Fifty Years on the Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, Comets, Asteroids, and More by Robert W. Farquhar; Outskirts Press, Inc., Denver, Colorado; (hard cover); $32.36; 2011
There is renewed and growing interest in imaginative use of L-points in space – special spots in space that are useful for an array of human and robotic exploration duties.
The author of this book has been at the forefront of creative use of orbital mechanics and is a pioneer in achieving space milestones over the decades.
This is not your run-of-the-mill space saga. The autobiographical volume tells the story of how Farquhar was able to not only tap his spirit of creativity, but also override technical issues and programmatic hurdles, as well as buck upstairs management.
Farquhar has enabled an impressive list of space “firsts” – among them:
— First libration-point mission, ISEE-3 in 1978
— First comet encounter, ICE in 1985
— First asteroid orbiter and landing, NEAR Shoemaker in 2000-2001
— First orbiter of Mercury, MESSENGER in 2011
Add to that inventory of innovation, the upcoming first flyby of Pluto/Charon via the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
Farquhar’s tell-all book is loaded with behind-the-scenes and surprisingly candid views that underscore his tenacity.
Farquhar chronicles his personal odyssey, one that pushed him into unpleasant fights and hand-to-hand combat with superiors. Regardless of those “close encounters” with officialdom, this book provides the reader with numerous insights into the making of great voyages of discovery.
Sprinkled throughout the book’s 460-pages you’ll find priceless photos of hardware, space science charts, key documents, lists of seminal papers by the author, and lots of personal camera snaps of Farquhar’s space science colleagues.
As Roger-Maurice Bonnet, former director of the European Space Agency’s science program from 1982-2001 notes in a foreword, this book “is a must for all those who are willing to defeat the impossible and make the dream become true.”
For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.outskirtspress.com/bookstore/9781432777210.html
By Leonard David