I like your choice of books. How was the Von Braun book? One I don't see on your shelf, but would recommend it would be "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Chris Hadfield. There is a second book he did at the same time of just photography he took while at the ISS. Both are worth looking at.

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Neufeld's von Braun book is great! It doesn't pull any ethical punches -- it's almost clinical in the treatment of his early career opportunism within the Nazi regime.

The bottom shelves are dedicated more to rocket science than human spaceflight, generally, which is why I don't have Hadfield's book. I met him once though. I did grad school in Planetary Science and got to meet quite a few astronauts and have a few beers.