When two streams of technical development—remote sensing and space flight—joined forces in the middle of the 20th century, this technological union caused a major revolution in observational astronomy—similar to when Galileo Galilei held his first primitive telescope up to the heavens in 1610. Spacecraft for Astronomy takes a close look at these types of phenomena by examining the important roles that astronomical instruments now play above the Earth’s atmosphere. This illustrated volume describes the historic events, scientific principles, and technical breakthroughs that allow complex orbiting astronomical observatories to increase our understanding of the universe, its origin, and its destiny.

Spacecraft for Astronomy contains a specially selected collection of illustrations, which features historic, contemporary, and future space observatories, and allows students to appreciate the tremendous technical progress that has been made since the dawn of the Space Age. A generous number of sidebars are strategically positioned throughout the book to provide expanded discussions of fundamental scientific concepts and observational techniques. Capsule biographies of key scientists in the field highlight the human dimension in the development and operation of astronomical spacecraft.