Rocketry Books

Showing 1-50 of 72
Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants (Hardcover)
by (shelved 10 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.12 — 2,901 ratings — published 1972
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Gravity’s Rainbow Gravity’s Rainbow (Paperback)
by (shelved 9 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.02 — 48,386 ratings — published 1973
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Rocket Propulsion Elements Rocket Propulsion Elements (Hardcover)
by (shelved 7 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.48 — 231 ratings — published 1962
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Handbook of Model Rocketry Handbook of Model Rocketry (Paperback)
by (shelved 6 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.37 — 169 ratings — published 1970
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Rocket Boys (Coalwood #1) Rocket Boys (Coalwood #1)
by (shelved 4 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.20 — 24,198 ratings — published 1998
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Introduction to Flight Introduction to Flight (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.41 — 311 ratings — published 1978
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Aerothermodynamics of Gas Turbine and Rocket Propulsion Aerothermodynamics of Gas Turbine and Rocket Propulsion (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.50 — 18 ratings — published 1997
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Fundamentals of Astrodynamics (Dover Books on Aeronautical Engineering) Fundamentals of Astrodynamics (Dover Books on Aeronautical Engineering)
by (shelved 3 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.25 — 310 ratings — published 1971
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Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics) Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics)
by (shelved 3 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.66 — 29 ratings — published 1992
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Modern High-Power Rocketry 2 Modern High-Power Rocketry 2 (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.28 — 50 ratings — published 2005
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How to Design, Build, and Test Small Liquid-Fuel Rocket Engines How to Design, Build, and Test Small Liquid-Fuel Rocket Engines (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 3.89 — 9 ratings — published 1967
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Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.13 — 3,704 ratings — published 1978
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International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.57 — 14 ratings — published 1991
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Elements of Propulsion: Gas Turbines And Rockets (AIAA Education Series) Elements of Propulsion: Gas Turbines And Rockets (AIAA Education Series)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.50 — 20 ratings — published 2006
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The Right Stuff The Right Stuff (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.23 — 55,742 ratings — published 1979
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Saturn V Flight Manual Saturn V Flight Manual (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.71 — 35 ratings — published 2005
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Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as rocketry)
avg rating 4.12 — 1,648 ratings — published
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Hearthspace Hearthspace (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.50 — 154 ratings — published 2025
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Make: High-Power Rockets - Construction and Certification for Thousands of Feet and Beyond Make: High-Power Rockets - Construction and Certification for Thousands of Feet and Beyond (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.67 — 3 ratings — published
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Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion (Addison-Wesley Series in Aerospace Science) Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion (Addison-Wesley Series in Aerospace Science)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.00 — 8 ratings — published
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The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.21 — 106 ratings — published 2013
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Colony Colony (Unknown Binding)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.73 — 240 ratings — published 1953
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A Science Fiction Omnibus A Science Fiction Omnibus (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.01 — 564 ratings — published 1973
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Starman: The Truth Behind The Legend Of Yuri Gagarin Starman: The Truth Behind The Legend Of Yuri Gagarin (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.07 — 1,202 ratings — published 1998
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Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.29 — 48 ratings — published 1996
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The Scientist & Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing The Scientist & Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.57 — 125 ratings — published 1997
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Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology) Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.11 — 83 ratings — published 1990
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Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.30 — 17,836 ratings — published 1997
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The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.10 — 102,413 ratings — published 1999
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The Wright Brothers The Wright Brothers (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.18 — 98,886 ratings — published 2015
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The Martian The Martian (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.42 — 1,291,305 ratings — published 2011
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Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.99 — 76,489 ratings — published 1995
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The Art of Jim Burns: Hyperluminal The Art of Jim Burns: Hyperluminal (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.24 — 34 ratings — published 2014
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Rocket Manual for Amateurs Rocket Manual for Amateurs (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.53 — 19 ratings — published 1960
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Riding Rockets Riding Rockets (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.20 — 4,950 ratings — published 2006
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Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.95 — 60,446 ratings — published 2010
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Make: Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science Make: Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.34 — 38 ratings — published 2014
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Fundamentals of Aerodynamics Fundamentals of Aerodynamics (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.45 — 398 ratings — published 1984
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Flight: My Life in Mission Control Flight: My Life in Mission Control (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.27 — 1,171 ratings — published 2001
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The Medusa Chronicles The Medusa Chronicles (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.82 — 2,585 ratings — published 2016
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The Allende Letters and the VARO Edition of The Case for the UFO The Allende Letters and the VARO Edition of The Case for the UFO (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.52 — 21 ratings — published 2007
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Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.40 — 10,348 ratings — published 1994
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One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.14 — 2,032 ratings — published 2019
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Dissidence (The Corporation Wars, #1) Dissidence (The Corporation Wars, #1)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.62 — 1,432 ratings — published 2016
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Ask an Astronaut: My Guide to Life in Space Ask an Astronaut: My Guide to Life in Space (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.18 — 2,892 ratings — published 2017
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Encyclopedia of U.S. Spacecraft Encyclopedia of U.S. Spacecraft (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.50 — 8 ratings — published 1985
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The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 3.68 — 108 ratings — published 1987
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Rockets: Defying Gravity Rockets: Defying Gravity (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.26 — 178 ratings — published
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Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher Von Braun Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher Von Braun (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as rocketry)
avg rating 4.13 — 371 ratings — published 2005
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“It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
John Drury Clark, Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants

Margaret Lazarus Dean
“Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Russia, Hermann Olberth in Germany, and Robert Goddard in the United States all came up with an eerily similar concept for using liquid fuel to power rockets for human spaceflight. I've seen this pointed out as an odd coincidence, one of those moments when an idea inexplicably emerges in multiple places at once. But when I read through each of these three men's biographies I discovered why they all had the same idea: all three of them were obsessed with Jules Verne's 1865 novel "De la terre a la lune (From the Earth to the Moon)." The novel details the strange adventures of three space explorers who travel to the moon together. What sets Verne's book apart from the other speculative fiction of the time was his careful attention to the physics involved in space travel -- his characters take pains to explain to each other exactly how and why each concept would work. All three real-life scientists -- the Russian, the German, and the American -- were following what they had learned from a French science fiction writer.”
Margaret Lazarus Dean, Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight

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