candle is a candid and inspiring account of a bold American life.

    And the first to dance on it. For Pete Conrad, it was all about the ride. Nicknamed the Comeback Kid, he survived his family's financial hardships, overcame dyslexia, landed a Navy scholarship to Princeton, and became one of the country's elite test pilots. Never the squeaky clean NASA poster boy, he famously bounced himself out of the Mercury Program but came roaring back to fly two Gemini missions, walk on the moon as Commander of Apollo 12, command the first Skylab, and work to develop the first re-usable commercial rocket-logging more time in space than all the original astronauts combined. Based on interviews conducted with Conrad by his wife before his untimely death, Rocketman is the amazing-but-true, surprisingly candid insider's view of the greatest ride in history, America's glorious race to the stars, as seen through the eyes of the real Space Cowboy: Pete Conrad, the Rocketman.

      Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast‑paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world. We also meet a supporting cast of equally fascinating entrepreneurs, from the irrepressible British mogul Richard Branson to satellite Internet visionary Greg Wyler. All are united in the profound conviction that commercial space transportation will transform our world for the better.   Tim Fernholz’s fly‑on‑the‑wall reporting captures an industry in the midst of disruption, as NASA seeks to preserve its ambitious space exploration program, traditional aerospace firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin scramble to adapt to new competitors, lobbyists tussle over public funds and lawmakers try to prevent this new space race from sparking global conflict. With privileged access to top executives at SpaceX, including Musk himself, as well as at Blue Origin, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Virgin Galactic, Fernholz spins this high‑stakes marathon into a riveting tale of rivalry and survival.

    In the nearly forty years since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, space travel has come to be seen as a routine enterprise - at least until the shuttle Columbia disintegrated like the Challenger before it, reminding us, once again, that the dangers are all too real.Too Far from Home vividly captures the hazardous realities of space travel. Every time an astronaut makes the trip into space, he faces the possibility of death from the slightest mechanical error or instance of bad luck: a cracked O-ring, an errant piece of space junk, an oxygen leak . . . There are a myriad of frighteningly probable events that would result in an astronaut's death. In fact, twenty-one people who have attempted the journey have been killed.Yet for a special breed of individual, the call of space is worth the risk. Men such as U.S. astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox, and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin, who in November 2002 left on what was to be a routine fourteen-week mission maintaining the International Space Station.But then, on February 23, 2003, the Columbia exploded beneath them. Despite the numerous news reports examining the tragedy, the public remained largely unaware that three men remained orbiting the earth. With the launch program suspended indefinitely, these astronauts had suddenly lost their ride home.Too Far from Home chronicles the efforts of the beleaguered Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow as they work frantically against the clock to bring their men safely back to Earth, ultimately settling on a plan that felt, at best, like a long shot.Latched to the side of the space station was a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, whose technology dated from the late 1960s (in 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian astronauts dead). Despite the inherent danger, the Soyuz became the only hope to return Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit home. Chris Jones writes beautifully of the majesty and mystique of space travel, while reminding us all how perilous it is to soar beyond the sky.

    ‘Flying the Knife Edge’ is the story of an ordinary man experiencing extraordinary things as a pilot in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s. After an untimely exit from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, New Zealander Matt McLaughlin took a leap into the unknown, travelling to Papua New Guinea to work as a missionary pilot. He soon switched from missionary to mercenary, and over the next three and a half years, as he built up the necessary experience to chase his goal of becoming an airline captain, his life was a rollercoaster ride of adventure, risk, near-misses, and tragedy. Matt lived on the knife edge of bush pilot ops in one of the world’s most dangerous flying environments. Along the way he soaked up some fascinating local history: the country's vital role in WWII’s Pacific Theatre; the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart; the chaos of the Bougainville civil war; the Morobe gold rush of the 1930s... “The gap in the cloud became smaller and smaller as I descended, a shrinking tunnel twisting down the gorge. In a matter of seconds I was so low my wheels barely cleared the trees on the valley floor as I passed, and jungle-clad walls closed in on me until I was a mere wingspan from both sides of the valley. And then, in an instant, the gap was gone and I was flying blind. In cloud. In the bottom of a gorge. With terrain on both sides rising thousands of feet above me. Time stopped. The passengers started screaming, anticipating the aircraft impacting the side of the mountain. And their deaths. I had the capacity for just one other thought: Will I hear the sound of the airframe smashing into the trees as we crash, or will I be dead before it registers?”

