Average customer rating:
- Concise Summary of Lunar Exploration
- well written
- Fascinating summary of the race to the moon.
|
Moon Missions: Mankind's First Voyages to Another World
William F. Mellberg
Manufacturer: Wow Toys
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 1945 - Present
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Aeronautics & Astronautics
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Astrophysics & Space Science
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
History of Science
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
History of Technology
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Astrophysics & Space Science
| Astronomy
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1882663128 |
Book Description
What is possibly mankind's greatest engineering achievement is told in language accessible to everyday folk and technophiles alike.
Customer Reviews:
Concise Summary of Lunar Exploration.......2001-05-08
This relatively small book presents a very good summary of NASA's conquest of the Moon. The book is divided into three sections plus several appendices. The first section of the covers the early ideas about the moon and Russia's and America's pre-Apollo space race. The second section, which is approximately 2/3 of the book, details the entire lunar exploration program from the early Ranger missions to the splashdown of Apollo 17. This portion of the book also has some nice sections of the launching facilities and the Lunar EVA suits. The final section examines what was learned from the exploration of the Moon. The book does contain some minor information on the unmanned Russia probes to the Moon. The appendices are first rate and provide a synopsis of the missions, a dictionary of the important geology terms and a bibliography.
If you're looking for a book that contains an excellent overview of the exploration of the Moon, this book is it. The book not only provides information on all the missions that went to the moon, but also provides information of surface experiments, the lunar rover, spacesuit design, etc. While all the photographs are in black and white, they are excellent quality and include some of the more classic space explorations photographs as well as those, which were not as famous.
well written.......2000-07-02
a well written, concise book...lots of details left out, but, for the most part, quite enjoyable..
Fascinating summary of the race to the moon........1997-11-10
I'm a space nut, but I loved this book. Quite Cool!
Customer Reviews:
Marvelous Collection of Photos.......2005-07-24
Pan Am's Clippers flying the Pacific served as a bridge between the age of the ship and the age of the plane. Yes, of course there were planes before 1935, and there are still ships, but Pan Am changed the concept. Now air mail and air passenger service was a reality.
This huge book, obviously a labor of love lasting for many years is a masterpiece. It has literally hundreds of photographs of planes, people, and the collectable memorabilia from Pan Am's Clipper days.
Each aircraft used in Pacific service is described -- there were only twelve. Three were Sikorsky S-42's, three were Martin M-130's, six were Boeing B-314's. It is remarkable that the story of twelve aircraft is still being told, romanticized (Indiana Jones movies for instance), and have instant recognition this many years later.
A mystery -- in the harbor at Port Vila, Vanuatu (previously the New Hebrides) there is a sunken flying boat. The story they tell there is that this was the last pre-war flight of a Pan Am Clipper coming home after Pearl. On the takeoff run the pilot spotted a native in an outrigger canoe directly in his path, he swerved the plane and avoided the native but tore a hole in the bottom of the plane when he hit a coral head. He managed to beach the plane where the expensive parts - engines, instruments, etc. were removed. The hulk of the plane was then towed out to a deep part of the harbor and sunk.
There is a plane there, I made a SCUBA dive on it. It is a seaplane. At the time I hadn't seen this book and couldn't identify what type. Now I do have the this book, it lists all of the Pan Am planes, and none of them were lost at Port Vila. I wonder what that plane really is.
This book marvelously tells the story of an interesting chapter in the development of aircraft.
Amazing look at an all too brief moment in aviation history.......2005-03-04
This book is a scrapbook of materials related to one of the most romantic and overlooked periods of aviation history. Photos, Pan-Am promotional materials, personal recollections and a variety of other materials are collected into the book. Many of the items are apparently taken from the author's personal collection -- lucky guy. The text is limited and the book really focuses on the imagery, as it should.
The only complaint I have, and it's an extremely minor one, is the red indicator arrows overlaid on some photos to point out an item of interest from the caption. This only occurs on a handful of photos, but almost always, the item in question was readily apparent and didn't need the photo marring red arrows anyway. In my mind, it's akin to drawing a moustache on photos of grandma in the family album.
