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Getting your first scope is so exciting! I'm very much an amateur and casual observer myself, but my dad and I have been into astronomy for about four years now.

First, I recommend looking into some space/astro societies in your area, there's Tacoma Astronomical Society and Rose City Astronomers in my area for example! Each club has different resources, but they can be super helpful. You can meet locals and see if they have resources you can rent- like telescopes, or books and whatnot. It's saved me a dime or two. Sometimes they have online forums too. I also highly recommend going to star parties, it's where I've learned the most! You can see other people's set ups, ask loads of questions, and get a better sense for what you might want. We did this for about 6 months before getting our first scope, and before that we nabbed a pair of nice binoculars .

Now, you have to consider, when you get a scope you aren't just getting a scope. You're probably getting filters, eye pieces, protective gear, batteries, red lights, etc. etc. and then probably a tool box to carry all of this- which you might want to customize with foam or something to keep everything safe and tidy. It's an Investment. Now, looking at jupiter and saturn won't require much, but eventually you might want to look at the moon (needs filters), or special eyepieces that let have more magnification, or there's even filters that let you see some colors, etc!

I, personally, would highly recommend getting a manual (specifically, Dobsonian *) scope for your first one- not computerized. Learning the sky and it's constellations is part of astronomy, and having to find stuff yourself is really helpful- and rewarding! Plus, computerized scopes require pretty hardy batteries, especially if you want to take it out to darker skies which usually means more rural aka no plugs. They also require certain stars to be be visible to be able to calibrate. Manual scopes require no plugs, no consistent power source, and no learning computer programs-NexStar can be a pain imo, some reading required (plus Jupiter and Saturn are pretty easy to spot with the naked eye anyways). Plus it's fun being able to point out stuff to friends just by knowing where a few stars are. We only got a computerized equatorial mount (meaning it tracks objects) when we wanted to try out long exposure astro- photography. This 8in dob was our first scope, and I still love it- it's the go-to (Craigslist, amazon used, and other shops are worth a gander too).

*I'm 99% sure dobsonian and newtonian telescopes are the same, except for the mounts they're on (newtonian is tripod, dobsonian is a base that can move up down and in a circle)

Also, I consider Sinnott's Sky Atlas a must!

Lmk if you have any questions!

(Edit: sorry if this is repetitive- reddit says there are four comments, but isn't letting see me them atm.)

The Simulation Argument. According to John Barrow, professor of mathematical sciences at Cambridge University, "Civilisations only a little more advanced than ourselves will have the capability to simulate universes in which self-conscious entities can emerge and communicate with one another."

Reference: Top scientist asks: is life all just a dream?

Of course, there's a very old philosophical notion that what we perceive as reality may be a sort of dream. Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE, speculated about in Zhuangzi's butterfly dream.

>Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn't know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi.

Carl Sagan also commented on the idea as is mentioned in The Conscious Universe: Brahma's Dream.

>There is the deep and appealing notion that the universe is but a dream of the god who, after a hundred Brahma years, dissolves himself into a dreamless sleep. The universe dissolves with him - until, after another Brahma century, he stirs, recomposes himself and begins again to dream the cosmic dream.
>
>Meanwhile, elsewhere, there are an infinite number of universes, each with its own god dreaming the cosmic dream. These great ideas are tempered by another, perhaps greater. It is said that men may not be the dreams of gods, but rather that the gods are the dreams of men.

~ Carl Sagan in Cosmos

Or maybe we're just a brain in a vat.

But, as you state, we can't prove such notions, so, though they may make for interesting philosophical speculations or themes for movies, such as The Matrix or Waking Life, there seems to be no way to test such notions scientifically.

Well... Not really? I'd probably word it more as experiencing the passage of time faster/slower as opposed to moving through time faster/slower, as the latter (at least to me) seems to imply time as an absolute, but that may just be a wording issue on my part.

Honestly we're moving toward areas I don't feel as confident explaining, but I'll give it a try. As far as I understand, basically if two observers are at rest with respect to each other in the same inertial reference frame, they will experience the same passage of time. If the two observers are in motion with respect to each other (outside of a major gravitational field), each will observe the other's clock as going slower than his own. Each observer's experience of his own passage of time also never changes.

Clocks near significant gravitational masses also move more slowly than those farther away, which isn't reciprocal like the relative velocity time dilation. An observer farther away from the mass and one closer will both agree that the farther away observer's clock is moving faster and the closer observer's clock is moving slower.

If all this fascinates you and you want to read about it from someone who actually knows what they're talking about, I'd recommend Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time". You can also check out the Wikipedia pages on the theory of relativity and time dilation, but I think it helps a lot to have a whole book to explore the ideas rather than just a couple Wikipedia pages. Also, Hawking is really good at explaining all of it in a way that normal people like us can understand while still keeping the ideas intact.

I'm sorry if this is not what you asked, but if you have at the very least high school or ideally some university level knowledge of math it sounds like Fundamentals of Astrodynamics might be at least part of what you are looking for? It's focus is orbital mechanics and maneuvers in space, including interplanetary trajectories. While i have not finished it, it is so far really good and widely used. Bonus points for being really cheap. Although again, you do need math to really appreciate this book. Without going through the math you can still learn some things from it, but i am not sure if this book would still be that fun to read.

It appears a tripod isn't a necessity, but certainly makes for better viewing. Here's an Amazon review discussing this fact:

>My first night out under dark skies with these binoculars was a terrific experience. In ninety minutes of observing I had great views of M36, M37, M38, M44, M50, easily saw the Trapizium in Orion's nebula, saw the Andromeda galaxy and it's companions streaching across 75% of my FOV. It had taken me two observing sessions with my 5" reflector to find M33, with the Binoculars I found it in two minutes, M81 and 82 were also easy.
>
>All this and I don't even have a tripod yet. I may well spend more time with the 15 X 70's than I do with my telescope.

