Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond Hardcover - 2012

Excerpt

Year by year, generation by generation, the way we look at our universe continues to evolve, thanks both to new technologies and new ways of thinking, spurred on by our ability to view stars and galaxies that are distant in space and time. We are sharing new ways of seeing as well, as space telescopes and interplanetary probes transmit information across millions of miles, information that we capture and transform into remarkable visual displays. From that information, ever new maps can be created— maps such as you have never seen before; maps like the ones in this beautiful volume.
 
This National Geographic Space Atlas has special meaning for me. It is an enduring honor to have been one of the few humans to have stood on the moon. Just 12 years after the launch of the Soviet Union’s first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik1, Neil Armstrong and I set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.The moon to me is not a distant object in space but a real place where I spent time, and a real landscape that I remember in my mind’s eye. Looking at the maps of Earth’s moon on these pages is for me a little like retracing a vacation on the map that was carried along.

--Buzz Aldrin

Media reviews

"A gorgeous, fact-filled must for reference sections."–Library Journal starred review

“A joy to look at…For all those who ever dreamed of traveling to the stars, Space Atlas will surely keep those fantasies alive.” –Seattle Post-Intelligencer 

“An atlas of such beauty is rare indeed.” –Science Books & Film