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In the fall 2009 issue of ASK, Ed Hoffman wrote that the excessive optimism or pessimism of project teams can obscure the realities they need to understand to carry out their projects successfully.

Here are descriptions of two books that we believe will interest ASK readers.

By Haley Stephenson Satellites that can fit in a backpack are shrinking technology, reframing satellite science, and providing valuable mission training and experience to the next generation of engineers.

By Alexandre Korowajczuk and Andrea Coelho Farias Almeida   One afternoon in October 1986, after more than thirty years searching for petroleum in the Amazon region, we were drilling the last authorized well in the Urucu region.

  The associate administrator for Space Operations talks about his early NASA experience and the collaborative “miracle” of the International Space Station.

By Jean-Jacques Dordain   The director general of the European Space Agency says the future of space exploration depends on global cooperation.

By Kerry Ellis   NASA is working with other agencies to prepare for ever-increasing air traffic.

By Don Cohen and Matthew Kohut   The Academy’s first Knowledge Forum brought together people from several industries and countries.

NASA in the News   New observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provide evidence for powerful “winds” blowing away from the vicinity of a supermassive black hole in a nearby galaxy.