I have one of these http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21024-FirstScope-Telescope/dp/B001UQ6E4Y/ and was very impressed despite the low price. I used it quite a bit for a few months before buying a much bigger and better scope of craigslist. One of the problems of lower end scopes is the quality of the eyepieces. Even that $40 scope allowed for me to see the bands of Jupiter and splotches on Mars, and using better eyepieces made it much better. Unless your son will be using the scope during the day I would recommend getting a reflecting scope. You get a bigger telescope for less money, which is great for seeing the fainter objects in the sky like galaxies, and nebulae.

If I were buying something for my son in this price range I would probably go with this: http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21045-Equatorial-PowerSeeker-Telescope/dp/B0000Y8C2Y and also get him some other presents, like a moon filter, or better eyepiece.

If he sticks with it, he can upgrade eyepieces, the mount, etc. to get improved performance out if it and use those on later scopes as well. It would be more difficult to

Here is a finished version consisting of my favorite images of the objects within the solar system I have taken an image of. Sorry Pluto! Maybe one day I will get around to adding you! :)

Thanks for looking!

If you feel like looking at some of my other images or following me on social media, here is a shameless plug to my Instagram

__
Equipment:

• Meade LX80 8" ACF
  
  
• Nexstar 8SE (no longer own this, sold when I got the LX80)
  
  
• ZWO ASI120MC
  
  
  Acquisition varied per target. Essentially the idea for these images is to take video in order to make the final image. I use a program known as PIPP to stabilize the video and discard frames that have no target within the field of view. Following this I use Auto Stakkert 2 to stack the best frames with the best atmospheric disturbance which gives you the most clarity as well as the least amount of noise. Lastly, I use a program known Registax 6 to sharpen and perform some other manipulations to the output of the Auto Stakkert image. All of these programs are available for free online.

> I gotta look at some orbital mechanics books

If you really want to go through with that I highly recommend "Introduction to rocket science and engineering". It goes reasonably into depth but is still accessible with a decent highschool math and physics background. Besides orbital mechanics it covers the basics of pretty much all aspects of rocket science (history, thermodynamics, orbital mechanics, propulsion elements etc.) It is a bit pricey though, you probably want to find it somewhere cheaper.

If you're a bit more advanced (primarily in math) you could also checkout "Fundementals of astrodynamics" which is nice and cheap or "Orbital Mechanics for engineering students" if you really want to make it your job.

I am a mechanical engineer by trade but I am really interested in spaceflight and orbital mechanics so in the past months I have been catching up with those books.

The first atoms came into existence around 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when the universe’s temperature was low enough for electrons to become bound to free nuclei and thus form atoms. Every element heavier than lithium was formed in the cores of huge stars, so carbon and oxygen nuclei didn’t exist until around 100,000,000 years after the Big Bang at the earliest.

The Big Bang wasn’t an explosion, but rather a rapid expansion of space. It didn’t occur in one place, nor was it fueled by a chemical reaction.

Whether something came from nothing or if it even makes sense to talk about what caused the Big Bang — as a notion of causality presupposes the existence of time — remain open questions!

If this seems strange and confusing, don’t worry, it is strange and confusing! The conditions encountered in the Big Bang are extremely far removed from anything we experience in our lives today, so we have little frame of reference to fall back on for understanding the beginning of the universe in an intuitive fashion.

Don’t let this dissuade you, though! There is a huge amount of stuff one can learn about the Big Bang still and its strangeness only makes it more interesting and exciting to learn about, even if some of the concepts take a little time to wrap our heads around!

EDIT:

Here are a pair of classic books written for the interested layman that I think are good introductions to some of the topics at hand:

Big Bang — Simon Singh

A Brief History of Time — Stephen Hawking

Dr. John S. Lewis has written some neat books. He was a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona. The UofA has a strong geology program because of it's school of mines (Arizona is a copper state). as well as a strong astronomy program due to its proximity to Kitt Peak. Together they make a very strong planetary science team. The books:

Rain of Iron and Ice meteorite impacts past and future.

Mining The Sky An early book on asteroid mining

Asteroid Mining 101 A later book on asteroid mining and the possibility of expanding our population and economy into the solar system.


Asteroid Mining 101 is published by Deep Space Industries. So I like to think my purchasing this book helped the fledgeling asteroid mining company.

Bah, the OP deleted his post after I got finished writing a big long explanation of why space flight is worthwhile. So screw it I'm posting it anyway since I spent half an hour writing it...

In regard to your other point:

>Why, other than satellite technology, should we not dump that money into renewable energy and the social sciences? Or education?

I would passionately argue that developing outer space would hugely improve the quality of life on Earth and more than that, it is essential for the survival of humanity.

If we can develop economical access to space that doesn't cost a fortune then we'll have access to amounts of energy and resources that are unimaginable by today's standards. With cheap access to space we could solve the energy problem you spoke of easily. If we could get orbital power stations up there we could build them as large as we wanted and beam enough renewable energy back to Earth to power all civilization.

There's also as much metal in the asteroids and the moon as you could ever care to mine. There are actually more precious metals in one asteroid than have ever been mined by humans in history. If you have the time you ought to read Mining The Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets to get an idea of just how much of a game changer getting at all those resources would be. The author John S. Lewis predicts that if we could colonize space and tap the material wealth of space we could support a 1st world society of 10^16 people.

Aside from all the wealth we could ship back to Earth I think we need to develop space simply because it's a bad idea to keep all your eggs in one basket. If a nuclear war, rogue comet, super volcano, or some unforeseen disaster takes out humans on Earth it would be nice to have some space colonies as a back up. JPL scientists and Stephen Hawking agree with me.

