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Space-The Human Story
Only 628 people in human history have left Earth. This is their story. Astronaut Tim Peake traces the lives of the remarkable men and women who have forged the way for humanity beyond Earth, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, from Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson. Full of fascinating insight into our greatest pioneers and unsung heroes, and astonishing detail only an astronaut would know, Peake's book is the first of its kind to chronicle the human evolution of space exploration over sixty years, from our first forays to now. In the process, Peake reveals what spaceflight is really like: the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the new-found perspective, the years of training, the psychological pressures, the gruelling physical toll, the thrill of launch and the trepidation of re-entry. In the next few years, NASA will send the first woman and the first person of colour to step on the lunar surface. What will separate these upcoming moonwalkers from the legendary Apollo crews? Does it still take a derring-do attitude, super-human fitness, intelligence, plus 'the right stuff' - a fabled grace under pressure? And how will astronauts travel even further - to Mars and beyond?
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Limitless The Autobiography The Bestselling Story
The thrilling autobiography of the astronaut who inspired a generation the #1 bestselling author of Hello, is this planet Earth? And ask an astronaut ‘I looked down below My feet and suddenly noticed Australia flashing by. The Vertigo hit me then. My gloved hands gripped the handrail as tightly as I could. I had been on My spacewalk for over an hour. I had trained for this moment for years. But nothing can prepare you for that feeling, for the full realisation that you are no longer living on Earth. Staring into the inky blackness, I felt completely isolated from everything and everyone I had ever known. And yet at the same time I could not help feeling a strange sense of belonging.' in fascinating and personal detail, and based on exclusive diaries and audio recordings from his mission, Tim Peake takes readers closer than ever before to experience what life in space is really like: the sacrifice that astronauts make in being apart from their families, the sights, the smells, the fear, the exhilaration and the deep and abiding wonder of the view from space. Limitless is a book about the power of Following our dreams – however unlikely they may seem – and of striving to reach our potential, even when we might not believe in it ourselves. Limitless also charts peake’s surprising road to becoming an astronaut, from a shy and unassuming boy from Chichester who had a passion for flight, to a young British Army Officer, Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot who served around the world. Peake’s extensive eighteen-year career in the army included The command of a Platoon of soldiers in northern Ireland during the troubles, deployment in Bosnia, and flying multiple high-risk sortie as a test pilot, including operations in Afghanistan. After he was selected by the European space agency from over 8000 candidates, Peake undertook six years of training to be an astronaut, tested physically, psychologically, emotionally and intellectually – from learning Russian language in St. Petersburg to coping with the darkness and claustrophobia of living for days in caves in sardinia and under the ocean off the United States.