Synopses & Reviews
The exhilarating space race during the first half of the 1960s is told for the first time as a human and global story, featuring Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts, technicians, scientists, and their families.
Into That Silent Sea begins with the intimate stories of the first men in space, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American astronaut Alan Shepard. Gagarin’s humble and horrifying upbringing in a war-ravaged Russia, difficulties in coping with fame, and his untimely death in a training flight contrast sharply with Shepard’s life and career, which are told in part based on recollections of the Mercury astronaut’s nurse, Dee O’Hara. The unforgettable lives of the other spacefarers in the Mercury and Vostok and Voskhod space programs are emblazoned in the pages that follow: Gherman Titov, the brash cosmonaut who helped save John Glenn’s house from burning down during a backyard barbecue; the controversial career of cosmonaut Valentine Tereshkova, the first woman in space; Gus Grissom and Scott Carpenter, both plagued by allegations of in-flight fiascos when the truth reveals much different tales of pilot skill and courage; cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who nearly died while conducting the first spacewalk; John Glenn, the quintessential American hero; the “Heavenly Twins,” cosmonauts who first circled the earth in separate spacecraft at the same time; three Soviet cosmonauts who shared a single, cramped capsule; and the contrasting careers of the “two Wallys,” Mercury 7’s Wally Schirra and Wally Funk, one of 13 women pilots tested for the astronaut program in the 1960s.
Dozens of international interviews and unparalleled access to Russian and American official documents and family records make this the most absorbing and complete history ever of the golden age of spaceflight.
Review
“Into That Silent Sea is an excellent reminder of just what Gagarin and other trailblazers did and how they became international celebrities in their own right. We seem to have forgotten just how new the frontier of space was. . . . Many people today seem to view space programs as an extravagance or with disinterest. For those who remain interested in those programs and have read the prior histories and memoirs, it never hurts to be reminded of just how pioneering the first steps were.”—Tim Gebhart, Blogcritics.org, Boston.com --Space Review
Review
“A well-written account about the Americans and Russians who were the first to fly into space. . . . [The book] offers some excellent profiles of these individuals that are accessible to both newcomers to space history and well-read enthusiasts alike.”—Space Review --Booklist
Review
“This frank, entertaining, no-holds-barred ride through the golden age of space flight takes us behind the official stories, into the real lives of the very first astronauts and cosmonauts.”Wally Schirra: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut
Review
“Unforgettable days and some unforgettable characters were brought vividly back to me by this truly wonderful book. They were fun times; they were also incredibly difficult, hard-working, and agonizing times, watching dear friends launch into space with my heart in my mouth. This book offers a treasure trove of memories.”—Dee OHara, nurse to the astronauts Air Power History
Review
“Eminently readable, well-crafted. . . . The merits of this popular history rest in the elegant narrative and the authors thoughtful awareness of the space explorer genre.”—Air & Space Smithsonian Martin Collins - Air and Space Smithsonian
Review
“French and Burgesss history will engage the space-program audience.”—Booklist The Space Review (website)
Review
"Francis French and Colin Burgess don't have any special hooks or other gimmicks in Into That Silent Sea; instead, they simply offer a well-written account about the Americans and Russians who were the first to fly into space. . . . The book . . . offer[s] some excellent profiles of these individuals that are accessible to both newcomers to space history and well-read enthusiasts alike."-The Space Review
Review
"[An] eminently readable, well-crafted contribution to the burgeoning genre of first-person accounts and popular histories of space explorers. . . . The merits of this popular history rest in the elegant narrative and the authors thoughtful awareness of the space explorer genre."-AirandSpace Smithsonian
Review
"A well-written account about the Americans and Russians who were the first to fly into space. . . . [The book] offers some excellent profiles of these individuals that are accessible to both newcomers to space history and well-read enthusiasts alike."-Space Review
Review
“French and Burgesss history will engage the space-program audience.”Booklist -- The Space Review (website)
Review
“[Into That Silent Sea] dispenses with distracting technical jargon and nationalistic jingoism to deliver ten superbly composed, thoughtfully balanced chapters about the astronauts and cosmonauts who flew Mercury and Vostok/Voskhod missions. . . . Avid readers will revel in the authors masterful compilation of these straight-forward, detailed mini-biographies.”—Air Power History Dr. Rick W. Sturdevant
