r/Spaceexploration Jun 21 '14

The /r/SpaceExploration Reading List

55 Upvotes

I had the idea for a reading list related to various space exploration topics and, with the approval of the mods, this thread will help determine our official reading list!

When putting a book down, some things you should try your best to include may be:

  • The title
  • The author
  • The year of first publication
  • How it relates to space exploration (e.g. Orbital mechanics, space shuttle design, etc)
  • A brief description of what, or who, it's about

r/Spaceexploration 3d ago

Where are the cyclers?

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1 Upvotes

Cross posting because I can't figure this one out.

Why are there no real plans for Aldrin cyclers? Seems like common sense to me, and I've been wondering since I was a kid in the early 90s, and no one has yet to give me a real answer. So, thought I'd ask around.


r/Spaceexploration 4d ago

NASA’s Artemis II Lunar Science Operations to Inform Future Missions

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3 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 5d ago

China eyes Saturn's icy moon Enceladus in the hunt for habitability

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4 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 6d ago

NERVA SPACE DOCUMENTS FOUND AT FLEA MARKET - UPDATE ASSISTANCE NEEDED

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60 Upvotes

Hi ALL,

I made this post below and it went sort of viral. Since then I've tried reaching out to intellectual property attorney's, Space X, Boeing, every defense contractor I can think of. NASA asked for copies of it.

I had a few people ask to buy it but don't want to sell it to some random person on the internet. After discussing with a lot of industry professionals over the past few months I've confirmed that these hand written journals could be a significant resource for any agency building Nuclear Propulsion technology.

Can anyone help me connect with someone? Preferably someone in this space and an attorney to help me negotiate getting this to the right person.

Can someone get me Elon if possible? :) Jeff Bezos?

On some recommendations and advice, I took down some of the photos and have only left a few. Going to have an expert look at the remaining. There's a lot to go through! I appreciate everyone's love for Space! And all the comments!

Hello fellow space enthusiasts,

I was hoping to get some more information on a recent find of mine. I’m an avid collector and reseller of all things historic. Especially space related.

The documents belonged to Thomas Szekely who holds the patent for a Nuclear propulsion apparatus with alternate reactor segments. Szekely was an engineer with GE working on the NERVA project. The documents include presentations on utilizing nuclear propulsion for a manned mission to Mars.

Of notable interest are nearly 300 pages of handwritten formulas and calculations used to build the nuclear propulsion technology and manned missions to Mars. (Not posting photos of these for confidentiality reasons)

I believe this information could provide valuable insight into the nuclear technology developed in the 60's and 70's to help us with a manned mission to Mars. I've attached some pictures for reference.

I would also think that scientists studying nuclear propulsion technology would probably be interested in the handwritten equations from the man who built and patented the nuclear propelled rocket.

My problem is, everyone I’ve reached out to or spoken to acts like I’m crazy….lol…

Just hoping for some insight or ideas of what I stumbled across? Any insight would be appreciated. I can’t post photos until Sunday. But wanted get any thoughts? Not sure what to do with it? My business is reselling but also I feel like this is a find that could really make a difference!


r/Spaceexploration 6d ago

Comet? UFO? Astronomers puzzle over fastest object in solar system

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1 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 21d ago

JWST Images Gas Giant Orbiting Alpha Centauri A

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37 Upvotes

Brand new photos from JWST took a look at some of our neighbors: Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.

This system is a scant 4 light years away from Earth, and alongside Proxima Centauri make up a triple star system. These observations from the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are strong evidence of a gas giant in orbit around Alpha Centuari A, within that star's habitable zone. While it is not likely that this particular exoplanet hosts life, this shows that solar system arrangements like our's may be more common than we think, and that extraterrestrial life may be lurking right in our backyard.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Aniket Sanghi (Caltech), Chas Beichman (NExScI, NASA/JPL-Caltech), Dimitri Mawet (Caltech), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)


r/Spaceexploration 20d ago

Artemis 2 moon astronauts suit up and enter their Orion spacecraft together for 1st time

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3 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 22d ago

NASA aims to beat China and Russia in race to build a nuclear reactor on the moon

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68 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 23d ago

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Moon Mission Ends

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6 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 24d ago

Marking 13 Years on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity Picks Up New Skills

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3 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration 26d ago

Is the difficulty of establishing a self-sufficient industrial system on an exoplanet vastly underestimated?

19 Upvotes

Taking Mars as an example, suppose we want to build a large-scale steel plant there. First, Mars has no coal and a very thin atmosphere. We would require a vast amount of purified water for quenching. It is estimated that a large steel plant consumes tens of thousands of tons of fresh water daily, or even more. On Mars, however, we would have to extract water ice from deep underground and then melt and purify it. Mining this subterranean ice would necessitate a great deal of heavy equipment and tens of thousands of tons of specialized materials that the initial Mars colony could not produce.

Furthermore, the lack of coal means that smelting can only be powered by electricity. This, combined with the need for fresh water for quenching, would demand an enormous amount of energy. We would need substantial nuclear power, as solar power would be inefficient due to Mars' weaker sunlight and the unreliability caused by dust storms. This, in turn, requires a large quantity of nuclear ore, nuclear fuel, and specialized alloys, as well as massive energy storage and power transmission facilities. For instance, obtaining rubber-sheathed cables would be nearly impossible in the early stages of the colony.

