A series of increasingly capable spacecraft were sent to explore the inner planets Venus and Mercury. The history of that planetary exploration is traced in this book along with the evolution of sophisticated spacecraft that unveiled long-sought secrets of the planets. The spacecraft were ingenious and reflected the best efforts of talented people working with the available technology of the day. Additionally, this book showcases engineering involved in those capable machines. A consecutive series of 34 planetary spacecraft, which span the time period 1961 to 2021, are described. This includes the unsuccessful missions of several early spacecraft that paved the way for a better understanding of Venus' hostile environments. This book will describe many successful spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union and many successful spacecraft sent to Venus and to Mercury by the United States. The recent exploration of Venus by the European Space Agency's Venus Express and the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki can also be found in this book.

The author draws on over 50 years of experience on aircraft and spacecraft systems to tell the story of these planetary spacecraft. The spacecraft experience includes being the technical lead for the landing radars on the Surveyor and Apollo lunar landers as well as providing analyses for the rendezvous radar for the Space Shuttle. Practical engineering experience is augmented by Master's degrees in electrical engineering, physics, and business administration.

Defines the NAPT in a way not previously identified as a unit of geographical analysis Analyzes the current state of knowledge about changes within the NAPT Proposes trajectories of change in other complex but less well-documented earth systems

Autorentext

The author draws on over 50 years’ experience on aircraft and spacecraft systems to tell the story of these planetary spacecraft. He was technical lead for the landing radars for the Surveyor and Apollo lunar landers and he performed analysis and system design for the radars for the Viking spacecraft and the Space Shuttle. He was Technical Director at the Teledyne Ryan Company and personally led efforts to establish new product lines in fiber optics, radar altimeters, and missile detection radars. At Litton Technologies, he was systems engineer for a new helmet mounted display for helicopter gunships. He served 3 years as Electronics Officer in the U.S. Navy. His working experience is augmented by master's degrees in electrical engineering, physics, and business administration.

Inhalt
Chapter1. The Planets of the Sun.- Chapter2. Launch Vehicles for Planetary Spacecraft.- Chapter3. Soviet Union Spacecraft that Explored Venus 19601961.- Chapter4. U.S. Spacecraft that Explored Venus 19601980.- Chapter5. Soviet Union Spacecraft that Explored Venus 19801990.- Chapter6. U.S. Magellan Spacecraft that Explored Venus 19802020.- Chapter7. U.S. Spacecraft that Explored Mercury: Mariner 10 and Messenger.- Chapter8. Japanese and European Space Agency Spacecraft that Explored Venus 20052020 Index.