Online Books on Planetary and Lunar Science and Exploration


 

Mercury

Mariner 10

 The Voyage of Mariner 10: Mission to Venus and Mercury  (NASA SP-424, 1978)
 Atlas of Mercury  (NASA SP-423, 1978)

 

Venus

Magellan

 The Venus Geologic Mapper's Handbook  (USGS Open-File Report 94-438, 1994)
 Guide to Magellan Image Interpretation  (JPL Pub. 93-24, 1993)
 Magellan - The Unveiling of Venus  (JPL Pub. 400-345, 1989)
 The Magellan Venus Explorer's Guide  (JPL Pub. 90-24, 1990)

 

The Moon

 The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon: Final Report  (2007)
 Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century  (1984, Scanned Version)
 Origin of the Moon  (1986, Scanned Version)
 Geologic History of the Moon  (USGS Prof. Paper 1348, 1987, PDF File)
 Lunar Remote Sensing and Measurements - Apollo 15-17 Orbital Investigations  (USGS Prof. Paper 1046-B, 1980, PDF File)
 Lunar Stratigraphy and Sedimentology  (Elsevier, 1976, PDF File)

Ranger

 Lunar Impact: A History of Project Ranger  (NASA SP-4210, 1977)

Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter

 Unmanned Space Project Management - Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter  (NASA SP-4901, 1972)

Lunar Orbiter

 Destination Moon: A History of the Lunar Orbiter Program  (NASA TM-3487, 1977)
 Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon  (NASA SP-206, 1971)
 Guide to Lunar Orbiter Photographs  (NASA SP-242, 1970, PDF file)

Apollo

 Apollo Expeditions to the Moon  (NASA SP-350, 1975)
 Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions  (NASA SP-4214, 1989)
 Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference  (NASA SP-2000-4029, 2000)
 Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis  (Monographs in Aerospace History #3, 1994)
 Apollo Over the Moon: A View From Orbit  (NASA SP-362, 1978)
 Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft  (NASA SP-4205, 1979)
 Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations  (NASA SP-4204, 1978)
 The Apollo Spacecraft Chronology, Vol. I - IV  (NASA SP-4009)
 An Annotated Bibliography of the Apollo Program  (Monographs in Aerospace History #2, 1994)
 Apollo 13: "Houston, we've got a problem"  (NASA EP-76, 1970, PDF File)
 On the Moon with Apollo 16: A Guidebook to the Descartes Region  (NASA EP-95, 1972)
 Lunar Rover Operations Handbook  (1971, Scanned Version)
 Catalog of Apollo Experiment Operations  (NASA RP-1317, 1993)
 Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles  (NASA SP-4206, 1996)
 Saturn Illustrated Chronology  (MSFC MHR-5, 1971)
 Apollo Program Summary Report  (NASA-TM-X-68725, 1975, PDF Files)
 Report of the Apollo 13 Review Board  (Cortright Commission, 1970)
 Enchanted Rendezvous: John C. Houbolt and the Genesis of the Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous Concept  (Monographs in Aerospace History, #4, 1995)
 The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project  (NASA SP-4209, 1978)
 Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona (a.k.a. Meteor Crater)  (LPI 1355, 2007)
 Apollo Scientific Experiments Data Handbook (NASA TM X-58131, PDF File)
 ALSEP Termination Report (NASA RP-1036, PDF FIle)
 Apollo Preliminary Science Reports
 Apollo Press Kits

Clementine

 Lessons Learned from the Clementine Mission  (National Academy Press, 1997)

 

Mars

 Mars, by Percival Lowell  (1895)
 The Difficult Road to Mars  (Monographs in Aerospace History #15, 1999, PDF file)
 Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000  (NASA SP-2001-4521, 2001, PDF file)
 Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team  (NASA SP-6107, 1997, PDF)
 Addendum to the Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team  (NASA SP-6107 3.0, 1998, PDF)

Viking

 On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet 1958-1978  (NASA SP-4212, 1984)
 The Martian Landscape  (NASA SP-425, 1978)
 Viking Orbiter Views of Mars  (NASA SP-441, 1980)

 

Jupiter

Pioneer 10 and 11

 Pioneer Odyssey   (NASA SP-349, revised edition, 1977)

Galileo

 Mission to Jupiter - A History of the Galileo Project  (NASA SP-2007-4231, 2007, PDF)

 

Saturn

 Voyager 1 and 2 Atlas of Six Saturnian Satellites   (NASA SP-474, 1984)

 

Astronaut Missions

 Walking to Olympus: EVA Chronology  (Monograph in Aerospace History #7, 1997, PDF File)

