Spaceport Earth The reinvention of spaceflight

spaceport earth By Joe Pappalardo. (Overlook Press, $28.95.) Private companies and rich people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have taken over the exploration of space. Pappalardo explores this new sort of spacefaring at the outer reaches of business and technology, highbrow, LOWBROW, BRILLIANT, DESPICABLE: 50 YEARS of new york By the Editors of New York Magazine. (Simon & Schuster, $65.) With irreverence and spunk, New York magazine has been around for half a century now. This very big book includes an oral history of the publication and a wide look at its greatest moments, balcony in the forest By Julien Gracq. (New York Review Books, $15.95.) A French author known for the dreamlike quality of his writing, Gracq was also a novelist who could capture well the sensation of waiting. This 1958 novel about French soldiers living in the Ardennes forest at the start of World War II, in anticipation of the German incursion, is a perfect example, secrecy world By Jake Bernstein. (Henry Holt, $30.) The infamous Panama Papers revealed for the world how superwealthy people and celebrities hide their money. In this financial exposé, we get all the details on shell companies and offshore accounts. revolution By Emmanuel Macron. (Scribe, $16.95.) France's new president, the youngest in the history of the country, has been an object of fascination ever since he unexpectedly came to power. In this political autobiography, he recounts his origins and explains his centrist philosophy. "The cultural and political turmoil of 2017 feels somehow both impossible to escape and impossible to fully engage with. The scope of catastrophe is unfathomable, and casting an eye back to the '80s, when America was going through a similar period of disruption and unrest, has offered some relief and guidance. Two books in particular stand out. this bridge called my back is an anthology of essays and art exploring feminism from the perspective of women of color. Especially delightful are academic activist twins Barbara and Beverly Smith, whose sheer delight in living is a reminder that joy can also be revolutionary. Audre Lorde's scathing letter to Mary Daly about the destructiveness of the white female gaze is an essential reminder that thoughtful and incisive critiques are crucial to progress. And then there's the essential dykes to watch out for, which gathers all the comic strips drawn by Alison Bechdel about a group of friends living in a flyover state that reminds us that friends and family are often the only thing that matters in times of deep crisis." - JENNA WORTHAM, STAFF WRITER, ON WHAT SHE'S READING.

From the first Mercury astronaut to travel into space to the Apollo moon landing to inhabiting the International Space Station (ISS), space exploration has been under the purview of the U.S. government's National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). After the demise of the space shuttle program in 2011, the future of space exploration and travel was uncertain. Aerospace journalist Pappalardo (editor in chief, Dallas Observer) explores how spaceflight has been reinvented and reinvigorated through the initiatives of private corporations and pioneering entrepreneurs. Companies such as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin stand at the forefront of commercial spaceflight and aim to develop a thriving space tourism business through building spaceports and space ships. They also have been contracting out their transport services, resupplying the ISS for NASA, and launching satellites for telecommunications companies and the military. VERDICT The author's engaging style and clear explanations of the technology and processes that are involved in the exciting world of commercial spaceflight will delight space buffs, technology enthusiasts, and the general science reader.-Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.