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Michael H. Gorn

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Born

in Los Angeles, California, The United States

Influences

My writing is inspired by three English authors: Charles Dickens, P.G. ...more

Member Since

May 2018

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Hello, I’m Michael Gorn, and I’m a native Californian living in the Los Angeles area with my wife, Christine. My writing specialty is the history of aeronautics and spaceflight, which I’ve been pursuing for nearly 40 years.

I’ve published a number of books in the field. My latest, due out in September 2018, is Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites that Put Us in Space (Quarto Publishing Group, 2018).

Spacecraft is timed to commemorate two of the most historic events of the space age: the 60th anniversary of the founding of NASA in 2018, and in 2019, the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11—the first landing by human beings on the Moon. Illustrated with over 300 beautiful, original artworks by my collaborator Giuseppe de Chiara o Hello, I’m Michael Gorn, and I’m a native Californian living in the Los Angeles area with my wife, Christine. My writing specialty is the history of aeronautics and spaceflight, which I’ve been pursuing for nearly 40 years.

I’ve published a number of books in the field. My latest, due out in September 2018, is Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites that Put Us in Space (Quarto Publishing Group, 2018).

Spacecraft is timed to commemorate two of the most historic events of the space age: the 60th anniversary of the founding of NASA in 2018, and in 2019, the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11—the first landing by human beings on the Moon. Illustrated with over 300 beautiful, original artworks by my collaborator Giuseppe de Chiara of Naples, Italy, Spacecraft is an oversize, lavishly illustrated book that depicts the world’s great space vehicles, from Sputnik 1 in 1958 to the massive James Webb Space Telescope in 2020. I contributed concise and, I hope, enlightening historical profiles that accompany the images.

Some of my previous books include NASA: The Complete Illustrated History (Merrell Publishers, 2005, revised 2008) and Expanding the Envelope: Flight Research at NACA and NASA (The University Press of Kentucky, 2001). I also wrote The Universal Man: Theodore von Karman’s Life in Aeronautics (Smithsonian, 1992), Superstructures in Space: From Satellites to Space Stations, A Guide to What’s Out There (Merrell Publishers, 2008), and I was a contributing author for Spyplanes: The Illustrated Guide to Manned Reconnaissance and Surveillance Aircraft from World War I to Today (Quarto Publishing Group, 2016).

I enjoyed a long and fruitful career as a historian in the U.S. civil service. I served for nearly thirty years with the Air Force, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, becoming the Chief Historian of the NASA Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

I’ve been fortunate to receive several awards for my work, most notably the Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award for Expanding the Envelope, presented by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. I also received the Alfred V. Verville Fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and was selected for the Fellowship in Aerospace History by the American Historical Association.

I have a strong attachment to Southern California, where I grew up (in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of L.A.) and attended the University of Southern California, where I earned a doctorate in history. Aside from the pleasures of writing about aeronautics and spaceflight, I’ve had a lifelong passion for morning walks, amateur (very amateur!) gardening, and for wood carving birds and other wildlife.

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Average rating: 4.0 · 100 ratings · 14 reviews · 21 distinct works • Similar authors

	Nasa: The Complete Illustrated History by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Buzz Aldrin (Goodreads Author) 4.10 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2005 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us in Space by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Giuseppe De Chiara (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 3.83 avg rating — 36 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Universal Man: Theodore Von Karman's Life in Aeronautics 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1992	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	X-Planes from the X-1 to the X-60: An Illustrated History (Springer Praxis Books) by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Giuseppe De Chiara (Goodreads Author) 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Super Structures in Space: From Satellites to Space Stations- a Guide to What's Out There 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	X-Planes from the X-1 to the X-60: An Illustrated History by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Giuseppe De Chiara (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2021	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us in Space by Michael H. Gorn, Voyageur Press it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Expanding the Envelope: Flight Research at NACA and NASA really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2001 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Book of Spacecraft: Rockets, Shuttles, Satellites, and Space Stations by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Davide Sivolella, Giuseppe De Chiara (Goodreads Author) (illustrator) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	NASA: From the Moon to Mars - The Complete Illustrated History by Michael H. Gorn (Goodreads Author), Buzz Aldrin (Goodreads Author) (Foreword) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Michael H. Gorn's Blog

Spaceflight: Past, Present, and Future

Hello, my name is Michael Gorn and I'm an aerospace author and historian who just recently began an authors page on Goodreads.

My aim is to encourage those in the Goodreads community to participate in discussions about the history--and the present and future--of space exploitation and exploration.

If you haven't seen it yet, my latest book--Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites Read more of this blog post »

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Published on May 23, 2018 14:58

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Spacecraft: 100 Iconic Rockets, Shuttles, and Satellites That Put Us in Space

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May 21, 2018 03:48PM

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“Whenever I'm asked how smart I am (translation: what's my I.Q.), I have an automated answer: "I'm smart enough!”
― Michael H. Gorn

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“Family need not be defined merely as those with whom we share blood, but as those for whom we would give our blood.”
― Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby

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