So if we work on cheap space flight we could solve our energy crisis meaning no more CO2 emissions, dead coal miners, oil wars, mercury in the lakes, and all the other bad stuff that comes with terrestrial energy production. We could get all our metals from space so no more strip mining and acid lakes. On top of that we could have an immortal civilization too, so what's not to like?

/space nerd rant...

A Man on the Moon by Andy Chaiken is considered THE text on the Apollo program. If formed the basis of the mini series From the Earth to the Moon

Failure is not an Option by Gene Kranz is a wonderful first hand account of life in the trenches from Mercury thru Apollo.

And my personal favorite space book - Roving Mars which was turned into a great IMAX movie as well.

Apart from Wings in Orbit mentioned by /u/Lars0, here's my list:

• Wheels Stop, by Rick Houston from University of Nebraska Press. Available from Book Depository as well. More on the historic side of things. Here's a good review of it.
  
  
• Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions, 3rd Edition by Dennis R Jenkins is also an awesome read, available from Amazon. Great details about operations and shuttle's subsystems.
  
  
• NASA Space Shuttle Manual: An Insight into the Design, Construction and Operation of the NASA Space Shuttle (Haynes Owners Workshop Manuals) by David Baker is also nice to have in your library.

Here you go! My $50 pair.

Large, Crisp and bright enough that the moon's terminator can be seen to ripple with the relative depth of the terrain. Also, will amaze you during the day - I had no idea there were that many birds in the sky at seemingly all times!

However, don't expect the planets to be more than bright blobs. For that kind of detail a telescope is the only way to go. These Binocs are good for watching animals/people other things at great distance though.

I know just the one! 'How Apollo Flew to the Moon' by David Woods.

https://www.amazon.ca/Apollo-Flew-Moon-David-Woods/dp/1441971785

It follows an entire mission through from liftoff to splashdown, and walks you through every element and how it worked. It has some anecdotal stuff from astronauts to keep it human, but it's almost entirely focused on the technology. It was a fantastic read, I loved it.

For anyone who is interested in orbital mechanics simulations I've thrown together a very simple MATLAB function that will propagate an orbit in the earth centered earth fixed (ECEF) frame for a desired amount of time from any two line element set (TLE). This propagator assumes only earth's gravity, no perturbations although adding some, like drag, would be a good first project.


The MATLAB function is here:
[Earth_Orbit.m]
(http://pastebin.com/uH8DQWnR) (While needed all the code after line 50 is just to transform the TLE into a state vector so if you're looking to get started don't worry about that too much)

An example of a TLE:
ISS.txt (This one is for the ISS, find a whole bunch at http://www.heavens-above.com/)

You'll also need this lookup table for the Earth's neutation data:
nut80.dat


To use simply save the first pastebin as Earth_Orbit.m the second as ISS.txt and the third as nut80.dat. Put them in the same directory and point MATLAB to that directory. Call Earth_Orbit with the filename of your TLE and the time (sec) you want to see the orbit for.


Example:
Earth_Orbit ('ISS.txt',86400)
This shows the orbit of the ISS for 1 day. Note the ground track shown on the earth model in the output figure isn't correct since the texture is not applied in the correct direction (I think its off by pi but I'm not sure).


If you want to know more I suggest Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students by Curtis to get started and Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications by Vallado for a more in depth treatment. Be warned even if you're planning on doing relatively simple stuff you're probably going to need to know calculus to get started modeling.


Good Luck!


Credits:
David Vallado for his ECI to ECEF function.
Will Campbell for his Earth Sphere function.

You don't need very much magnification at all, as they're visible with the naked eye. But if you want a really clear, detailed image, you want to collect a lot of light, so the diameter of the telescope is what really matters. The bigger the better. This one is a pretty good bang for your buck, especially if you also get this to go with it.

If you are in the USA or Canada this might be useful for satellite watching. There are apps for this on smartphones too (iPhone and Android).

http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/

A good pair of binoculars can really be useful from a dark location (not just for satellites).

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-SkyMaster-Binoculars-Tripod-Adapter/dp/tags-on-product/B00008Y0VN

Using both of your eyes to view the night sky is much more satisfying. Binoculars are a great addition even if you plan on getting a standard telescope. Try to resist the urge to get higher and higher magnification powers. These become much more susceptible to shake and are more difficult to aim. The lower power options, 10x to 15x, will allow you to take in a larger expanse of the night sky.

I did a search for the term books in this sub and compiled this list from the dozens of previous answers:

How to Read the Solar System: A Guide to the Stars and Planets by Christ North and Paul Abel.


A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.


A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss.


Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan.


Foundations of Astrophysics by Barbara Ryden and Bradley Peterson.


Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program by Pat Duggins.


An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield.


You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes: Photographs from the International Space Station by Chris Hadfield.


Space Shuttle: The History of Developing the Space Transportation System by Dennis Jenkins.


Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle, 1971-2010 by Chapline, Hale, Lane, and Lula.


No Downlink: A Dramatic Narrative About the Challenger Accident and Our Time by Claus Jensen.


Voices from the Moon: Apollo Astronauts Describe Their Lunar Experiences by Andrew Chaikin.


A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin.


Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA by Amy Teitel.


Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module by Thomas Kelly.


The Scientific Exploration of Venus by Fredric Taylor.


The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.


Into the Black: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her by Rowland White and Richard Truly.


An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics by Bradley Carroll and Dale Ostlie.


Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space by Willy Ley.


Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John Clark.


A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.


Russia in Space by Anatoly Zak.


Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment by John Lewis.


Mining the Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets by John Lewis.


Asteroid Mining: Wealth for the New Space Economy by John Lewis.


Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris.


The Whole Shebang: A State of the Universe Report by Timothy Ferris.


Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandries by Neil deGrasse Tyson.


Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson.


Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson.


The Martian by Andy Weir.


Packing for Mars:The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach.


The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution by Frank White.


Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler.


The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne.


Entering Space: An Astronaut’s Oddyssey by Joseph Allen.


International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems by Hopkins, Hopkins, and Isakowitz.


The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene.


How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Janna Levin.


This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age by William Burrows.


The Last Man on the Moon by Eugene Cernan.


Failure is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz.


Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

The end

You'd be surprised how awesome a decent set of binoculars can be for just starting out. Throw them on a tri-stand and star gaze away. Doesn't have to be super expensive to get some results.

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-71008-SkyMaster-25x70-Binoculars/dp/B003AM87Q4/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1479672679&sr=1-5&keywords=binoculars+celestron

Even in the middle of the city, we look up and see all kinds of stars we cant see with the naked eye and our minds are pleasantly blown.

Firstly, I don't recommend getting a telescope in that price range with photography in mind. You will be sorely disappointed-- to begin getting respectable photographs, it requires several thousand in equipment. There's nothing stopping you from just holding your phone up to the eyepiece and snapping a photo, but the results aren't going to be anything spectacular unless you're willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money.

That being said, the Orion Dobsonians are fantastic telescopes available at that price point. With your budget, you could get the Orion XT8 for $390 and still have some money left over for a Sun filter. It would get you amazing views of the Moon and planets (along with some nebulae and galaxies depending on light pollution).

Ok the best place to start is always the bible of rocket science
https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Propulsion-Elements-George-Sutton/dp/0470080248


also this is a great book about overall design

https://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-Systems-Engineering-Peter-Fortescue/dp/047075012X/ref=pd_sim_14_19?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=047075012X&pd_rd_r=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR&pd_rd_w=m3KtM&pd_rd_wg=XqmQL&psc=1&refRID=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR

Other than rocket engines and structures it would be
https://www.amazon.com/Orbital-Mechanics-Engineering-Students-Aerospace/dp/0080977472/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0080977472&pd_rd_r=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR&pd_rd_w=m3KtM&pd_rd_wg=XqmQL&psc=1&refRID=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Astrodynamics-Dover-Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486600610/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0486600610&pd_rd_r=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR&pd_rd_w=m3KtM&pd_rd_wg=XqmQL&psc=1&refRID=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR

After reading that book cover to cover you can branch into multiple aspects of aerospace engineering.

There are also less formal and fun books like https://www.amazon.de/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-propellants/dp/0813507251
or
https://www.amazon.com/History-Liquid-Propellant-Engines-Library/dp/1563476495/ref=pd_sim_14_63?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1563476495&pd_rd_r=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR&pd_rd_w=m3KtM&pd_rd_wg=XqmQL&psc=1&refRID=NV7BKDVSN225K69DY2JR

Some people are looking for suggestions. I second the suggestion and I have a pair of these that work well for me.

• Good reach (magnification) - suitable for most things I'll see with my 6" schmidt cassegrain
  
• Tripod attachment is important - for looking at just about anything, it's much nicer to have the stabilization of the tripod. Also, it's nice to be able to "point" them at something and have another person look through (last night I went out with my 3 year old daughter and showed her Venus and Mars - otherwise she would have needed to try to find them and hold the binoculars steady enough to be able to see them herself)
  
  (edit: formatting)

Non-fiction: Mining The Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets by John Lewis

Goes a little into the technical details of space colonization, especially valuable minerals, mining processes, the rockets required to get there and a quick risk/reward analysis. I found it a very enjoyable read, and highly recommend it.

The simple solution is to select binoculars which can be used without removing your glasses. Specifically, binoculars which have long eye-relief. If the eye-relief is too short your glasses will prevent you from placing your eye close enough to the eyepiece in order to see the entire field of view.

Manufacturer-listed eye relief measurements aren't always accurate, but typically you want at least 16mm to ensure compatibility while wearing glasses.

For example, I own a pair of Nikon AE 10x50 binoculars (17.2 mm listed eye relief) and I can use them comfortably and see the entire available field of view without removing my glasses.

Edit: The same concept applies to telescope eyepieces.

There was a book that is basically the series in print. Carl Sagan wrote it. I have not read it personally, but fully plan on it. I have seen the series and fully endorse it as well. But I understand some people absorb and learn better through reading, so for posterity:

Wikipedia,
Amazon

Try these... At 25x you will see the moons of Jupiter, nice crater detail on the Moon, and excellent wide field views of deep sky objects. I have a pair of 20x80 and use them more than my 12" Meade Lightbridge. IMO this is the best place to start with a limited budget.

Howard Curtis has a great book. You will be taught basic orbital calculations (speed, position, other orbital characteristics), and then move on to orbital maneuvers and patched conics. The book also introduces elements of rendezvous. I recommend the use of some software for any sort of orbital mechanics simulations and calculations. MATLAB is an easy tool to use If you familiarize yourself with the ode45() tool. It uses a runga kutta 45 approximation scheme to do the differential equation calculations.

https://www.amazon.com/Orbital-Mechanics-Engineering-Students-Aerospace/dp/0080977472

I bought these from amazon. They're pretty amazing and not too bad for looking at the stars. The orion nebula blows me away every time.

Personally I'd get a dobsonian; more bang for your buck, but equatorial tracking can be pretty expensive with them. Without modifications though, you could get a sweet 8" scope for not very much.

If you are interested in how the STS concepts developed over time I highly recommend this book: http://amzn.com/0963397451 I have never found its match for detail and process anywhere. For instance, this was the North American/Convair concept from the phase B study issued in 1970. The next page has some internal tankage layout and some other design options, including fold-out wings. The book is amazing.

If you are interested in how the STS concepts developed over time I highly recommend this book:
http://amzn.com/0963397451
I have never found its match for detail and process anywhere. For instance, this was the North American/Convair concept from the phase B study issued in 1970. The next page has some internal tankage layout and some other design options, including fold-out wings. The book is amazing.

