Synopses & Reviews
Ambassadors from Earth reminds us that our first mad scrambles to reach orbit, the moon, and the planets were littered with enough histrionics and cliff-hanging turmoil to rival the most far-out sci-fi film. But it all really happened!
Drawing on original interviews with key players and bolstered by previously unpublished photographs, journal excerpts, and primary source documents, Jay Gallentine delivers a quirky and unforgettable look at the lives and legacy of the people who conceived, built, and guided our first unmanned spacecraft and planetary probes. From the Sputnik and Explorer satellites of the late 1950s, to the thrilling Voyager and#8220;Grand Tourand#8221; of the and#8217;70s and and#8217;80s, they yielded some of the most celebrated successes and spectacular failures of the space age.
Confessed one participant, and#8220;We were making it up as we went along.and#8221;
Gallentine fearlessly clambers to the bottom of a surprisingly bitter controversy over who first developed the technique of using gravity to steer a spacecraft. Also of special note are his candid discussions with James Van Allen, the discoverer of the rings of planetary radiation that now bear his name.
Synopsis
In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure. From the Gemini flights to the Soyuz space program to the earliest Apollo missions, including the legendary first moon landing, their book draws a richly detailed picture of the space race as an endeavor equally endowed with personal meaning and political significance.
Synopsis
U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff 2013 Professional Reading List Selectionand#160;
Nearly forty years passed between the Apollo moon landings, the grandest accomplishment of a government-run space program, and the Ansari X PRIZEand#8211;winning flights of SpaceShipOne, the greatest achievement of a private space program. Now, as we hover on the threshold of commercial spaceflight, authors Chris Dubbs and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom look back at how we got to this point.
Their book traces the lives of the individuals who shared the dream that private individuals and private enterprise belong in space. Realizing Tomorrow provides a behind-the-scenes look at the visionaries, the crackpots, the financial schemes, the legal wrangling, the turf battles, andand#8212;underpinning the entire dramaand#8212;the overwhelming desire of ordinary people to visit outer space.
A compelling story of the pioneers of commercial spaceflightand#8212;and their efforts to open the final frontier to everyoneand#8212;this book traces the path to private spaceflight even as it offers an instructive, entertaining, and cautionary note about its future.
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About the Author
Chris Dubbs is the author of Space Dogs: Pioneers of Space Travel and the coauthor (with Colin Burgess) of Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom is the chief impact officer and executive vice presidentand#160;of operations at Singularity University based at NASA Ames Research Park. She is also partner and consultant for International Space Consultants. Charles D. Walker is a former crew member of Space Shuttle missions 41-D, 51-D, and 61-B.and#160;and#160;