    In this book, she shares her life experiences with humour and wisdom. From manners to men via fashion and family, to ageing and marriage, she takes on subjects close to every woman's heart.

    The man behind the much-loved, larger-than-life personality; not only an astronomer but also a self-taught musician and talented composer, and passionate supporter of cricket.

    Healthier, infinitely happier and proud of her slim new figure, Lisa now reveals how she lost all that weight and - more importantly - kept it off. Lisa knows that if she can do it, anyone can.The very first thing she had to tackle was her thinking, and in this book you'll discover the strategies that helped her get honest with herself and stay on track. Inside Lisa shares:· A simple 8-day eating plan to kick things off· Fast, easy, delicious low-carb recipes· An 'honesty diary' section for keeping track of progress and motivating yourself· Tips for staying healthy when on-the-go and eating out· Everyday fitness ideas that anyone can do With Lisa's help, you can put the fibs and excuses behind you, kick those bad habits and achieve the body and health you've always dreamed of. _____________ What readers say about Lisa Riley's Honesty Diet . . . 'I loved the food, the simplicity of the meals and the plan . . . It has changed my outlook on eating and losing weight, my portion size and my body size' Vivien 'I have a dress which I last wore 3 years ago . . . today I tried the same outfit and whizzed the zip up and down. It was comfortable and a little loose! I'm with Lisa every step of my journey' Elaine'I learnt that I am a lot stronger and more determined than I thought I was and I DO have the willpower! I LOVE IT!' Louise

    Today he's a part of our nation's history as one of the surviving Mercury space pioneers. Leap of Faith not only reveals what went on behind the scenes of the early space program, but also takes aim at the next millennium of space travel with strong views on the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence--& even the distinct possibility we've already had contact. During his military career, he was one of the best of the best at Edwards Air Force Base, where the setting of world records for speed, endurance & altitude was an everyday occurrence. Even before joining the newly formed manned space program, he understood the dangerous nature of new technologies: hanging it over the edge & pushing the envelope, then hauling it back in & doing it again tomorrow. Gordo Cooper learned to fly with his father at age 8 in his hometown of Shawnee, OK, soloing by age 12. As an impressionable boy, he met overnight visitors to the household, including famous aviators like Amelia Earhart & Wiley Post, heightening his desire to take to the skies. Ride with Cooper thru his adventurous life in the cockpits of planes & spacecraft alike. He was the last American to go into space alone. He flew in Mercury & Gemini, & served as head of flight crew operations for both Apollo & Skylab, America's 1st orbiting space station. He was backup command pilot for Apollo X & directed design input changes for the shuttle program. He was buddies with Gus Grissom, who died in the Apollo I fire at Cape Canaveral, & was close to Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist who was responsible for the USA beating Russia to the Moon. Thru it all, Cooper, a hero who shuns the label, speaks candidly of his defeats as well as his accomplishments. His life is a tapestry of space travel in the 20th century. From a source as credible as Cooper come these claims: He innocently took revealing pictures of the mysterious Area 51 during his Gemini mission & ended up in the White House speaking about it to the president; he & other military jet pilots have chased UFOs; & footage of UFOs taken by his film crew was confiscated by the government, all part of the military's long-time UFO cover-up.

    Dye's stories from inside Mission Control explain the mysteries of flying the Shuttle -- from the powerful fiery ascent to the majesty of on-orbit operations to the high-speed and critical re-entry and landing of a hundred-ton glider.The Space Shuttles flew 135 missions -- surviving initial test flights and the early days of deploying satellites as well as enabling the assembly and servicing of the International Space Station. Astronauts conducted space walks, captured satellites, and docked with the Mir Space Station, bringing space into our everyday life, from GPS to satellite TV. Putting readers in the shoes of Mission Control, the hub that made humanity's leap into a new frontier possible, Dye gives readers his own front-row seat on the missions that changed our world.