It depends on how good the smart phone is, how much you want to do, if the camera has apps. Sony is introducing a 22MP CMOS camera chip for smart phones. This could be close to using a DSLR as the telescope camera.

http://www.stuff.tv/news/sonys-new-camera-sensor-will-make-your-smartphone-snaps-sparkle-videos-stable

That telescope is really low end, so it might be good for nature shots, the examples on the Amazon review page shows really blurry Moon shots, recognizable Jupiter.

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21024-FirstScope-Telescope/dp/B001UQ6E4Y

Is it different than the link above then?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEPE7NI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8

"Sumnacon solar system crystal ball is so neat to hold it in your hand with 80mm/3 inch diameter. The planet balls are inset into a 2D plastic film disc imprinted with orbits and some moons. The planets are 3D. Then the entire assembly is encased in a glass orb. Timeless wonderment. Great quality and craftsmanship. "

There was recently a revision to Stephen Hawking's: A Brief History In Time and it does a really good job of laying out some of the construction behind the biggest phenomenons in space without getting to complex conceptually. Definitely recommend it for dipping your toes in the water so to speak.

http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-Stephen-Hawking/dp/0553380168

Celestron Skymasters from my in laws. I don't have a lot of time for a new hobby, but I'd still like to see more than I can with just my eyes.
We'll see where I go from here :)

If you haven't already read it I highly recommend the book Mining the Sky. It talks in very great detail about just how much material exists in our solar system.

The best "telescope" in that range is a pair of binoculars. Anything else is more likely to cause someone to be turned away from astronomy.

These are $56 at amazon right now (normally $90). Get those and a decent tripod (the binoculars are a little heavy), and the total price should be well under 100 pounds.

Check out part 5 of the "Moon Machines" documentation:

I think this is a part of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJPfSneaPVY

But you should really buy the whole thing or try to find a torrent. Warning: you may have to cry every now and then. It's just about the best documentation ever. Awesome footage and lots of old people telling stuff. Amazingly beautiful.

Sorry for my diction. My mother only taught me german :/

That's a good suggestion. My first reflector was a 4-inch Mizar made in the Soviet Union and I had a fantastic time. You will have some leftover money to buy a pair of binoculars, how about this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-71008-SkyMaster-25x70-Binoculars/dp/B003AM87Q4/ref=sr_1_207?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1279393515&sr=1-207

Ask and you shall receive. If you don't wanna buy it, I highly recommend getting it from the library; it is a fantastic book that I had to force myself to put down.

The command module computer was much less powerful than a Game Boy, but then again it was physically integrated into every system on the ship and had the backing of serious computational stuff on the ground. The fascinating How Apollo Flew to the Moon mentions that at its peak the Apollo program was consuming half of the world's integrated circuit output.

Edit: fixed wording.

You and others should look into buying a telescope and driving out to some dark skies to do some of your own observing. An 8" dobsonian like an Orion XT8 is affordable and allows you to see a lot of cool stuff. Join a local astronomy club too.

I found A Brief History of Time to be a very interesting book when I was in high school. It's not so much about space as it is about the physics side of things. At least a good starter in this area.

Moon Machines. It is EXCELLENT!

http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Machines-Robert-Seamans/dp/B0026IQTR2

For those wondering how you might go about doing this yourself, you have a few choices. Knowing a language useful for modeling can help. Even if it's "just" Python.

NORAD maintains a two-line element set database that is refreshed daily. What is a two-line element set, or TLE? Back in the 1960s, when punch cards were still used as a primary storage device for computational data, a format was needed for easily storing the orbital elements of a space object (typically a satellite, but it can be anything in orbit, for instance rocket booster debris). The orbital elements are mostly the same as what you're used to seeing in KSP, but there are a few additional ones that are required for accurately* computing the propagation of the orbiting object in real life. A TLE looks like this:

COSMOS 2463 [+]
1 36519U 10017A 18293.58648576 .00000043 00000-0 30755-4 0 9996
2 36519 82.9602 143.9870 0035918 330.7244 29.1897 13.71429387424689

The first line contains mostly metadata, the second mostly orbital elements and some additional information you'll need. The TLE's orbital elements are the following:

• Epoch
  
• Inclination
  
• Right ascension of the ascending node (also known as longitude of the ascending node)
  
• Eccentricity
  
• Argument of perigee (also known as argument of periapsis for any orbit, perigee is for Earth)
  
• Mean anomaly (fraction of the orbit that has passed since perigee)
  
• Mean motion (revolutions per sidereal day)
  
• Revolution number at epoch
  
• BSTAR drag term
  
  Now, the first and last two are not technically your classic orbital elements but we need the first to get an idea of when the data is applicable and the last one comes in handy for objects in the LEO which are subject to significant atmospheric drag compared to say, something in a geostat or geosync orbit that is so high up that drag is not as much of a factor.
  
  Putting these together is the more difficult part. For a classical treatment of the subject, I started with Fundamentals of Astrodynamics by Bate, Mueller and White. This is the older USAF Academy book and is interesting not only because it teaches how to compute a satellite propagation, but it gives you an idea of the strategic position of the USA during the cold war. A significant portion of the book deals with how an ICBM works. Since it is, after all, a space vehicle.
  
  If you want to get deeper into it, you then want to read something like Vallado's Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications which will get into more detail.
  
  Robert Braeunig's website gives a good summary of how all of this goes together, with information derived primarily from the first book I linked, although I will caution that the solutions discussed are not all numerically stable in the format in which they appear. There are many, many different ways to compute the solutions to a satellite propagation using the orbital elements.
  
