If anyone wants to get into some of the obscure history niches, see the book Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants (ISBN13: 9780813507255):
For context, this book was out of print for a long time and the only way to get it was via PDF. The recent re-interest in rockets has led to it being re-published.
The best place to start is Apollo by Murray/Cox: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/282086.Apollo
Rather than focusing on the astronauts, this is very much a story of the engineering and management that made the project possible.
From someone who helped develop the lunar lander, there's Thomas J. Kelly's "Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1588342735/
Another good book (so I've heard - I own a copy but haven't made time to read it yet) is Sunburst and Luminary by Don Eyles, who worked on the guidance system at MIT: https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Univers...
They recently did a reprint! You can get it for $20 on Amazon now.
by NotaClipaMagazine 2019-11-17
Which only really highlights how little they know about the subject. There are all kinds different rocket propellants used and not all of them are bad. The Delta IV uses hydrogen and oxygen which makes.. water. Not saying there isin't some nasty shit out there but it's mostly no worse than what you get when you burn diesel in a car (just a lot more of it in a short time). Read Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants if you're into that sort of shit.
by LeifCarrotson 2019-08-21
The book was out of print for a while, and this PDF was the only way to,read it for less than $400. But now it's back in print for $17: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813595835/ Basically the same content, highly worth reading in either format.
He addresses the calamity that engineers don't read several times in the book - formulations are attempted a few years after someone proved it didn't work. Makes me wonder if a similar approach wouldn't be advisable in programming...
This is probably the best book on how the professionals had fun building rockets back in the day. It's a gread read, and full of useful practical chemical engineering advice and cautionary tales. You might find PDFs, but you can also buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Univers...
* https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-History-Liquid-Prop...
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Univers...
https://smile.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Unive...
From someone who helped develop the lunar lander, there's Thomas J. Kelly's "Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1588342735/
Another good book (so I've heard - I own a copy but haven't made time to read it yet) is Sunburst and Luminary by Don Eyles, who worked on the guidance system at MIT: https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Univers...
They recently did a reprint! You can get it for $20 on Amazon now.
Which only really highlights how little they know about the subject. There are all kinds different rocket propellants used and not all of them are bad. The Delta IV uses hydrogen and oxygen which makes.. water. Not saying there isin't some nasty shit out there but it's mostly no worse than what you get when you burn diesel in a car (just a lot more of it in a short time). Read Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants if you're into that sort of shit.
He addresses the calamity that engineers don't read several times in the book - formulations are attempted a few years after someone proved it didn't work. Makes me wonder if a similar approach wouldn't be advisable in programming...
https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-Univers...