Kudos to the author, you can feel the passion that was put into every page of this outstanding collection.
Best and most complete pictoral account of Pan-Am's flights.......1998-05-24
This book wonderfully commmerates the Yankee Clippers, Pan-Am's historic aircrafts, that united the Pacific Rim from 1935-46.
The book gives complete coverage of this exciting era of pioneering air travel and discovery.
Never before had aircraft bridged the Pacific and never has a book covered the era so well.
Customer Reviews:
The First (Controversial) Manned Flight........2005-12-16
As we near the 40th anniversary of the first manned flight into space, it is time to reflect on the significance of the reading from the book of 'Genesis' in the Bible. This book showed the role of religion in the astronauts' lives and why the Commander Frank Borman felt compelled to contemplate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve, 1968. Like most of America, I was glued to the television watching the progress of this most ambitious to that date mission to see the Earth from above, and listening in rapture to his prayer for peace. Of course, the atheists made a big to-do with their objections as explained by Mr. Zimmerman.
While Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, and Commander Borman soared around the moon aboard Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve, his heartfelt reading was heard by millions of people around the globe. After reading only a few verses from the Bible, he said this prayer:
"Give us, O God, the vision which can see Thy love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust Thy goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts and show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace." Amen. Thank God he had the courage to remember the birth of Jesus while he was 240,000 miles above the earth.
As it was transmitted, the spacecraft could be tracked visually or with a radio telescope. Twelve years later, the very large array telescope at the ground observatory in New Mexico began with twenty-seven antennas, so beautiful to see, to work as a single instrument. As a whole, they show detailed imaging of objects as near as our solar system or as far as the most distant quasar. Today, more discoveries are found by this vast array. This book has a good photo section with color illustrations and concise descriptions of each picture, including the famous Earthrise photo which is on the cover.
This was researched and written by Robert Zimmerman who wrote the 2003 Emme Award winner, LEAVING EARTH: SPACE STATIONS, RIVAL SUPERPOWERS AND THE QUEST FOR INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL. He has produced feature films and documentaries about space. He wrote for the 'Wall Street Journal' and, for 'Astronomy' magazine, he has written expensively on the history of space travel and exploration. He has also written articles about paleiotology as an avid cave explorer.
The world according to Zimmerman.......2005-08-29
Here's a taste of what awaits you in this book. When off on a ramble about when humans eventually colonize the solar system, Zimmerman states, "we should as free men and women, bring with us the laws of the United States and the capitalistic and democratic principles of our country." He then says, "we should also infuse the future generations of space settlers with principles of family, freedom, and moral commitment."
Yes, Zimmerman actually says this in a book that's supposed to be about Apollo 8.
If you are not American, conservative, and a follower of a Judeo-Christian sect, stay clear of this book. What you get here is a high-level overview of Apollo 8, and a heavy dose of Zimmerman's personal prejudices.
The book is full of contradictions as Zimmerman tries to make the case that freedom was the enabler of the U.S. space program and the reason NASA beat Russia to the moon. He conveniently glosses over the fact, however, that while in the long run Russian has years more space experience than the U.S. and has flown scores more flights, it has experienced nothing like the disastrous accidents NASA has in the last 2 decades.
At the same time, while he tries to make the case that freedom landed NASA on the moon, Zimmerman uses his personal biases to talk down the same freedom that made the Vietnam protests of the 1960s possible. It's the old, if you're not with us you're against us, mentality.
If you want to learn about Apollo 8, read the great "A Man on the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin. If you want to learn about what Robert Zimmerman thinks about God, Americans and politics, read Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8.
Excellent!.......2004-04-28
Zimmerman's book about the voyage of Apollo 8 was excellent. It is as good as the books written by Jim Lovell and Andrew Chaikin. The book is an easy read and flows very smoothly. It has an unusual style in that the book alternates between the "present" and personal recollections from the astronauts as they were growing up. It serves to put into context how the world had changed when they became of age.
One learns of the boring and routineness of space travel (I didn't think about that aspect) and that some "personal" accidents do happen - like a release of defecant or vomit into the spacecraft; again, one never really thinks of these aspects.