  If you don't want to spend a few weeks trying to do this yourself (and it will take you that long, unless you're an absolute savant at this), fear not. David Vallado has written code that will do the orbital element calculation along with SGP4 routines for you. What is SGP4? Remember that the Earth is not spherical and there's that other large Moon thing that also orbits the Earth. This means that we can't really model a satellite's orbit like you do in KSP if you want an accurate solution. So, we have to include those perturbations in the final calculuation, which is what the code linked here will do.
  
  As far as I can tell, the popular stuffin.space website uses a ported version of the above code, available in javascript here. The other link I gave gives versions that will work in FORTRAN, C, C++ and MATLAB (because you just can't make it in modern Engineering if you can't do MATLAB. And you'll have to do MATLAB or you will not make it through the course).
  
  This should all get you started. I hate to admit it but I never would have taught myself all of this, nor would my personal bookshelves be as heavy as they are, if it weren't for KSP.

Gene Kranz’s book is absolutely fantastic: Failure is Not an Option

If you want incredibly in-depth Shuttle details, T. A. Heppenheim’s books can’t be beat:

• Space Shuttle Decision, 1965-1972 (History of the Space Shuttle, Volume 1)
  
• History of the Space Shuttle, Volume Two: Development of the Space Shuttle, 1972-1981

Posters:

Chart of Cosmic Exploration

History of Space Travel

Cutaway View of a Space Shuttle peel and stick wall decals

NASA Saturn V Cutaway

Skylab Cutaway illustration

International Space Rockets

X-15 Cutaway

Smithsonian Milestones of Flight

Space Stations Poster

International Space Station Planet Earth

SpaceX Falon 9

Shuttle Atlantis & Mir Space Station

T-Shirts:

Spacex Falcon 9 T-shirts

SpaceX Kids T-Shirts

NASA Logo T-shirt

NASA KIds T-Shirt

Organizations:

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)

Planetary Society

Tech

Get email or text alerts when the space station is flying over

NASA App

Star Walk App

Celestron SkyMaster

Celestron 71020 SkyMaster

Toys:

3D Laser Cut Models

Model Rockets (starting with easiest to make and launch) First Rocket, Second Rocket, Third Rocket, Forth Rocket, and Fifth Rocket.

LEGO City Space Utility Vehicle

LEGO City Space Port

LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V

Videos:

Huble IMAX

NASA: A Journey Through Space

Moon Machines or watch at YT - this series rocks.

NASA Live - Earth From Space

HOW IT WORKS: The International Space Station

SKYLAB : SPACE STATION I

The Mir Chronicles

Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission

The Space Shuttle

North American X-15

Events:

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

Meteor Showers in 2017

Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

Launch Schedule

Dark Sky Map People who have never been to a dark sky area do not think that it is worth the effort to see. People who have gone to a dark sky site are blown away by the amount of stars they can see with their naked eyes. Go on a trip to a dark sky area (dark gray on the map) on a moonless (new moon) night, here is a moon phase calendar.

Yeah, I think they slapped hand made on for karma bait.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEPE7NI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8

Hadfield's is An Astronaut's Guide to Life On Earth. Great read! I usually give a copy out every Christmas to some random family member.

Play Kerbal Space Program (seriously). Then pick a book (like this one), it's a much better way to go.

How about this, it's 65$ in US and 25x70. Bigger aperture means better light capturing ability. I guess this is not all purpose, it's astronomical binocular and it's heavy. I don't have one myself so really can't say about the quality.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003AM87Q4/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1479669954&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=celestron+binoculars&dpPl=1&dpID=313pkGWRIUL&ref=plSrch

Are these the ones you're talking about? They do sound nice, and well within the OP's price range at around $140:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7245-Extreme-Terrain-Binoculars/dp/B0001HKIK4/

(not an affiliate link, just being helpful!)

I use http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7245-Extreme-Terrain-Binoculars/dp/B0001HKIK4 Nikon 10x50, works great. You can not see details on Jupiter tho.

You can't go wrong with A Brief History of Time or The Universe in a Nutshell.

A book that is only partially about space but covers a lot of material that I'd highly* recommend is How to Build a Habitable Planet.

I would highly recommend Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. It goes into some detail about quantum mechanics, and gets into black holes some. But be warned: Despite being toned down, it is still a pretty hard read, and you will find yourself going back to re read things a lot.

For a documentary, you could probably google one and look for the one with the best ratings. I remember watching one a few years ago, but I can't find it.

Check out Orion's 8 inch dobsonian reflector telescope. Its on wheels so you can roll it in and out of your home easily and they have a sale every year before xmas for around 3-400 bucks. I have their astro 90mm refractor and love it for its price and portability. One day ill grab that dobsonian too.

Edit: link for the telescope

i have this one
i'm happy when i see jupiter and its moons.

and i need a new DSLR. my minolta X500 is just too old.

The video is from Moon Machines. Definitely worth watching if you haven't seen it.

I had quite some fun with this Celestron and the extras.

Would this telescope be powerful enough for an image of this clarity??
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0007UQNKY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=32H2LFBQBWTJQ&coliid=I3PKKGCNP138VH&psc=1

Here's the book my class has used this semester. Interplanetary mission planning is it's own chapter. It's more straightforward than it seems once you're comfortable working with orbital mechanics.

You can get this on Amazon. They're pretty slick.

Edit: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEPE7NI/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1497801174&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=planet+orb&dpPl=1&dpID=411Dzj38XlL&ref=plSrch

If you haven't already I highly recommend reading A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin. It has all of the wonderful stories about the Apollo missions, especially with this quite spirited crew

I sent op's image to my brother, who has a Celestron 127eq. He said he's seen Saturn similar to the image on the left, not quite as good. He's also been able to see a couple of Jupiter's moons.

Not as nice as OP's scope, but it will get you looking at planets, and might be easier to aspire to.

