Giuseppe De Chiara

This book is a fast-paced account supported by striking, compelling renderings of how spaceflight has been forever changed since NASA heralded the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program on January 18th, 2006. Spaceflight was once a clunky affair, ruled by inefficient cost-plus models that gravely hampered the rapid pace of innovation while extorting a tremendous ransom to the taxpayers. In a single volume, you will embark on a thrilling journey of how major and lesser-known launcher and spacecraft manufacturers have devoted their resources to bring forward a vision of profit by rapid innovation offering transportation services from LEO through cis-lunar space and beyond Earth’s sphere of influence. This book recognizes NASA's COTS program as a pivot point in the history of the space agency and worldwide space industry and charts two story arcs, before COTS (BC) and after COTS (AC). The reader will understand how much the space industry has benefitted from the introduction of COTS in the pursuit of making humankind a spacefaring civilization. This book will feature numerous stunning, original illustrations, cross sections, close-up views and many more, meticulously crafted by renowned space artist Giuseppe De Chiara. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and these stunning images will capture the reader offering an exclusive intellectual experience.

Foreword by Dr. Roger D. Launius, Former NASA Chief Historian For the past 75 years, the U. S. government has invested significant time and money into advanced aerospace research, as evidenced by its many experimental X-plane aircraft and rockets. NASA's X-Planes asks a simple question: What have we gained from it all? To answer this question, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the X-plane’s long history, from the 1946 X-1 to the modern X-60. The chapters describe not just the technological evolution of these models, but also the wider story of politics, federal budgets, and inter-agency rivalries surrounding them. The book is organized into two sections, with the first covering the operational X-planes that symbolized the Cold War struggle between the U. S. and the U. S. S. R, and the second section surveying post-Cold War aircraft and spacecraft. Featuring dozens of original illustrations of X-plane cross-sections,in-flight profiles, close-ups, and more, this book will educate general readers and specialists alike.

Foreword by Dr. Roger D. Launius, Former NASA Chief Historian For the past 75 years, the U. S. government has invested significant time and money into advanced aerospace research, as evidenced by its many experimental X-plane aircraft and rockets. NASA's X-Planes asks a simple question: What have we gained from it all? To answer this question, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the X-plane’s long history, from the 1946 X-1 to the modern X-60. The chapters describe not just the technological evolution of these models, but also the wider story of politics, federal budgets, and inter-agency rivalries surrounding them. The book is organized into two sections, with the first covering the operational X-planes that symbolized the Cold War struggle between the U. S. and the U. S. S. R, and the second section surveying post-Cold War aircraft and spacecraft. Featuring dozens of original illustrations of X-plane cross-sections,in-flight profiles, close-ups, and more, this book will educate general readers and specialists alike.