Bøger af Peter Bond

First published in 2014, Australian Commemorative Postmarks provides a comprehensive priced guide to the period 1879 to 1980. This 4th edition also includes a summary of postmarks from 1981 to 2023.

This small volume is a tribute to Robert John Mutton, universally known as Bob. His father, Eric John Mutton, self-published his memoirs in 2002. These were republished in 2012 and again in 2021. The last volume was an expanded Centenary Edition on the occasion of what would have been his 100th birthday. The previous year, we published a similar, albeit smaller edition for our mother, Irene Emily Louise Mutton. 2020 would have been her 100th birthday.Bob was born in 1947, so 2022 marked what would have been his 75th birthday. That year also marked 45 years since his passing, in Sydney, in 1977. For the benefit of family members and perhaps some old friends, this book presents the abbreviated story of his all-too-short life.It is fortunate that Eric did compile his memoirs, as Bob's early years might otherwise remain unknown to most people. We, his surviving brothers, were eight and 14 years younger. Our memories of Bob are therefore constrained by this timeframe.

Peter Bond describes the development and evolution of space stations, with particular emphasis on the International Space Station, beginning with the revolution that began in 1970, when Salyut 1, the world's first space station was sent into orbit by the Soviet Union. Defeated in the race to the Moon, the Soviets redirected their efforts towards the conquest of near-Earth space. In the next three decades, their increasingly large and sophisticated structures rewrote the history books as cosmonauts continued to push back all space endurance records. Only the U.S. Skylab, a technological cul-de-sac based on surplus Apollo hardware, interrupted this era of Soviet domination. By the mid-1990's, Russian physician Valeri Poliakov had lived continuously for 14 months on board the Mir space station, long enough to travel to Mars and back. The book explains how the human exploitation of low-Earth orbit is about to change. With Mir no longer in existence, all eyes are on the next generation, the International Space Station (ISS).

Irene Emily Louise Morris was born in Southwark, London, on 8 October 1920, the youngest of five children born to Arthur and Florence. Her early life is largely a mystery as she rarely spoke of her childhood, nor of her experiences during the Second World War. It is only through the memoirs of her husband, Eric Mutton, that we have any written record at all. After the war, tragedy struck on more than one occasion and led to the decision to emigrate in 1958. Leaving England to raise their family in Tasmania proved rewarding. Despite more difficulties along the way, life was much improved and certainly more peaceful.This slim volume is a tribute to 'Rene', our Mum, and to commemorate the 100th year of her birth.

In 2014, Rosetta became the first mission to orbit a comet and to deploy a lander onto its surface. This is the story of ESAΓÇÖs pioneering comet explorer, following the mission from its initial inception to its historic touchdown. Read along as the Rosetta orbiter and its lander, Philae, evolve over the years, overcoming early mission hurdles before embarking on their one-way, decade-long voyage to a comet. See how the saga then culminates with Rosetta and Philae at last unveiling their icy target and achieving an unprecedented touchdown on its surface.Award-winning space writer Peter Bond takes us behind the scenes of this historic endeavor, sharing insights from the international team of scientists and engineers who made the mission possible, describing the remarkable technology that they created, and delving into the treasure trove of scientific discoveries that followed.Recounting in vivid detail the inner workings of Rosetta, this book is a celebration of the mission that has left a lasting impact on planetary science and space exploration.

The exploration of our solar system is one of humanity's greatest scientific achievements. The last fifty years in particular have seen huge steps forward in our understanding of the planets, the sun, and other objects in the solar system.

In this fascinating narrative, Peter Bond provides an overview of key twentieth century unmanned missions to nearly every corner of our solar system, telling the story of the mission planners and engineers who made possible these unprecedented achievements in scientific exploration.