Review
“As well as vividly picturing the men, this book also accurately tells the story of the very first women to train for spaceflight in Russia—and women like me in America who hoped for the same opportunity to reach for the stars.”—Wally Funk, rocket pilot for Interorbital Systems Corporation Dee O'Hara
Review
"A worthy account of an important but largely forgotten program. . . . For those who would like to learn more about the achievement, Homesteading Space offers valuable personal recollections from those who were there."and#8212;Roger Launius, Air and Space
Review
and#8220;A well-told saga of Skylab from start to fiery fall.and#8221;and#8212;Coalition for Space Exploration
Review
and#8220;Savvy consumers of space history have come to expect high quality in the and#8216;Outward Odysseyand#8212;A People's History of Spaceflightand#8217; series edited by Colin Burgess. This fourth volume definitely does not disappoint.and#8221;and#8212;Rick W. Sturdevant, Air Power History
Review
and#8220;Published here for the first time, [Alan] Beanand#8217;s diary, added to voice transcripts of space walks, produces the you-are-there immediacy that buffs crave.and#8221;and#8212;Gilbert Taylor,
BooklistReview
"Homesteading Space is not just about the scientific knowledge that was obtained in orbitand#8212;this is the story of the astronauts who conducted the experiments, who lived in space for weeks or months at a time, and how they coped."and#8212;Andrew J. Liptak, Worlds in a Grain of Sand blog
Review
"The success of our nation's first space station did not come easily. The challenges were met with vision, courage, and competence. Those who personified these traits forcefully and honestly tell their stories here unfiltered by writers or press. The result is both historically significant and a great read."and#8212;Ed Gibson, Skylab III science pilot and author
Synopsis
It was a time of bold new technology, historic moments, and international jousting on the final frontier. But it was also a time of human drama, of moments less public but no less dramatic in the lives of those who made the golden age of space flight happen. These are the moments and the lives that Into That Silent Sea captures, a book that tells the intimate stories of the men and women, American and Russian, who made the space race their own and gave the era its compelling character.and#160;These pages chronicle a varied and riveting cavalcade of human stories, including a look at Yuri Gagarinand#8217;s harrowing childhood in war-ravaged Russia and Alan Shepardand#8217;s firm purchase on the American dream. It also examines the controversial career of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and the remarkable struggle and ultimate disappointment of her American counterparts. It tries to uncover the truth behind the allegations that shadowed Gus Grissom and Scott Carpenter and then allows the reader to share the heart-stopping suspense of Alexei Leonovand#8217;s near-fatal first space walk. Through dozens of interviews and access to Russian and American official documents and family records, the authors bring to life the experiences that shaped the lives of the first astronauts and cosmonauts and forever changed their world and ours.and#160;
Synopsis
As the United States and the Soviet Union went from exploring space to living in it, a space station was conceived as the logical successor to the Apollo moon program. But between conception and execution stood the vastness of space itself, to say nothing of the monumental technological challenges.
Homesteading Space, by two of Skylaband#8217;s own astronauts and a NASA journalist, tells the dramatic story of Americaand#8217;s first space station from beginning to fiery end.
Homesteading Space is much more than a story of technological and scientific success; it is also an absorbing, sometimes humorous, often inspiring account of the determined, hardworking individuals who shepherded the program through a near-disastrous launch, a heroic rescue, an exhausting study of Comet Kohoutek, and the lab's ultimate descent into the Indian Ocean. Featuring the unpublished in-flight diary of astronaut Alan Bean, the book is replete with the personal recollections and experiences of the Skylab crew and those who worked with them in training, during the mission, and in bringing them safely home.
About the Author
Francis French is the director of education at the San Diego Air and Space Museum and the coauthor with Colin Burgess of In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965and#8211;1969 (Nebraska 2007).and#160;Colin Burgess is a former flight service director with Qantas Airlines and the author of many books on spaceflight, including Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon, available in a Bison Books edition.and#160;A NASAand#160;public affairs officer from 1958 to 1969, Paul Haney was known widely as NASAand#8217;s and#8220;voice of mission control.and#8221;