However, since we know that the highlight of the mission was the reading from Genesis, you get the feeling that the book is anti-climatic after this point. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book and I highly recommend it with Lovell's and Chaikin's book to get a well-rounded experience of the space program.
Finally, an account of history's most daring spaceflight.......2004-04-12
Apollo 8 was, in my opinion, the most audacious spaceflight ever achieved, possibly even more significant than the first moon landing itself. Apollo 8 was a flight full of firsts: it was the first flight to send astronauts away from the earth's influence, the first to send men to another world, and it was the first time human beings saw the earth as a whole with their own eyes. In a market full of Apollo books, this flight was long overdue for a book-length account of its own, and the task was finally done with Robert Zimmerman's book, thirty years after the flight.
I own both the hardcover and paperback versions, and I recommend the hardback for those willing to spend the extra money. The hardcover presents a number of illustrations not found in the paperback, including several color photos (compared to the paperback's photo section, which is entirely black and white). And Zimmerman's attention to detail regarding several of the photo descriptions is quite commendable.
The author does a thorough job helping to solve the mystery of just who took the "earthrise" photo, which has become one of the most famous images in the history of photography. For years the astronauts treated the question with a certain aloofness, as if the question should remain unanswered. Until this book, the photo had been left credited vaguely if at all. Indeed, even Andrew Chaikin's lauded "A Man on the Moon" devotes less than a page to this subject and leaves the question (i.e. Why have both Borman and Anders claimed credit over the years?) hanging in the ether. Here, Zimmerman pieces together the sequence of events and details that leave no doubt as to the origins of the two most particular earthrise photos. No book-length account of Apollo 8 would be complete if this was overlooked, and it makes the book worthwhile almost by itself.
Shortly afterward, Zimmerman addresses the subject which gives the book its title: the Christmas Eve reading by the crew, in lunar orbit, from the bible's Book of Genesis. He recounts Frank Borman's dilemma in searching for a Christmas message appropriate for a worldwide audience, while also capturing the significance of the flight's achievement. The fact that these men chose to read words from the bible, completely unbeknownst to NASA, is an ultimate expression of free will during one of the most important events in human history. Even though the author occasionally gets carried away while advocating religious freedom elsewhere in the book, his description here is one of the book's key moments.
The book has some flaws, and often it's when Zimmerman seeks to provide context outside of the mission. He uses the divided Berlin as a backdrop for the Cold War in the 1960s, so Apollo 8 finally becomes a symbol of freedom in contrast to the walls that communism built around itself. The comparison makes sense, but Zimmerman returns to Berlin again and again, when I felt the point was already made.
Another story tells of a U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war who eventually becomes a space shuttle astronaut. His story would make a nice magazine article, but honestly, I can't recall that it has anything at all to do with Apollo 8.
And there simply isn't enough coverage of important pre-launch and post-splashdown activities, which is inexcusable. In fact, more detail should have been provided about other technical aspects of the flight, as well. The entire sequence between liftoff and earth orbit, for example, is summed up in only two pages. There's just too much time spent establishing context and significance with not enough care devoted to the entire flight. I'm sure Zimmerman's motivation was to create a very readable account of the flight for a general audience, which it is, indeed. But the result is a less authoritative work than it could have been.
Zimmerman's book fills a major void, and it's a defining work on this historic spaceflight by default, because it is the only account of its kind. It's worth reading, even if hardcore aficionados will be left wanting.
Space history at its best!.......2004-03-07
In Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8: The First Manned Flight to Another World by Robert Zimmerman, the reader comes to understand the comprehensive and far ranging significance, importance, value, and necessity of space exploration, development, and travel. Space is many things to many people, ranging from a government program, to excitement and adventure, to scientific exploration, to business opportunities and more. In Genesis, Zimmerman shows us how Apollo 8 paved the way for all humanity to learn from its history and begin the process of moving off Earth.