Mercury

 Project Mercury: A Chronology  (NASA SP-4001, 1963)
 This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury  (NASA SP-4201, 1966, reprinted 1999)
 Results of the Second Manned Suborbital Space Flight, July 21, 1961 
 Results of the First United States Manned Orbital Space Flight, February 20, 1962  (PDF File)
 Results of the Second U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight  (NASA SP-6, 1962)
 Results of the Third U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight  (NASA SP-12, 1962)
 Mercury Project Summary including Results of the Fourth Manned Orbital Flight  (NASA SP-45, 1963)

Gemini

 On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini  (NASA SP-4203, 1977)
 Project Gemini Technology and Operations: A Chronology  (NASA SP-4002, 1968)

Skylab

 Skylab: A Chronology  (NASA SP-4011, 1977)
 Skylab: Our First Space Station  (NASA SP-400, 1977)
 Skylab: A Guidebook  (NASA EP-107, 1973)
 Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab  (NASA SP-4208, 1983)
 Skylab, Classroom in Space  (NASA SP-401, 1977)
 A New Sun: Solar Results from Skylab  (NASA SP-402, 1979)
 Skylab's Astronomy and Space Sciences  (NASA SP-404, 1979)
 NASA Investigation Board Report on the Initial Flight Anomalies of Skylab 1  (1973)

Apollo - see above

 

General Solar System

 Global Earth Physics: A Handbook of Physical Constants  (AGU, 1995, PDF Version)
 Planetary Geology in the 1980's  (NASA SP-467, 1985)
 A Meeting with the Universe: Science Discoveries from the Space Program  (NASA EP-177, 1981)
 Evolution of the Solar System  (NASA SP-345, 1976)
 Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature  (IAU, 2000)
 Basaltic Volcanism on the Terrestrial Planets  (1981, Scanned Version)
 Exploring the Trans-Neptunian Solar System  (1998, Scanned Version)
 Traces of Catastrophe  (1998, PDF Version)

 

NASA History

 Beyond the Atmosphere: Early Years of Space Science  (NASA SP-4211, 1980)
 Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990  (NASA SP-4406, 1989)
 NASA's Origins and the Dawn of the Space Age  (Monographs in Aerospace History #10, 1998)
 The Birth of NASA - The Diary of T. Keith Glennan  (NASA SP-4105, 1993)
 Dreams, Hopes, Realities - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center - The First Forty Years  (NASA SP-4312, 1999)
 Venture Into Space: Early years of Goddard Space Flight Center  (NASA SP-4301, 1968)
 Vanguard: A History  (NASA SP-4202, 1970)
 Far Travellers - The Exploring Machines  (NASA SP-480, 1985)
 To See the Unseen - A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy  (NASA SP-4218, 1996)
 Origins of NASA Names  (NASA SP-4402, 1976)
 The Planetary Quarantine Program - Origins and Achievements, 1956-1973  (NASA SP-4902, 1974)
 First Among Equals - The selection of NASA space science experiments  (NASA SP-4215, 1991)
 NASA Historical Data Books  (NASA SP-4012)

 

Science, Space Flight and Technology

 Basics of Space Flight Learners' Workbook  (1995)
 Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience  (NASA Contractor Report 182505, 1988)
 The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor by Hermann Noordung, 1929  (NASA SP-4026, translation, 1995)
 NASA Historical Data Books  (NASA SP-4012)

 

Historical Works

 The Moon Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite by Nasmyth and Carpenter  (1874, Scanned)
 Is Mars Habitable? by Alfred Russel Wallace  (1907)
 The Principia by Isaac Newton  (1687, Partial)
 De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus  (Latin, 1543, PDF files)
 Sidereus Nuncius by Galileo Galilei  (Latin, 1610, Scanned Version)
 Systema Saturnium by Christiaan Huygens  (Latin, 1659, Scanned Version)
 Astronomiae instauratae mechanica by Tycho Brahe  (Latin, 1602, Scanned Version)

 

Apollo Preliminary Science Reports (PDF Files)

 Apollo 11
 Apollo 12
 Apollo 14
 Apollo 15
 Apollo 16
 Apollo 17

 

Apollo Press Kits (PDF Files)

 Apollo 7
 Apollo 8
 Apollo 9
 Apollo 10
 Apollo 11 - Part 1 and Part 2
 Apollo 12
 Apollo 13
 Apollo 14
 Apollo 15
 Apollo 16
 Apollo 17

Other Online Books

 NASA History Office
 NASA Headquarters Library
 NASA Astrophysics Data System Digital Library
 U.S. Geological Survey
 University of Pennsylvania

 Reference Books on Planetary and Lunar Science
 Planetary Home Page

NASA
Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258


NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 22 June 2021, DRW