About this item
A rich visual history of real and fictional space stations, illustrating pop culture's influence on the development of actual space stations and vice versaSpace stations represent both the summit of space technology and, possibly, the future of humanity beyond Earth. Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space takes the reader deep into the heart of past, present, and future space stations, both real ones and those dreamed up in popular culture. This lavishly illustrated book explains the development of space stations from the earliest fictional visions through historical and current programs--including Skylab, Mir, and the International Space Station--and on to the dawning possibilities of large-scale space colonization. Engrossing narrative and striking images explore not only the spacecraft themselves but also how humans experience life aboard them, addressing everything from the development of efficient meal preparation methods to experiments in space-based botany.
About the Author
Dr. Gary H. Kitmacher has worked at the NASA Johnson Space Center since 1981.
During the early years of the space station he served as the Man-Systems Architect responsible for establishing the requirements for the habitable modules. The design configuration of the International Space Station (ISS) lab modules, nodes, and cupola, standard racks and internal architecture resulted from this work. He originated the concept of the cupola and its early design and named it the Cupola in 1987. Previously it had been called the "Windowed Workstation".
During the NASA-Mir Program, Kitmacher served as the US Priroda Module Manager and later the Mir Operations and Integration Chairman. He developed, negotiated and established the requirements, processes and US-Russian documentation to accommodate US systems and experiment hardware in the Priroda Module. He designed and managed the manufacture and integration of spacecraft computer, electrical, mechanical, stowage and payload systems, leading teams of engineers and scientists in the US, Moscow, Star City and Baikonur Cosmodrome. Hardware he developed for NASA-Mir is still in use on the ISS today. The processes and documentation he established are still in use by the Russians for payloads on the International Space Station.
Kitmacher worked in the Space Shuttle Program as the Crew Equipment and Stowage Subsystem Manager. He served in the Payload Integration Office where he developed simplified documentation and streamlined processes for payloads integrated on the Shuttle and later in the Spacehab Project where he oversaw commercial payload development and served as the Mission Manager for the first Spacehab missions on Shuttles STS-57, 60 and 63.
During the Space Exploration Initiative, Kitmacher led the architectural design of habitats for the first lunar outpost, moon base and pressurized surface rovers and vehicles to carry humans to Mars.
Kitmacher holds a bachelors of science in geology with an emphasis on planetary study, a masters in marketing with a thesis in commercial space finance, and a doctorate in education with a dissertation in space flight education.