The author accurately reports on the significance of the timing and the Cold War influences of Apollo 8 . While most space history books reporting on Apollo 8 do so factually and accurately, Zimmerman goes much deeper. He correctly identifies Apollo 8's broad ranging impact on our space program, society, and our nation's history. Zimmerman properly reports on the historical nature of the flight and the Christmas reading/message of the Apollo 8 crew . Zimmerman also recognizes the power represented by the actions of the Apollo crew that Christmas eve in 1968. That subtle power has contributed to our humanity, national space program, and our movement towards becoming a space-faring society. While some may be uncomfortable with Zimmerman's multi-dimensional and historical assessment of Apollo 8, I find his approach to this unique historical event in all history to be compelling! Reading Genesis has certainly enabled me to connect our place in space with our worldliness and spirituality. I see no reason to separate this historical event from these personal relationships and our future. This is an excellent book which I strongly recommend.
Book Description
This new comprehensive look at the evolution of the American flight jacket from World War I to Desert Storm addresses not only the types worn, but focuses primarily on the art and adornment applied to the jackets. The most colorful and creative period for flight jacket art was World War II, and it is this era that comprises a major portion of this book. Additionally, many of the pieces are attributed to the original owner with biographical information, contemporary photographs of the individual, and the aircraft on which he served. Personal combat accounts are also included. Also covered are other military jackets used by flyers. American Flight Jackets, Airmen & Aircraft was compiled over a number of years by Jon Maguire and John Conway. The authors became friends through a mutual passion for aviation history and collecting. This book provides a valuable reference for the historians and collectors alike, and includes over 1000 photographs.
Customer Reviews:
A must have.......2001-05-23
The reason I ordered this book is very simple: I'm an incurable nostalgic. Although I was born in a year (1960) not even close to the era from the great flight jackets, my interest has been growing since I started collecting memorabilia. (Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. from the period). As the owner of a (replica) A-2 jacket I decided I wanted to know more about them. This book has provided me with an excellent insight in the era and the men that wore the jackets. The sub-title promises a time span, roughly, from WWI to Desert Storm and although the emphasis is on WWII, the book delivers. Flight jacket buff and novice (like me) alike, this work takes you on a sentimental journey through the very interesting world of the American flight jacket. About one thousand pictures, most of them in colour and with great detail, show the flight jacket not just as a utilitarian garment but first and foremost as a means of expression and emotion. And that's why the authors shy away from quoting prices and don't talk about `market value'. Because some unscrupulous traders do not care about the intrinsic value but go for cold, hard cash, many jackets have been torn from their historical context and thus are lost. Not so in this book. Page after page of jackets, jacket art and the men who owned them. But not only leather jackets. Also all the other materials used in jackets are shown. (After the 50's, many jackets were made of other materials than leather). And some of the smaller details, like the lucky bells and the dinky whistles that some pilots used to hang from the collar hook of their jackets make even more interesting reading. The only thing I miss, is a summary of jacket manufacturers and some more technical details about the jackets themselves. Also, if you don't like reading a lot, this is a book for you. For all of you who are interested in a very special part of American heritage, or just want to know more about the flight jacket, this is required reading. To me: a must have.
Book Description
The mysterious events of April 21, 1918, the day the legendary Red Baron met his end, have kept the world captivated for decades.
There have been many theories, articles and books concerning exactly what took place but all previous accounts have been overshadowed by this groundbreaking book. Here is the definitive answer to one of history’s most compelling mysteries.
Taking you straight to the site of Richthofen’s final crash, leading aviation historian Norman Franks and pilot Alan Bennett dissect the evidence and expose what only eyewitnesses could see, complimented by a host of forensic and historical facts that illustrate in detail what actually occurred, when and how.
Customer Reviews:
Great documentary - a must for WWI aviation buffs like me.......2007-04-18
An excellent piece of work and a must for WWI flying buffs like I am. I was disappointed at the Midwest Book Review comment though as it said - "Any collection strong in either aviation history or World War II events must have this: it holds newly discovered eyewitness accounts ...." this is an excerpt from the Midwest Book Review. The good people there at the Midwest Book Review office might not be aware that Manfred von Richthofen "The Red Baron" served in WWI and not WWII. Living in Germany, Wiesbaden in fact I had the rare opportunity to visit his (MvR's) grave site this past Friday.
