A selection of upcoming and recently published titles
Titles are meant to reflect a broad range of topics and are not reviewed or endorsed by Aerospace America or AIAA.
The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan’s Space Programs
Released Jan. 27, 2026 (Stanford University Press)
Technology historian Subodhana Wijeyeratne “traces the evolution of Japan’s space program from its early origins in the 1920s, through the postwar period of rapid technological innovation, to the consolidation of its various institutional elements into JAXA [the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency] in 2003,” according to the publisher.
“Wijeyeratne not only illuminates Japan’s centrality to the global history of science and technology, but also offers insights into the future of global space exploration, emphasizing the importance of diverse voices and perspectives in the quest to understand our place in the cosmos.”
Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds
Released Feb. 17, 2026 (The MIT Press)
Rice University’s Scott Solomon examines how living in space will change humans’ bodies and minds. Solomon weighs a range of potential scenarios, from tourists journeying to an orbiting space station to children born on another planet.
“We are on the cusp of a golden age of space travel in which, for the first time, it will be possible for large numbers of people to venture into space,” the publisher writes. “But what happens—and will happen—to us in the extreme conditions of space?”
The Impossible Factory: The Remarkable True Story of Kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works, America’s Innovation Machine
Releasing May 19, 2026 (Dutton)
Journalist Josh Dean chronicles the origins of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, which go back to a warehouse and a young engineer named Kelly Johnson.
“During Johnson’s forty-seven years at Lockheed Martin, the Skunk Works developed at least half a dozen planes that would have been the capstone achievement of anyone else’s career,” the publisher writes. “But the planes were only part of Kelly Johnson’s legacy. There was also his management style, which would come to shape organizations for decades to come.”
