Prologue by Konrad Dannenberg -- Hermann Oberth : the father of space travel -- The battle of the formulae -- From theory to experimentation -- Peenemunde : a scientific mobilization -- How the A-4 rocket became the V-2 -- Coming to America : Operation Paperclip -- The space age begins! -- Willy Ley rallies the nation for space -- Wernher von Braun : the Columbus of space -- Krafft Ehricke's extraterrestrial imperative.
The pioneers of astronomy and space exploration have advanced humankinds understanding of the universe. These individuals include earthbound theorists such as Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Galileo, as well as those who put their lives on the line travelling into the great unknown. Readers chronicle the lives of individuals positioned at the vanguard of astronomical discovery, laying the groundwork for space exploration past, present, and yet to come.
Back when scientists knew nothing about space travel, back when rockets were new, a group of Russian cosmonauts rode rockets to the edge of space and into earth orbit. These pioneer space travelers were dogs, space dogs of the Soviet space program.For 15 years, space dogs occupied the world stage, blazing trails as the first astronauts.Their flights taught scientists how living beings reacted to rocket travel and tested the equipment that would be used for human space flight. The age of the space dog extended from the first launch in 1951 until the final, record-breaking dog flight in 1966. Some dogs won world-wide fame. Most of them, however, worked-and died-in obscurity. They were all pioneers of space travel. And no one has ever told their story. Until now.Space Dogs dramatizes the training of the dogs, the harrowing early flights, the tragic accidents, the fame that came to the program after the launch of Laika in Sputnik 2, and the final flights leading up to the first manned flight.Space Dogs includes never-before-published photos from the archives of Novosti, the Russian News Agency.
Now with an Historical Afterword by Ron Miller Featured in Ron Millers _The Conquest of Space Book Series.Ó Pioneers of Space (1949) was later reincarnated almost word-for-word as the "non-fiction" Inside the Space Ships, one of the books largely responsible for the UFO craze of the 1950s and 60s. Ghost-written by Adamski acolyte Lucy McGinnis, this novel contains some of the most inept scientific ideas imaginable. In the early 1950s, "Professor" George Adamski laid the groundwork for all subsequent UFO contactees. In Pioneers of Space he created many of the incidents and qualities he later attributed to the "actual" inhabitants of Venus, Mars and Saturn he later claimed to have met. In addition, we get a look at some of the strange "science" this self-proclaimed astronomer believed in. "Facts" such as there must be oxygen in space otherwise the sun could not burn... At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Ninety space pioneers describe their experiences while working on space research and exploration from the 1940s through the space shuttle program. Some of these men and women were well known as astronauts or members of Mission Control for Apollo flights to the Moon, and some were minor players in the programs-people like lab technicians, weather forecasters, welders, and helicopter pilots who supported rocket tests. Their stories disclose events and behind-the-scenes details available nowhere else. They reveal the human experiences of an era that extended from the launch of this planet's first "artificial moon" to routine shuttle missions carrying people and supplies between Earth and the International Space Station. Drawn from the archives of the oral history program supported by the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation, the excerpts describe funny, frightening, and fascinating episodes. They paint the hues of human experience on the canvas of technological achievements. In this book, for the first time, extensive portions of the New Mexico Museum of Space History and International Space Hall of Fame's oral history collection are available to the general public. Supplemented with photographs and annotated for historical context, this presentation offers a unique glimpse into humanity's struggles to become a spacefaring race. That perspective forms an important foundation for the new era of commercial spaceflight and interplanetary exploration.
International space law is less than 50 years old. Although the work on the codification of space law started in the late 1950s, the Outer Space Treaty was only adopted in January 1967. However, much earlier than that, even as early as 1932, the first ideas about legal rules for human activities in outer space were being considered. Very little is known about these early drafts and proposals, and the pioneering work of early scholars in the field remains relatively unknown. This volume seeks to redress this by analysing the biographies and contributions to international space law of eleven such early "pioneers”, whose ground-breaking and original work helped to develop the field in important ways. The collection starts in the 1930's with the Czech author Vladimir Mandl, and dwells at length on the 1950's, the early time of space flight. The section on each "pioneer" is written by different members of the International Institute of Space Law, making this a lively, fascinating and unique collection of essays, of interest to the whole community of space lawyers.
A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War—a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival—and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."
Two pioneers of space exploration, Robert Esnault-Pelterie and Ary Sternfeld, introduced the words 'astronautics' and 'cosmonautics, ' respectively, into the scientific language. The origin of the term 'astronautics' is well documented. In contrast, the history of the word 'cosmonautics' remains poorly known. Ary Sternfeld is also largely forgotten. The fiftieth anniversary of the breakthrough to space, celebrated in 2007, makes it especially appropriate to remember those visionaries who paved the way to cosmos. The book tells the stories of 'astronautics' and 'cosmonautics' and describes a most unusual life journey of Ary Sternfeld
This well-documented and fascinating book tells how, over the centuries, a series of visionaries, scientists, technologists, and politicians fostered the involvement of Italy in space exploration. The lives of these pioneers was often far from easy, yet they persevered. The fruits of their efforts can today be witnessed in Italy’s success within the cutting-edge space sector. Italy’s history in space started at the end of the fourteenth century and continued with the development of fireworks. Later, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of research into rockets in a more scientific way. After World War II, rocket technology was advanced with the aid of German scientists, and in the 1960s Luigi Broglio, the father of Italian space exploration, designed the San Marco satellite. In 1979 the first Italian Space Plan was launched, but it was the foundation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988 that kick-started a program of exploration in various fields of cosmic research. The outcome was construction of the Vega launcher and collaboration in the International Space Station. Now the Italian space industry stands ready to play an important role in the Gateway orbital station. All of this history, and more, is explored in this riveting book.
