Space Today (Revised 5th Ed)
By Mohan Sundara Rajan
National Book Trust | 2008 | ISBN 978-81-237-5205-1 | PDF | 390 pages | 10 mb
scanned to PDF by me.

A non-technical presentation of the most significant recent developments in space technology and applications in India and abroad including:
• Amazing features of the Earth that support the orbits of satellites.
• India's mastery of rocket and missile technology.
• A preview of tomorrow's launchers using different technologies.
• Progress of India's world-class communication, TV and weather satellites.
• Modern global links from space including the emerging global positioning system and spy satellites.
• India's thrust towards the use of satellites for societal needs.
• Role of resource satellites in revealing the true state of our Blue Jewel—the Earth, its oceans and resources, especially India's contribution.
• Innovative means of understanding natural phenomena like the tsunami and global environmental changes.
• Rediscovery of the human body in space stations and other wonders of microgravity.

About the Author
Mohan Sundara Rajan is an eminent science communicator who won the National Award for Outstanding effort in Popular Science Communication 2005, given by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication, New Delhi. He is the author of some sixteen popular science books including Wireless: The latest Telecom Story; and Nano: The Next Revolution, published by the NBT. He is also the recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Akashvani Award. A senior member of the former Central Information Service, he was the only Asian selected to serve the Asian Development Bank, Manila, as its editor for over a decade.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Part I: The Shape of the Earth
1. Leaps of Imagination 3
2. The Equatorial Bulge 7
Part II: Orbits
3. The Sunsynchronous Orbit 17
4. The Geosynchronous Orbit 26
Part III: Rockets
5. The Pull of Gravity 55
6. Indian Rockets 71
7. Reaching the Polar Orbit 80
8. GSLV: A World-class Rocket 96
9. The Cryogenic Challenge 109
10. India: A Missile Power 115
11. Ariane and Other Rockets 118
12. The Scramjet and a Slow Giant 133
Part IV: Services from the INSAT System
13. Domestic Links 149
14. The Challenge of Making INSATs 160
15. The Ever-alert Master Control 168
16. EDUSAT and NANOSAT 172
Part V: Global Links
17. INTELSAT and Global Links 191
18. In Touch with Ships 197
19. The World at Your Fingertips 202
20. Locating Anyone, Anywhere! 215
21. A Spy in the Sky 224
Part VI: Spotlight on the Earth
22. Windows and Sensors 237
23. Indian Remote Sensing Satellites 247
24. The World in True Colours 270
25. The Blue Jewel 282
26. A Tsunami Watch 296
27. Weather Monitoring since Aristotle 305
28. The Weather from INSAT 313
Part VII: Wonders of Microgravity
29. Life in Orbital Stations 323
30. Where Apples Float 338
Glossary 357
Index 365