We have liftoff! HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: Rockets and Rivalry is now available wherever books are found!
I’ve spent the morning updating the reference section over at AforAndy.com, and yowza, what a reminder of how packed this entry is. My thanks to Dwight Eisenhower for creating NASA as a civilian organization and ensuring public access to a wealth of informational resources. In fact, I’d like to take a moment to expand on one incredible record that you can further explore yourself.
Cutaways, cutaways, cutaways!
I knew going in that HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT would require lots of technical drawing. What’s more, spacecraft are highly specific machines. You can’t reference any old craft for any old mission. And you know what the hardest part of a spacecraft is to draw?
The inside.
You can probably picture the outside of a capsule or two, but the inside? Forget about it. These things are so cramped that the astronauts themselves can’t help but block your view in a photo, and before they launch, all you get to see is a square foot or two of seat through the hatch. That creates a real challenge for a book about human spaceflight: inside is where the humans are. Luckily, the Smithsonian Institute has my back.
They created 3D scans of the Apollo 11 command module in their collection (inside and out) and put them online for anyone to tour. That’s already great, but they also allow you to download that model. From there you can open up Blender modeling software, hack away at the precious history blocking your view, and get that perfect reference shot. A civilian mission, publicly documented and accessible through open source software, the fruits of which you can now find in your local library’s collection. That’s the way to do it.
I think you’ll really love this book. If you did, consider leaving a nice review somewhere! Thanks so much to everyone who preordered, and thanks in advance for telling all your friends and family about it.
See you, space cowboys.