Submitted by Mark E. Grant, author of Blood of Scotland.
Any collection strong in either aviation history or World War II events must have this.......2007-02-03
This completely updated edition of one of the unsolved mysteries of military aviation covers the last flight of the Red Baron, and uses the final crash scene and analysis by the author, a leading aviation expert, and a pilot to explore and support eyewitness observations. Any collection strong in either aviation history or World War II events must have this: it holds newly discovered eyewitness accounts and further backs evidence.
Book Description
The invention of flight represents the culmination of centuries of thought and desire. Kites and rockets sparked our collective imagination. Then the balloon gave humanity its first experience aloft, though at the mercy of the winds. The steerable airship that followed had more practicality, yet a number of insurmountable limitations. But the airplane truly launched the Aerial Age, and its subsequent impact--from the vantage of a century after the Wright Brother's historic flight on December 17, 1903--has been extraordinary. Richard Hallion, a distinguished international authority on aviation, offers a bold new examination of aircraft history, stressing its global roots. The result is an interpretive history of uncommon sweep, complexity, and warmth. Taking care to place each technological advance in the context of its own period as well as that of the evolving era of air travel, this ground-breaking work follows the pre-history of flight, the work of balloon and airship advocates, fruitless early attempts to invent the airplane, the Wright brothers and other pioneers, the impact of air power on the outcome of World War I, and finally the transfer of prophecy into practice as flight came to play an ever-more important role in world affairs, both military and civil. Making extensive use of extracts from the journals, diaries, and memoirs of the pioneers themselves, and interspersing them with a wide range or rare photographs and drawings, Taking Flight leads readers to the laboratories and airfields where aircraft were conceived and tested. Forcefully yet gracefully written in rich detail and with thorough documentation, this book is certain to be the standard reference for years to come on how humanity came to take to the sky, and what the Aerial Age has meant to the world since da Vinci's first fantastical designs.
Customer Reviews:
An encyclopedic overview of the history of flight.......2003-09-14
This work offers an encyclopedic overview of the history of flight from the earliest legends through the First World War. Though his focus is on heavier-than-air flight, he also includes extensive coverage of the development of lighter-than-air craft and how it influenced aeronautical development. Throughout this book, Hallion demonstrates both an impressive range of knowledge and a welcome capacity for explaining some of the more technical details of aerodynamics - one that is especially welcome when it comes to explaining why so many of the Wrights' predecessors failed in their attempts to master flight.
The portrait Hallion paints is a fascinating one. He conveys the extent to which the Wright brothers built upon the achievements of both their predecessors and their contemporaries. Developments were reaching a critical mass, which - as Hallion repeatedly asserts - would almost certainly have led to heavier-than-air flight by 1910 (with the first flight most likely taking place in France). Nevertheless, the author does not underrate the Wrights' considerable accomplishment and its contribution to our history. Even after Europeans were first taking to the air in heavier-than-air craft, the Wrights' Flyer was still considerably superior to its counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic - as Wilbur Wright himself demonstrated in his 1908 tour of Europe.
As Hallion shows, however, Wilbur's tour represented the pinnacle of the Wrights' achievement. He describes the year 1909 as the year when the invention of flight ended and its refinement begins. In this phase the Europeans had a considerable advantage, for as the Wrights were pioneering flight the Europeans were focusing more on the scientific study of aerodynamics, something which Hallion sees as integral to the shift in aeronautical advancement from the New World back to the Old. Wedded to an increasingly obsolescent (and inherently dangerous) design, the Wrights no longer represented the leading edge of airplane development, one that was moving forward at a dramatic rate. Before the First World War ended, airplanes were already demonstrating speed, endurance, and applications that most people take for granted today but which almost none of the early pioneers had imagined were possible.
