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The Essential Reading Series delivers curated lists of books on specific space-related topics, designed for readers who want a focused starting point without sorting through endless recommendations. Each article highlights a carefully selected set of titles and explains what each book covers. The series spans science, technology, history, business, and culture, balancing accessible introductions with deeper, more specialized works for readers who want to go further.
Asteroid Hunters by Carrie Nugent
This concise nonfiction book explains how scientists and survey programs find and track near-Earth asteroids, using real detection methods, data pipelines, and follow-up observations. It also describes why asteroid discovery supports planetary defense decision-making and long-term monitoring of potential impact risks.
How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense by Robin George Andrews
This nonfiction narrative describes how modern planetary defense works, including detection, orbit prediction, and deflection concepts that are used to reduce asteroid impact risk. It connects these methods to mission planning, engineering constraints, and the practical realities of responding to a hazardous near-Earth object.
Fire in the Sky: Cosmic Collisions, Killer Asteroids, and the Race to Defend Earth by Gordon L. Dillow
This nonfiction account outlines the history of major impact events and the scientific evidence that supports modern impact-hazard estimates. It also explains how asteroid surveys, risk modeling, and response planning shape current planetary defense policy and technology choices.
Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System by Natalie Starkey
This nonfiction book explains what meteorites and asteroid samples reveal about early solar system chemistry, planetary formation, and the origins of water and organics. It links laboratory techniques and space missions to the broader field of asteroid science for general readers.
Asteroids by Clifford J. Cunningham
This nonfiction overview summarizes how asteroids were discovered, how their orbits are measured, and how asteroid populations are classified and studied over time. It also explains how cultural interest in asteroids has tracked alongside advances in observation, missions, and impact-risk awareness.
Cosmic Impact: Understanding the Threat to Earth from Asteroids and Comets by Andrew May
This nonfiction book explains the physical processes behind impacts, including entry dynamics, blast effects, and the role of size and speed in determining damage outcomes. It also presents how scientists estimate frequencies and build impact-hazard scenarios for near-Earth objects.
Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets by John S. Lewis
This nonfiction work describes the resource potential of asteroids, including metals and volatiles, and explains how in-space materials could support industrial activity beyond Earth. It also connects asteroid mining concepts to mission logistics, propulsion tradeoffs, and the economics of operating far from terrestrial supply chains.
Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment by John S. Lewis
This nonfiction book explains the geological and historical evidence for large impacts and bombardment episodes, including what crater records indicate about long-term risk. It also describes how impact science informs public risk perception and the practical case for asteroid detection and mitigation planning.
The Asteroid Threat: Defending Our Planet from Deadly Near-Earth Objects by William E. Burrows
This nonfiction book focuses on near-Earth objects, explaining how discovery shortfalls, tracking uncertainty, and communication gaps can affect real-world preparedness. It also describes the institutional and technical steps that can reduce impact risk, from survey coverage to response coordination and deflection readiness.
Bennu 3-D: Anatomy of an Asteroid by Dante S. Lauretta
This nonfiction atlas-style book presents asteroid Bennu through mission imagery and structured mapping, tying surface features to the science goals of sample-return exploration. It is coauthored by a team connected to the OSIRIS-REx effort and is designed to make asteroid geology and mission results accessible to nontechnical readers.