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21049-PowerSeeker-127EQ-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKY

Start here:

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Springer-Praxis-Books-Exploration/dp/1441971785/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334922800&sr=8-1

Then go through:

http://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Bonds-Earth-Springer-Exploration/dp/0387790934/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334922877&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Foothold-Heavens-Seventies-Springer-Exploration/dp/1441963413/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/At-Home-Space-Seventies-Exploration/dp/1441988092/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b


For history of astronomy, well thats a much broader topic. Start with Wikipedia (start!!) and go from there.

I am buying my son this telescope for Christmas. I hear good things, and it falls within your budget. Our goals are to see lots of Moon craters and check in on Saturn and other planets.

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21049-127EQ-PowerSeeker-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKY

> Celestron SkyMaster 15x

These guys? https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-SkyMaster-Binoculars-Tripod-Adapter/dp/B00008Y0VN

What would be the next higher binoculars? I could easily swing something more expensive than $55.

Buy this book - you can do the calculations yourself if you're interested in learning how they're done:

http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Astrodynamics-Dover-Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486600610/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334804519&sr=8-1-fkmr1

It's cheap too.

How Apollo Flew to the Moon by David Woods is a great look into the moon landings. The title makes it sound kind of like a kids book, but it's actually a really in-depth look into the technology and engineering behind the Apollo missions.

http://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/0062301233

Absolutely astounding read. So much in there I didn't know about Musk and his companies. If you haven't read it yet, do it yesterday. If you're not already convinced he's the DaVinci of our time, this book will do it.

Alternate telescope link based on busted link. Looks like the 8 inch one is ~$1800.

Celestron Sky Master 15x70 about $60. Very well reviewed for purpose of amateur astronomy

You should read his autobiography.
It was quite interesting to see what the space race was like behind the scenes, so to speak.

http://www.amazon.com/Failure-Is-Not-Option-Mission/dp/1439148813

*Edit: Reading the passage about the death of the Apollo 1 Astronauts was very difficult to read.
Mission Control could here them calling for help and screaming wothout being able to do anything in time to rescue them.

Well this isn't handmade and it doesn't include Pluto
https://www.amazon.com/Sumnacon-Crystal-Sphere-Astronomer-Student/dp/B01IEPE7NI/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/146-4108012-3538626?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=mp_s_a_1_1

Do you already own astronomical binoculars? If not, I recommend you start there.

tl;dr - two eyes is greater than one

If you haven't already read it, Failure Is Not An Option by Gene Kranz is at the top of my "space book" list.

Mandatory plug for the definitive book about the Apollo program:
W. David Woods’ “How Apollo Flew to the Moon”.

They said elsewhere the total cost they put into it is actually about $400

Edit: and it was that low because they got this telescope for $250. Its a great picture with a very misleading title.

https://www.amazon.com/Meade-Instruments-Coma-Free-Telescope-0810-90-03/dp/B002AK4N74

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003AM87Q4/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1479669954&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=celestron+binoculars&dpPl=1&dpID=313pkGWRIUL&ref=plSrch

Can confirm. I purchased these and it's almost impossible to really see anything due to how jittery it is.

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEPE7NI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Sumnacon-Crystal-Sphere-Astronomer-Student/dp/B01IEPE7NI/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

Nope https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEPE7NI

Well there's this. But someone says there is a $10 version

Specific for the Apollo program nothing beats Moon Machines.

For these binoculars, should I go for the 7x50 or the 10x50?

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7245-Extreme-All-Terrain-Binocular/dp/B0001HKIK4

Nikon 7245 Action 10x50 EX Extreme All-Terrain Binocular https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001HKIK4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_lwSzyb9FMP803

Is this that model?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-8945-SkyQuest-Dobsonian-Telescope/dp/B001DDW9V6

Orion SkyQuest XT8

Grabbing "meade-8inch-lx90-acf-computerized-telescope" from his URL, this is what I find https://www.amazon.com/Meade-Instruments-0810-90-03-Coma-Free-Telescope/dp/B002AK4N74

This one?

http://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/0062301233

Read the book An Astronauts Guide To Life On Earth, it chronicles Chris Hadfield's entire journey. Basically he made up his mind as a child that he was going to do everything in his power to become an astronaut, and he kept doing that until he was one.

Apollo: Race to the Moon by Charles Murray and Catherine Bly

and

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz

You should read a book written by Gene Kranz

All you’ll need to know is here


https://www.amazon.com/Space-Shuttle-National-Transportation-Missions/dp/0963397451

It's in his biography by Ashley Vance

I believe the author interviewed the two people who went with Musk on the trip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062301233/

check out A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin

https://www.amazon.ca/Man-Moon-Voyages-Apollo-Astronauts/dp/014311235X

http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Carl-Sagan/dp/0345331354

I own one of these, it's decent:

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21049-127EQ-PowerSeeker-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487998236&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=telescope&psc=1

Light pollution is the #1 problem you'll face. Something cheesy like this though can legit see the rings of Saturn.

UFOs typically fast moving. Try sighting the ISS and you will understand why people don't typically bust out a telescope to look at UFOs.

Read this book. I don't have good answers for you, but I'm reading this right now and I think it's exactly the kind of information you're looking for.

No, it was per procedure. For sourcing, see the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal landing and launch transcripts directly from NASA, or Woods' How Apollo Flew to the Moon, or O'Brein's The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation. The actual landing procedures are also available on the ALSJ or another history.nasa.gov site, but I can't find them this morning (still coffee-ing here, sorry).

Here's one I have just ordered:

100 Years of Spaceflight: A Chronicle of Aerospace History

Another I have in my library and hope to read soon:
Gene Kranz: Failure Is Not An Option

Have you read Ashlee Vance's biography of Musk? If you haven't, it's pretty interesting in this respect.

And adds a link to basically a $2k telescope he/she bought for $250 with no indication how

About the why questions you asked: I'm afraid nobody has the definitive answers you are looking for. But there are people who ask the same questions you do. Let me point you to read "a Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.