    Because of his studies of the Eskimos, his discoveries of land, the application of new ideas and new methods of exploration, Stefansson was considered the foremost polar explorer of his day, and one of the few great explorers of all time. During a period of three or four years Mr. Stefansson has produced a creditable list of books about the Arctic. In some respects his service in publishing the results of his Northern studies has differed from that of earlier explorers. He has challenged our preconceptions about the Arctic. “Hunters of the Great North” gives details of Northern life such as have doubtless come within the experience of all Arctic explorers, but which are new to the average American reader. In short, it is an elementary text-book of the Arctic. Stefansson lived among the Eskimos of the Mackenzie River, studying their language and adopting their mode of life, and spending ten winters and thirteen summers in the polar regions. Among Stefannson's most famous discovery was that of a race of blond Eskimo on Coronation Gulf. Stefansson writes: "In the present book I have tried by means of diaries and memory to go back to the vivid impressions of my first year among the Eskimos for the story of what I saw and heard." In describing his confrontation with a polar bear, Stefansson writes: “I heard behind me a noise like the spitting of a cat or the hiss of a goose. I looked back and saw, about twenty feet away and almost above me, a polar bear. I had overestimated the bear's distance from shore, and had passed the spot where he lay. From his eye and attitude, as well as the story his trail told afterward there was no doubting his intentions: the hiss was merely his way of saying, "Watch me do it!" Or at least that is how I interpreted it; possibly the motive was chivalry, and the hiss was his way of saying Garde!” Contents I. PREPARATIONS FOR A LIFEWORK OF EXPLORATION II. DOWN THE MACKENZIE RIVER THROUGH 2000 MILES OF INDIAN COUNTRY III. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE ESKIMOS IV. CAPTAIN KLINKENBERG—SEA WOLF AND DISCOVERER V. THE WHALING FLEET SAILS AWAY VI. LEARNING TO LIVE AS AN ESKIMO—ON A DIET OF FISH WITHOUT SALT VII. HOW AN ESKIMO SAILED THROUGH THE STORM VIII. AN AUTUMN JOURNEY THROUGH ARCTIC MOUNTAINS IX. THE SUN GOES AWAY FOR THE WINTER X. LOST IN THE MACKENZIE DELTA XI. AN ARCTIC CHRISTMAS WITH AN ENGLISH COUNTRY GENTLEMAN XII. THE LIFE AT TUKTUYAKTOK XIII. LEARNING TO BUILD A SNOWHOUSE AND TO BE COMFORTABLE IN ONE XIV. TRAVELS AFTER THE SUN CAME BACK XV. WE GO IN SEARCH OF OUR OWN EXPEDITION XVI. A SPRING JOURNEY IN AN ESKIMO SKIN BOAT XVII. A RACE OVER THE ARCTIC MOUNTAINS IN SUMMER XVIII. ON A RAFT DOWN THE PORCUPINE RIVER SHORT STORIES OF ADVENTURE I. HOW I LEARNED TO HUNT CARIBOU II. HOW I LEARNED TO HUNT SEALS III. HOW WE HUNT POLAR BEARS

    astronaut Clayton C. Anderson and takes you on the journey of this small-town boy from Nebraska who spent 167 days living and working on the International Space Station, including more than forty hours of space walks. Having applied to NASA fifteen times over fifteen years to become an astronaut before his ultimate selection, Anderson offers a unique perspective on his life as a veteran space flier, one characterized by humility and perseverance.From the application process to launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, from serving as a family escort for the ill-fated Columbia crew in 2003 to his own daily struggles—family separation, competitive battles to win coveted flight assignments, the stress of a highly visible job, and the ever-present risk of having to make the ultimate sacrifice—Anderson shares the full range of his experiences. With a mix of levity and gravitas, Anderson gives an authentic view of the highs and the lows, the triumphs and the tragedies of life as a NASA astronaut.Purchase the audio edition.

    Just A Boy was praised for its unflinching and unsentimental account of a neglected childhood at the hands of an abusive father and uncaring authorities. The only constants in his and his sister's lives were grief for their mother and newspaper coverage of her killer and the gruesome nature of his crimes. With his book in the bestseller charts Richard sets out to make sense of his past, attempting to meet the other children of Sutcliffe's victims and discovering the secrets of the mother that was taken away from him. McCann comes to terms with the loss of his own childhood by talking to others, hearing their stories, and learning about how to accept what has happened and move on.

    Explores the life and achievements of the rocketry pioneer who designed rockets for the Nazi war effort early in his career and later became a leading figure in the American space program.

    This minute-by-minute account of the only manned NASA mission to have malfunctioned outside Earth's orbit describes the entire episode.