This is without even considering the vast amounts of building materials, robots, lathes, and other industrial facilities needed for the factory, such as the steel furnaces, each weighing several thousand tons. In other words, just to build a single steel plant on Mars would require millions of tons of materials, heavy machinery, and spare parts that the early Martian colony could not manufacture. Chemical rockets are completely incapable of transporting such a payload; a single steel furnace weighing several thousand tons would likely exceed the carrying capacity of a chemical rocket.

Therefore, relying on chemical rockets alone, we cannot even begin to industrialize Mars. It seems the only way forward is the nuclear pulse rocket.


r/Spaceexploration Jul 29 '25

What Space Taught NASA Astronaut José Hernández About Earth

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5 Upvotes

Rejected from NASA eleven times? Just rocket fuel for José Hernández. 🌍🚀

When José Hernández finally launched into space, the view changed everything. Orbiting Earth at 17,500 mph, he saw no borders, just one planet we all share. From advancing cancer detection, exploring the ocean floor and inspiring future scientists, his journey reminds us what’s possible when science and perseverance come together.


r/Spaceexploration Jul 23 '25

NASA Shares How to Save Camera 370-Million-Miles Away Near Jupiter

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17 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 21 '25

Norway blasts Sweden as European space race hots up

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36 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 20 '25

From a systems analysis perspective, what was the most critical enabling system for the IUS's successful launch of Galileo?

2 Upvotes

The IUS had to perform with extreme precision to get the Galileo probe onto its VEEGA trajectory after the Centaur stage was cancelled.

The primary candidates seem to be:

- The Inertial Guidance System (navigation)

- The two-stage Solid Rocket Motors (propulsion)

- The Thrust Vector Control (steering)

- The system-wide Redundancy (reliability)

I'm looking for an analysis on how these systems would be ranked in terms of mission criticality.


r/Spaceexploration Jul 19 '25

The Soviet Zond 3 Lunar Flyby: Revealing the Rest of the Far Side - 60 Years Ago

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6 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 15 '25

1 Hour Cosmic Relaxation Music | Calm Ambient Loop for Sleep, Meditation & Yoga 2025

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0 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 11 '25

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun

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7 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 02 '25

NASA’s Lucy Mission Provides Full View of Asteroid Donaldjohanson

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11 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jul 01 '25

Axiom Mission 4 Has Docked! This Private Mission Just Changed Space Travel Forever - Here's Why

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1 Upvotes

My latest video breaks down the historic Axiom Mission 4's successful docking with the ISS. This isn't just another flight; it's a massive step for commercial space, featuring an unprecedented amount of science and a truly global crew from India, Hungary, and Poland. I dive into the missions's significance, the incredible science onboard, and what it means for the future of humanity in space.


r/Spaceexploration Jun 27 '25

Composited Image of Messier 31 (Andromeda Galaxy)

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15 Upvotes

What can we learn from our neighbors? 🌌

Our closest spiral galaxy, Messier 31 (M31), sometimes referred to as the Andromeda galaxy, is about 2.5 million light years away. Due to their similar structures, astronomers study M31 to understand our own Milky Way! 🔭

This new image is a collaboration between some of our most powerful telescopes, including NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the ESA’s XMM-Newton, and even data taken from retired telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope. 🛰️

This new image of M31 honors Dr. Vera Rubin, whose groundbreaking work on Andromeda’s rotation helped reveal the existence of dark matter. Her research reshaped how we understand the cosmos. In 2025, she’ll become the first astronomer featured in the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program—a tribute written in the stars. 🪙

📸: X-ray: NASA/CXO/UMass/Z. Li & Q.D. Wang, ESA/XMM-Newton; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE, Spitzer, NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Gordon (U. Az), ESA/Herschel, ESA/Planck, NASA/IRAS, NASA/COBE; Radio: NSF/GBT/WSRT/IRAM/C. Clark (STScI); Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GALEX; Optical: Andromeda, Unexpected © Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, Yann Sainty & J. Sahner, T. Kottary. Composite image processing: L. Frattare, K. Arcand, J.Major


r/Spaceexploration Jun 26 '25

China’s Tianwen-2: Landing on a Moon Fragment? 🌕☄️

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0 Upvotes

Just finished this deep-dive video on China’s upcoming Tianwen-2 mission — they're planning to land on an asteroid that might actually be a piece of the Moon, bring a sample back by 2027, and then chase down a second asteroid with six tails. It’s wild.


r/Spaceexploration Jun 25 '25

Parker Solar Probe Completes 24th Close Approach to Sun

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3 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jun 24 '25

NASA’s LRO Views ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 2 Moon Lander Impact Site

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4 Upvotes

r/Spaceexploration Jun 24 '25

Quantum Chemistry - Cure meets code! It’s too early for some ground breaking news in this sector but big pharma is already investing in to.

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1 Upvotes

I am fascinated with world of quantum and specifically how can it transform the health and medicines. Here’s a short take on it.