This Is Rocket Science: True Stories of the Risk-taking Scientists who Figure Out Ways to Explore Beyond

by Gloria Skurzynski

..three, two, one... we have liftoff! From the award-winning author of Are We Alone? comes a title to propel young imaginations far into space. This Is Rocket Science explores the past, present, and future of space travel.

The compelling text—vetted by NASA scientists—is a combination of history, science, human drama, and future challenges. Readers learn how fireworks in ancient China developed into the fire arrows used by Genghis Khan; we meet Sir Isaac Newton, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and learn how their imaginations shaped rocketry. We revisit the era of Sputnik, the satellite that launched a superpower space race, ending with moonwalks and a rendezvous in space. Finally we look forward to the future challenges of Mars and beyond. We also get a sneak peek at new technologies like space elevators, solar sails, ion propulsion, and more.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

"May you live in interesting times."

That ambiguous wish was not meant to be kind, because interesting times can be difficult. You and I certainly live in interesting times - dangerous, challenging, and fascinating.

My parents were born just before the start of the twentieth century; my youngest grandchild arrived in this century's final decade. The years in between have been the most dynamic in the history of the human race. Technical knowledge has exploded; so has the Earth's human population. We can create almost anything, yet each day we lose parts of our planet that can never be replaced.

I'm greedy: I want to write about all of it - the history, the grief, joy, and excitement of being human in times past; the cutting-edge inventions of times almost here.

--from the author's website

Gloria Skurzynski has also co-written books with her daughter Alane Ferguson.

Reviews

[Midge Bork · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd started this expecting more about Robert Goodard and his early failures (quite spectacular). Instead it was a quick overview extending into future missions (Mars and beyond). Lots of numbers for fuel weight and resulting thrust. I found the future very exciting, like seeking colonists for Mars. Why isn't this forefront in the media? Certainly it is more interesting than Dancing with the Stars or Survivor.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Is Rocket Science Book Report
By: Sean Kopeny
Contains Major Spoilers

I learned many things from this book. The first few pages I had a lot about. I ended up having almost three pages of notes. I learned things like the Chinese tried to make people immortal two thousand years ago. It mostly failed because what they drank to become immortal was usually poisonous. If sulfur, saltpeter, and carbon are combined they burn and can make a couple tipes of bombs. When more saltpeter is added it made an early version of gunpowder or as they called, huo yao or flaming medicine. Hallow bamboo tubes filled with huo yao made fireworks. If you seal the firework, put in an arrow, and light it, it makes a flaming arrow. They weren’t accurate but loud and could go six hundred and fifty feet. The Mongoles later found how to make more deadly fire arrows.
I learned many more things and those were just some here are some more. People said that Newton’s laws of physics may have come from him seeing an apple fall from a tree. When Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was ten he became deaf by scarlet fever and couldn’t go to school. So he taught himself. Werner von Braun when he was thirteen attached six skyrockets to a little red wagon and lit them. The wagon roared five blocks down the busy streets of Berlin. Werner von Braun was arrested but let out by his furious father. In 1938 Sergei Korolev was accused of subversion in a new technology field. Sergei Korolev made a missile that could lift two hundred and seventy-six tons and carry a three-ton warhead that could go seven thousand four hundred and fifty-six miles.
Sputnik was a threatening satellite in space. Then in nineteen sixty-one Yuri Gagarin was the first man into space on the Vostok 1 and made one lap around the Earth in one hundred and eight minutes. Werner von Braun was the leader in the group that made the Saturn V. For Columbia the title shield would need six hundred seventy thousand hours or three hundred and thirty-five years to make at the time. In nineteen eighty one two years behind shcedule and one billion dollars over budget, Columbia became the first space shuttle to reach Earth’s orbit. The shuttle has three cone shaped engines that produce three hundred and seventy five pounds of thrust each.
Soyuz rockets are the most used rocket in the world, it is not reusable, but it has nine hundred and seven thousand pounds of thrust to lift a total weight of six hundred and thirty nine pounds. The longest time spent in space was three hundred and seventy seven days by a woman named Peggy Whitson. Carbon nanotubes are one hundred times stronger than steel, they are so tiny fifty thousand of them can fit in a single pice of hair, they are the strongest material on Earth. And weight six times lighter than steel.
As you can see I learned many things from this book and I hope you read it and lear a lot in reading it too.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this on my Kindle and did not realize it was a children's book until I started reading. It was quite well done. I am not a rocket scientist, so it was probably right at my level and really pulled me into some of the details and stories of pioneering scientists behind the space program. I thoroughly enjoyed (and understood!) this book.

[Arvind Sethuraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives concise knowledge and information about rocket science.
Basic technical information such as the four crucial systems in a rocket, geostationary satellites, space shuttles and their missions, material science, new and upcoming propulsion systems such as Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rockets, International Space Station et al.

[Donia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very poorly edited. Some information was insightful but I expected a lot more. I think this was geared towards middle-grade level, which means they should have made it more engaging and with better graphics. I hope to find a better rocket science informative text.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on the history of rocket science. It still wasn’t clear to me but made it more comprehensible than it had been before.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best quote ever (in reference to the American reaction to Sputnik): "Suddenly Americans felt like losers."

Enjoyed the loads of information about rockets and the scientific developments behind them. Thought that a little more editing could have taken place: there were several page endings/beginnings that didn't match up, which was confusing, and there were a few sweeping statements that seemed to need more specifics/citations.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for young people interested in space travel and things that go boom. It includes the history of rockets as well as information about new and futuristic rocket technology.

[Dave Markel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is rocket science: true stories of the risk taking scientists...

This is a great book for the young student or person just wanting to learn some of the untold history of our space programs.
Although very informative it just lightly delves into the history and the future prospects of our space programs. It could be much more detailed, but those who have a short attention span might not find it so interesting it takes a great interest in the future of space development, whi

[Miguel Masliah · Rating 5 out of 5]

From fire arrows used for warfare in ancient China to nuclear warheads to missions to mars, people have always been fascinated in rockets. This book is all about the pursuit of the cosmos and the great challenges that literal rocket scientists had to overcome to, for example reach the moon. This all started in ancient China when warriors put small explosives in a cone and covered the end, creating “fire arrows”, and continued to evolve into fireworks, and then, with Wernher von Braun, who created missiles for Germany, all the way to the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. Then there were the crazy ideas that never got funding, such as a nuclear propelled rocket, which would detonate basketball-sized nukes under the rocket to propel it into orbit, and, possibly Mars and Saturn.

I rated this book 5 stars because I am extremely interested in space and the way rockets are built and function. I also loved learning about the history of rockets and the struggle for funding, and about some events that I never knew the details about. This book achieved the difficult challenge of making an extremely entertaining non-fiction book. I recommend this book to anyone who is even a little bit interested in space and rockets.