A Tribble’s Guide to Space

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• Dr. Tribble offers a delightful guide to the nuts and bolts of space exploration, from how to get there to how to phone home and how to survive the harsh environment of space. Using examples from famous space missions, both factual and fictional, Tribble tackles fascinating real-world problems encountered in space exploration. Why do submarine hatches open inward and spacecraft hatches open outward? What do curveballs and satellites have in common? Why did Scotty, the chief engineer of the fictional USS Enterprise, always “We need more power”? Why did the fire that destroyed Apollo I on the launch pad burn so furiously that no one could react fast enough to save the lives of the crew? In answering these questions, Tribble examines getting to space—from the physics of motion to the practical implications of Einstein’s theory of relativity. He explores the basics of spaceships and starships, from power usage to navigation–all from the viewpoint of a spacecraft designer.

  This book describes rocket science and more in a manner that captures the common excitement shared by anyone with an interest in space exploration. Armchair astronauts, engineers who work in a space company and anyone who has looked up at the sky and wondered how we will get there will find reading this book a wonderful and enlightening experience.

What They’re Saying

• The significance of Apollo was not the rocks that were brought back, but the involvement of masses of people, the impact it made on their lives, and the vision it provided them for the future. Alan Tribble has captured the spirit that inspires us to explore and articulated the challenges that we will face as we continue to investigate the uses of space in the future. Anyone who remembers Apollo, or who dreams of going to the Moon and beyond, will enjoy this book.

• I share the author’s admiration for astronauts who are propelled into space to perform simple tasks under exotic and perilous conditions and for the engineers who make such excursions possible.

  Alan Tribble, with his easy-going, attractive conversational prose, imparts a lot of good physics at a common sense level, enhanced by references to everyday experience. He has produced a valuable guide to space for a wide readership.

• Alan Tribble’s Guide to Space is a superb introduction to the complex world of trajectories, spacecraft systems, and the space environment. It would have provided an invaluable background for the rookie flight controllers at Mercury Control as we prepared for our first launch.

• Even Einstein’s theory of relativity has practical implications for space travel, as Tribble, a designer of space shuttles and stations, knows. In his book, he writes about advanced physics as casually as a plumber speaks about faucets, using everyday engineering to make science intuitive.

• The writing is succinct and lucid…Tribble is knowledgeable and passionate.

• There is no better guide for a future rocket scientist or for anyone who just wants to understand what it means to be in space.

Ordering the Book

In addition to the sources below, the book may be ordered at most local book stores.

A Tribble’s Guide to Space, ISBN-13 978-0691050591

Princeton University Press
8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern Time
(800) 777–4726 toll-free within the United States and Canada
(609) 883–1759 outside the United States and Canada

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