Today, the training of American astronauts is almost taken for granted, but prior to 1961 no one knew whether humans could function in space at all. Space suits, working in free fall, and surviving the punishing accelerations of launch and re-entry were all complete unknowns. It was well recognised that if we were to send men into space, they would first have to be extensively trained. But what was that training to consist of? And exactly who would provide the training? As it turns out, the training was, at times, as dangerous and demanding as the space flights that followed -- for the training experts as well as the astronauts. At the forefront of the effort to train America's astronauts was Dr Randall Chambers. Over the course of a long and distinguished career he turned his mind (and body) to a wide variety of disciplines, in order to best prepare our astronauts for space flight. It was not unusual for Dr Chambers to put himself in the astronaut's position, literally -- before he would put the astronaut there. Dr Chambers and his co-workers not only had to be the very best in their profession, they had to define and refine that profession as they went along -- pioneers in the truest sense of the word. As the requirements and demands of human space activities increased, the lives of the astronauts were completely dependent on their trainers always being one step ahead of them. Career journalist Mary Jane Chambers has witnessed her husband's career first hand, and has worked with him to present a story that non-scientists will enjoy -- no equations, no charts; but rather a human tale of amazing people. This book is the story of a dedicated man of science, a friend of the astronauts, and an unsung hero of the space age. Behind every successful space program there are special people with the dedication of Dr Randall Chambers.

"A funny space adventure that spoofs Star Wars while providing an easy-to-read story." —Booklist Brave Commander Toad and the crew of the spaceship Star Warts have a mission: they must go where no spaceship has gone before and bring a little bit of earth out to the alien stars. But when they try to land their sky skimmer on the planet made of water, a terrible sound rises from the waves. Deep Wader is not pleased at being disturbed. "This planet belongs to me," he roars. It looks as though the crew of the Star Warts might become the monster's lunch. Fans of DK Readers: LEGO Star Wars, Tom Angleberger's Origami Yoda, and silliness will toad-ally love Commander Toad!

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel “with echoes of Station Eleven, The Martian, and, yes, Jane Eyre” (Observer). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VULTURE AND SHE READS • “The female astronaut novel we never knew we needed.”—Entertainment Weekly June is a brilliant but difficult girl with a gift for mechanical invention who leaves home to begin grueling astronaut training at the National Space Program. Younger by two years than her classmates at Peter Reed, the school on campus named for her uncle, she flourishes in her classes but struggles to make friends and find true intellectual peers. Six years later, she has gained a coveted post as an engineer on a space station—and a hard-won sense of belonging—but is haunted by the mystery of Inquiry, a revolutionary spacecraft powered by her beloved late uncle’s fuel cells. The spacecraft went missing when June was twelve years old, and while the rest of the world seems to have forgotten the crew, June alone has evidence that makes her believe they are still alive. She seeks out James, her uncle’s former protégé, also brilliant, also difficult, who has been trying to discover why Inquiry’s fuel cells failed. James and June forge an intense intellectual bond that becomes an electric attraction. But the relationship that develops between them as they work to solve the fuel cell’s fatal flaw threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to create—and any chance of bringing the Inquiry crew home alive. A propulsive narrative of one woman’s persistence and journey to self-discovery, In the Quick is an exploration of the strengths and limits of human ability in the face of hardship, and the costs of human ingenuity. This edition includes a bonus chapter.

Explore with Astronaut Jane as she takes the children out of space. She teaches a lesson about the sun, stars, moon, the Milk Way and the eight planets. Astronaut Jane is an excellent children's book that will teach every child about the solar system.

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020! "A terrifying tour de force." --James Rollins "Readers will be riveted." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Sally Jansen was NASA's leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over. She's wrong. A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate. Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen. But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival -- against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse... "Breathless, compulsive reading." --Christopher Golden "A suspenseful, fast-paced story of first contact." --Kirkus