SpaceX's Dragon: America's Next Generation Spacecraft (Springer Praxis Books) - Tapa blanda

“This book covers recent events in the development of the ‘new space’ commercial market, in particular, the development of the Dragon spacecraft and its associated rockets by industry-leading Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). ... It is recommended for general knowledge, for high school or undergraduate education, for readers interested in the development of the commercial space industry, and dreamers who see the human race migrating beyond low Earth orbit. Summing Up: Recommended. All library collections.” (T. Eastman, Choice, Vol. 53 (10), June, 2016)

Dragon V2 is a futuristic vehicle that not only provides a means for NASA to transport its astronauts to the orbiting outpost but also advances SpaceX’s core objective of reusability. A direct descendant of Dragon, Dragon V2 can be retrieved, refurbished and re-launched. It is a spacecraft with the potential to completely revolutionize the economics of an industry where equipment costing hundreds of millions of dollars is routinely discarded after a single use. It was presented by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in May 2014 as the spaceship that will carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as soon as 2016.

SpaceX’s Dragon – America’s Next Generation Spacecraft describes the extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement that have placed this revolutionary spacecraft at the forefront of the launch industry and positioned it as the precursor for ultimately transporting humans to Mars. It describes the design and development of Dragon, provides mission highlights of the first six Commercial Resupply Missions, and explains how Musk hopes to eventually colonize Mars.