Space isn't just the final frontier-it's big business! From exploration to space vacations, learn how private businesses are transforming the future of space travel and exploration.

Space isn't just the final frontier-it's big business! From exploration to space vacations, learn how private businesses are transforming the future of space travel and exploration.

From Bumper V-2 rocket launches in 1950 to the launch of the Orion spacecraft atop a Delta IV rocket in 2014, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center has served as the nation’s portal to outer space for over 60 years. Images of Modern America: NASA Kennedy Space Center provides a fascinating look at the evolution of spacecraft technology and vintage images of Florida’s scenic Merritt Island, known as the “Space Coast.” This photographic history of the nation’s premier spaceport looks back at the United States’ glorious past in space exploration and ahead to its future.

The first astronauts in space only stayed for brief periods of time. But now, NASA scientists have developed technologies that allow astronauts to live in space long term. Learn about the challenges that astronauts face living in zero gravity and cramped quarters with this fascinating Informational Text created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution! Build reading skills while engaging students’ curiosity about STEAM topics through real-world examples. Packed with factoids and informative sidebars, this book features a hands-on STEAM challenge that is perfect for use in a makerspace and teaches students every step of the engineering design process. Make STEAM career connections with career advice from actual Smithsonian employees working in STEAM fields. Discover engineering innovations that solve real-world problems with content that touches on all aspects of STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math!

Find out what it is like to live in space including wearing protective gear and undergoing intensive training that is needed for a successful trip into space. Fun and captivating pictures of life in space without gravity are presented along with information on new ways that astronauts learn to sleep, eat and play in space.

Space is a vast and mysterious place. There are many environmental challenges, including enormous distances between planets and moons, lack of air and gravity, extreme cold, and radiation. This book presents these problems and examines the technologies developed so far to overcome them and make living in space possible. Through compelling text and impactful photographs, readers will learn about past space travel, life on the International Space Station, and what the future hopefully holds for space exploration and colonization.