International Space Station: Architecture Beyond Earth

Bought this for my husband’s birthday and he’s very pleased the condition is excellent.

great book

When we think about space exploration, most of us summon up images of rockets and astronauts in spacesuits – the hardware associated with reaching a destination. But beyond the realm of science fiction, few of us have ever thought about what that destination will look like. Even fewer have been involved in conceiving the architecture of space. The International Space Station is a building designed to be constructed beyond the confines of Earth. It is one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken, but for many people it is also a home.That is what makes the Space Station – and this book – so remarkable. David Nixon tells the story of the Station’s long development in exacting detail, but he also invites us inside so that we understand it as a building – a place where astronauts from many different countries live and work together. US astronaut Nicole Stott adds another perspective – a personal memoir of what it’s like to live there – the sounds and smells and thrills of being in space.Nixon writes as an insider – one of the few architects invited to work on the Station’s design – which makes this a landmark publication. He also knows how to write, which makes exploring this book a pleasure!

While the writing and information is well done and exciting to be able to learn, the book in general is a let down. The book is printed on cheap paper and is rough finish. The paper causes the images to be less brilliant and enjoyable. The photo layout is by far the biggest let down. Images are scaled to very small and mostly unusable images on the page. I don’t understand this as there is miles of wasted white space around the pictures which could AND SHOULD be occupied by the images. I purchased this book to assist building a scale model of the ISS. I WAS REALLY disappointed with arrived. Even the diagrams of Station development are distorted by the layouts. The drawings hold copious amounts of days but they are shoved into tiny spaces on the page. I’m not sure who edited this book. But with a new maybe less design centric layout it could be redone using the same text, photos and diagrams to produce a MUCH MUCH better and more usable book. Until then if you’re a model builder or visual person I would wait for a rewrite and do what I ended up doing. Hit the official ISS NASA Website.