Yet while Hallion's book is one of the best histories of its subject, it has a number of annoying flaws. Foremost is the fact that this is very much a book of its time. The author constantly endeavors to make connections to modern concepts, with these portions - such as the conversion of currency amounts to their 2001 equivalents, or his repeated references to the events of September 11 - are likely to diminish the book's usefulness in the years to come. At times the encyclopedic nature of his account is almost annoyingly so (I have yet to find the trivia contest that required knowing that the commander of Germany's Zeppelin division was shot down by a plane which had taken off from the same city that had been a target of the first Zeppelin raid over England). Finally, he overemphasizes the historical impact of the airplane, especially in the First World War. He implies, for example, that the course of events at the battles of Tannenberg and the Marne was altered because of the use of airplanes, yet he offers no evidence to substantiate this claim beyond stressing the role the planes played as scouts while understating the other sources of information available to the commanders. Such claims are impossible to prove, of course, and only undermine the veracity of the author's historical judgment. Nevertheless, these problems should not detract from the overall value of this book in understanding both the long journey to flight and how it impacts us today.
Especially recommended for aviation buffs.......2003-08-10
Composed by NASA historian and international authority on aviation Richard P. Hallion, Taking Flight: Inventing The Aerial Age From Antiquity Through The First World War combines primary sources such as journals, diaries, and memoirs of aviation pioneers, with a scholarly and meticulous recounting of the evolution of aviation technology. Black-and-white photographs and keen attention to detail distinguish this recommended trove of an informed and informative history which is especially recommended for aviation buffs and an invaluable addition to academic and community library Aviation History reference collections.
An Extraordinary Achievement.......2003-07-26
Richard Hallion's TAKING FLIGHT is a literary and historical tour-de-force. Hallion writes with grace, style, and consumate skill. He weaves an incredibly rich tale of remarkable individuals who, over the centuries, brought the gift of flight to the world. With a thoroughness and solid grounding that is evident in the rich range of sources he has examined, Hallion shatters myths and reexamines the invention of flight. This places the work of the Wrights and other pioneers in a historical context sadly lacking in most other books on the subject. Not content--wisely so--to limit his text just to the events surrounding the Wrights, Hallion transports the reader from the early kite and rocket-firing pioneers of China, to the churches of medieval Europe, and on to the Renaissance and Baroque eras when technologists first conceived balloons and studied winged flight. He details the early flights of balloonists and airship enthusiasts, and the slow, painful progress towards inventing the airplane. Intriguingly, he explores why America succeeded in this race--but then let Europe speed rapidly past it. Perhaps most remarkably, Hallion succeeds in presenting this detailed story without either drowning the general reader with jargon-laden prose, or boring the technical specialist with a "dumbed-down" text. TAKING FLIGHT has received plaudits from many reviewers, and it left this reader eager to read any successor volume that Hallion might write taking the story to the present. If you buy just one book on the invention of flight during this 100th anniversary year, this is the one!
Masterful.......2003-06-27
The reason I give "Taking Flight" 5 stars is because there's no rating for 10. This is a masterful treatment of an extremely complex subject, and while the entire history of human flight is probably beyond any single volume, Hallion's tome approaches the definitive.
Apart from a thorough assessment of flight in myth, legend, and actuality, "Taking Flight" also assesses the cultral influences leading to Kitty Hawk and beyond. In these PC days it's refreshing to see an iron-clad argument as to why only western civilization could have produced powered flight. The progression from kites to balloons, dirigibles, and airplanes is rendered with authority and style.
In another 100 years, Dick Hallion's book will still be cited.
A Beautifully Written Tribute to Early Flight.......2003-06-04
Richard Hallion's Taking Flight is wonderful. It's clearly written and extremely engaging. I didn't know much about flight pre-Wright brothers, and this book weaves the story of man's obsession with the skies from ancient times to the Wrights. It contains much more social and political history than I thought it would--making it the story of man and technology through the lens of flight. I think it's a great complement to all the Wright brothers books out in this anniversary year. I didn't read the notes in the back (there were simply too many) but you needn't read them. A great summer reading.
Book Description
In
The Rocket Men authors Rex Hall and Dave Shayler review this Soviet demonstration of technological progress from both the developmental and operational aspects which were clouded in secrecy and in direct contrast to the high profile American programme.
