Download or read book It's ONLY Rocket Science written by Lucy Rogers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-03-08 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most amateur astronomers – and many of those with similar interests but who are not currently practising observers – have only a sketchy understanding of space flight. This book provides an introduction to its mechanics. The beauty of this book, written by an engineer who is also an accomplished science writer, is that it covers the subject comprehensively, and yet is almost entirely descriptive and non-mathematical. It deals with all aspects of space flight, from how to leave the Earth (including the design of the rocket, mission planning, navigation and communication), to life in space and the effects of weightlessness. The book also includes sections describing how an amateur can track satellites and understand their orbital parameters.