> "Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Brief_History_of_Time

https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-Stephen-Hawking/dp/0553380168

http://www.fisica.net/relatividade/stephen_hawking_a_brief_history_of_time.pdf

Read all of his books.

The Demon Haunted World

Cosmos

Varieties of the Scientific Experience

Pale Blue Dot

The Dragons of Eden

Billions and Billions

His novel:
Contact

I don't know his reasons. Personally, I like to turn it around and consider that free markets are a pressure that causes a mad competitive rush in any 'healthy' industry, and that this hasn't been occurring in space. I've worked as part of that in console game development (is this worth 80-hour weeks?), and have known others with such workloads in advertising, to put that in some perspective.. and there are plenty more industries where you can find this behavior. The fact that it hasn't been occurring as much in space is an unfortunate consequence of tough barriers to entry, cronyism, a culture of irrational risk-aversion (I call it irrational because failure to get us living in space would eventually kill us all, there's sufficient reason to try and avoid failure anyway even if just looking at cost of rockets and cargo, and there are plenty of people who are willing to face much greater risk for a worthy cause), partisan politics and 4-year terms, and other reasons. Elon's been trying to bootstrap a proper competitive industry so that we can get a more appropriate amount of capital flowing into it so that we might get closer to achieving a rate of progress in this area that's more in line with humanity's capacity - something closer to the rate of progress that he has seen first-hand in software development (he's worked on console games too actually.. the high calibre of workers and the hours:value-to-humanity ratio gets one thinking..).. and that he had come to expect is achievable based on what he had witnessed in that field.

Aside from the waitbutwhy post I linked before, Elon Musk's biography seems to help explain his perspective as well (my understanding is that although not everything's entirely accurate, it's largely right overall): https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/0062301233

It's a little beyond my expertise to measure the danger level in a particular plan, what I could say is that the launch was a much, much riskier time for the shuttle than landing, with one notable exception in 2003. But Columbia's disintegration on re-entry stemmed from damage it sustained on liftoff. The design of the shuttle, particularly of the various forms of thermal protection systems (TPS: tiles, blankets, reinforced carbon-carbon) made re-entry from low-earth orbit based speeds as safe as it could, but the pressure generated from compressing the air in front of the body of the shuttle so rapidly meant there was little to no margin for error in the TPS on re-entry -- any hole, tear, imperfection could magnify danger to the point where the shuttle could be (and in that one instance, was) destroyed.

The wings actually have no purpose during launch, though, and the shuttle comes back with very little fuel (by design, they used all the SSME fuel at launch, and nearly all the OMS fuel on-orbit and for de-orbit). A smaller version of the shuttle could have flown without those big delta wings (and will, check out Sierra Nevada's DreamChaser spacecraft). The big wings were dictated by an Air Force requirement: 1,000 mile cross range capability. By design, the shuttle could launch south out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a polar orbit, deploy a sensitive payload in space over Russia, then return and land in California, all in one orbit. The only problem is that the earth is spinning underneath the shuttle while it's doing that; one orbit later, California has moved a significant distance to the east!

So the 1,000 mile cross range meant that the shuttle could make its re-entry and steer/glide itself all the way back to California, counteracting the distance imparted by the rotation of earth itself. In reality, the shuttles never flew polar orbits from California, and the wings were really only used during the shuttle big S-turns to bleed off speed on approach, if I remember correctly.

But what you're mentioning above about the axis of entry; the shuttle was designed to re-enter from LEO speeds, and could not have survived a deep-space (or even far earth orbit / lunar orbit) re-entry, as the thermal systems would not have been up to the task of handling the additional heat generated by re-entry.

If you have some loose change in your pocket and want to learn a LOT more about the design, construction and operation of the Space Shuttle system, check out this book Probably the thickest, most dense scientific/engineering overview of the whole process from beginning to operation.

NASA's own "Wings In Orbit" is also an amazing book (I'm lucky enough to have a hardcover version of it) that's available for free online as a series of downloadable PDFs. While it's not quite as in-depth as the Jenkins book, it'll definitely give you a great picture of the Shuttle and how it works.

And finally, and slightly more tongue in cheek, the Hayes repair manual people licensed their automotive repair book style for this Space Shuttle Owners Manual which is another phenomenal book on the Shuttle.

your request is basically "i want to reach for the stars with no effort because im handicapped and poor" and sadly you are limiting yourself because of that mindset.

This is handicapped. so whatever ouchie, booboo, or challenge you might have: Suck it up and deal with it; every handicapped person in the world that makes anything of themselves comes to realize this.

if you can flip burgers at mcdonalds, you can make enough to get your education at any age (expecially if you are handicapped as you would get SSI, plus that pension you mentioned). dont think that your above flipping burgers- nobody is above flipping burgers to survive.

things you need to do first:

1. fix your financial situation. you can live and study on less than 150 a week of income. if you cant manage to make 150 a week, then you are going to have problems.
   
2. once you relearn all that you've lost, you have to focus on getting a higher income. you cannot achieve your dream without at least 30k a year of income and even then it would be difficult in the current economy.
   
3. since your a blue collar worker- being a scientist isnt your best route. now Space craft engineer is well within your realm of doing if you did any form of manual labor/dealing with blueprints.
   
4. study your space engineering and design a space ship that can surpass anything on the market (keep in mind, thousands of other people with a 20 year head start have already been trying to do this, so you need to blow minds if you want to make it.)
   
5. 
   
   
   required reading
   
   Book 1
   
   Book 2
   
   book 3
   
   Book 4
   
   Book 5
   
   sadly without a degree- people wont acknowledge you or accept your theories. you need to get a solid college education for anyone to care. i recomend getting a diploma in astronautics and then going from there.