As the one-man Mercury spacecraft gave way to the two-man series on the American road to the Moon with Apollo, the multi-crewed Voskhod series which followed the single-seat Vostok was expected to compete with the Gemini programme. By developing the experience and techniques required to send cosmonauts to the Moon the series was planned as a stepping stone to the Soyuz and Zond lunar programmes then under development which would race Apollo to the Moon.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent - High Recommended.......2001-07-15
Over the past few years Spring-Praxis has begun publishing high quality books about various aspects of space exploration, ranging from robotic missions to human exploration. This book is latest entry in series and continues the tradition of providing high caliber books. This time, the book focuses on the development of the Russian space program and the early flights (both men and women). While the book covers all the usual Russian firsts, like the first man and women crew into space and the first EVA, there are also a lot of other firsts, like the first civilians into space, which are covered as well. This truly an excellent book and presents a lot new information in a relatively non-technical way.
The book is divided into four main sections. The first section deals with the early Russian space pioneers, like Tsiolkovsky, and the development of the ballooning programs. The next section, which is the largest section, focuses on the Korolyov (The Chief Designer) and the development of the early Russian space program. The third section covers the early human space flight missions and the final section examines the unmanned vehicles that followed. Occasionally a few paragraphs about the US program are presented, to allow the reader to better gauge the Russian progress.
The first section of the book examines the early space flight theories of Tsiolkovsky and the early Russian pioneering efforts in stratospheric ballooning with the goal of trying to set a new manned altitude record. Two important benefits that came about due to these efforts were the development of pressurized suits for low altitudes and the understanding of parachuting fundamentals and parachutes clubs, which were ultimately applied, to the Russian space program.
The next section covers the Russian space program after World War II and the use captured German hardware to begin a space program. From these initial test flights, the Russian were able to begin development their ballistic missiles. The books presents the progression of the Russian missile program from the German V-2 through the Russian R-7, and it is easy to see that the Russian launch vehicles are direct descendants of the German launch vehicles.
The main section of the book focuses on the development of the early Russian space program, both manned and unmanned and contains a lot of information about the chief designer, Sergie Korolyov. The section of the books cover the construction of the Baikonur launch facility, the artificial satellite program, the development of the Vostok capsule, crew training, crew selection and loads of other stuff. I found the parts about the selection and construction of the Baikonur launch facility extremely fascinating. While it was in part chosen for its remoteness, it was also chosen that in the event of an abort, the launch vehicle could come down Russia and in relatively unpopulated areas of Russia. The construction crews faced a lot of hardships and death, but eventually after several years of hardships, the facility was completed. Also included in this section are detailed descriptions of the crew selection and training and ultimately their flights into Earth orbit. It is impressive to see than the Russian cosmonaut program paralleled the US effort and in many cases surpassed NASA. Specifically, the choice of women and civilians for spaceflight happened years before NASA even considered doing so. While some of the motivation behind these efforts may have political, these efforts were nevertheless carried on with success.
The final section of the book covers the unmanned flight since the Vostok and Voskhod missions. It was extremely interesting to note that many of the unmanned Earth orbiting Russian satellites even up to the most recent launches are based significantly on these early designs.
This is one of the best books I've read on the early Russian space effort with the only possible exception being Jim Oberg's Red Star in Orbit. It covers all the aspects of the development of the Russian space program and present a lot new information. Highly recommended!!!!!
Books:
- My Lai: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
- On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined
- Panzers I and II and Their Variants: From Reichswehr to Wehrmacht
- People of the Silence: A Novel of the Anasazi (The First North Americans series, Book 8)
- Police Ethics: The Corruption Of Noble Cause
- Private Pilot Manual (JS314500)
- Rethinking the Principles of War
- Royal Navy Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces)
- Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945
- Sharpe's Trafalgar: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #4)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- THE GO-GETTER: A Story That Tells You How to Be One
- Lessons with Lendon: 25 Progressive Dressage Lessons Take You from Basic "Whoa and Go" to Your First
- El Hombre Duplicado/the Double
- History: Fiction or Science
- Hitchcock
- Paradise Lost
- Important Bird Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation
- Labour Force Survey Results 1998-99 Results
- Develop Work Priorities
- Encyclopedia of Associations : Regional, State, and Local Organizations: South Central and Great Pla
