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The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team will relate who these men were
and offer far more extensive background stories, in addition to
those of the more familiar names of early Soviet space explorers
from that group. Many previously-unpublished photographs of these
"missing" candidates will also be included for the first time in
this book. It will be a detailed, but highly readable and balanced
account of the history, training and experiences of the first group
of twenty cosmonauts of the USSR. A covert recruitment and
selection process was set in motion throughout the Soviet military
in August 1959, just prior to the naming of America's Mercury
astronauts. Those selected were ordered to report for training at a
special camp outside of Moscow in the spring of 1960. Just a year
later, Senior Lieutenant Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Air Force
(promoted in flight to the rank of major) was launched aboard a
Vostok spacecraft and became the first person ever to achieve space
flight and orbit the Earth.
Many readers will doubtless be astonished to learn that animals
were being fired aloft in U.S. and Soviet research rockets in the
late 1940s. In fact most people not only believe that the Russian
space dog Laika was the first canine to be launched into space, but
also that the high-profile, precursory Mercury flights of chimps
Ham and Enos were the only primate flights conducted by the United
States. In fact, both countries had sent literally dozens of
animals aloft for many years prior to these events and continued to
do so for many years after. Other latter-day space nations, such as
France and China, would also begin to use animals in their own
space research.
Animals in Space will explain why dogs, primates, mice and other
rodents were chosen and tested, at a time when dedicated scientists
from both space nations were determined to establish the
survivability of human subjects on both ballistic and orbital space
flights. It will also recount the way this happened; the secrecy
involved and the methods employed, and offer an objective analysis
of how the role of animals as spaceflight test subjects not only
evolved, but subsequently changed over the years in response to a
public outcry led by animal activists. It will explore the ways in
which animal high-altitude and space flight research impacted on
space flight biomedicine and technology, and how the results - both
successful and disappointing - allowed human beings to then
undertake that same hazardous journey with far greater
understanding and confidence.
This book is intended as a detailed yet highly readable and
balanced account of the history of animal space flights, and the
resultant application of hard-won researchto space technology and
astrobiology. It will undoubtedly become the ultimate authority on
animal space flights.
Unofficially they called themselves the TFNG, or the Thirty-Five
New Guys. Officially, they were NASA's Group 8 astronauts, selected
in January 1978 to train for orbital missions aboard the Space
Shuttle. Prior to this time only pilots or scientists trained as
pilots had been assigned to fly on America's spacecraft, but with
the advent of the innovative winged spacecraft the door was finally
opened to non-pilots, including women and minorities. In all, 15 of
those selected were categorised as Pilot Astronauts, while the
other 20 would train under the new designation of Mission
Specialist. Altogether, the Group 8 astronauts would be launched on
a total of 103 space missions; some flying only once, while others
flew into orbit as many as five times. Sadly, four of their number
would perish in the Challenger tragedy in January 1986. In their
latest collaborative effort, the authors bring to life the amazing
story behind the selection of the first group of Space Shuttle
astronauts, examining their varied backgrounds and many
accomplishments in a fresh and accessible way through deep research
and revealing interviews. Throughout its remarkable 30-year history
as the workhorse of NASA's human spaceflight exploration, twice
halted through tragedy, the Shuttle fleet performed with
magnificence. So too did these 35 men and women, swept up in the
dynamic thrust and ongoing development of America's Space Shuttle
program. "This book on the Group 8 Astronauts, the TFNGs, is an
excellent summation of the individuals first selected for the new
Space Shuttle Program. It provides insight into what it took to
first get the Space Shuttle flying. For any space enthusiast it is
a must read." - Robert L. Crippen PLT on STS-1 "As a reader, I had
many moments where long, lost memories of the triumph and tragedy
of the space shuttle program were brilliantly reawakened at the
turn of a page. Loved it! This is a must-have book for every space
enthusiast's library." - TFNG Mission Specialist Astronaut Richard
'Mike' Mullane, author of Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a
Space Shuttle Astronaut "Many of the anecdotes in the book brought
back memories of challenges, opportunities, and a team of men and
women who were committed not just to the space program, but to one
another...I've gone back to it several times as a reference
source." - TFNG Steve Hawley, 5-time Space Shuttle Mission
Specialist Astronaut "The TFNG book is incredible and amazingly
thorough! The detail in the book is awesome! It is my go-to book
for any of the details I've forgotten." - TFNG Dr. Rhea Seddon,
3-time Space Shuttle Mission Specialist Astronaut. "I can't believe
how detailed and complete it is!!! FANTASTIC work!!!" - TFNG Robert
L."Hoot" Gibson, 5-time Space Shuttle Pilot & Commander and
former Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office
In this spellbinding account of an historic but troubled orbital
mission, noted space historian Colin Burgess takes us back to an
electrifying time in American history, when intrepid pioneers were
launched atop notoriously unreliable rockets at the very dawn of
human space exploration. A nation proudly and collectively came to
a standstill on the day this mission flew; a day that will be
forever enshrined in American spaceflight history. On the morning
of February 20, 1962, following months of frustrating delays, a
Marine Corps war hero and test pilot named John Glenn finally
blazed a path into orbit aboard a compact capsule named Friendship
7. The book's tension-filled narrative faithfully unfolds through
contemporary reports and the personal recollections of astronaut
John Glenn, along with those closest to the Friendship 7 story,
revealing previously unknown facts behind one of America's most
ambitious and memorable pioneering space missions. Friendship 7.
The book's tension-filled narrative faithfully unfolds through
contemporary reports and the personal recollections of astronaut
John Glenn, along with those closest to the Friendship 7 story,
revealing previously unknown facts behind one of America's most
ambitious and memorable pioneering space missions. Friendship 7
story, revealing previously unknown facts behind one of America's
most ambitious and memorable pioneering space missions.
On January 28, 1986, NASA space shuttle orbiter Challenger lifted
off into the clear blue skies over Florida on mission STS-51L,
carrying a crew of seven, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. Just
seventy-three seconds into the launch, a massive explosion tore
Challenger apart. This newly revised edition of Teacher in Space
tells the story of how McAuliffe graduated from her role as a
much-loved high school teacher to occupying a seat on the veteran
orbiter's tenth and last flight into space. McAuliffe's dream was
to carry out science projects while in orbit around the earth that
were to be telecast live to school students across the United
States. Her dream came to a sudden and tragic end that terrible
day. Nevertheless, that ambition to educate from space remained an
inspiration to many and, in her name and those of the Challenger
crew, manifested itself in the establishment of hundreds of youth
education programs and institutes of learning across America and
around the world. Teacher in Space is a remarkable story of renewed
faith, cooperation, and hope for the future and of a dedicated and
much-loved teacher who came to symbolize the best of human
achievement.
The names of the seven Mercury astronauts were announced in April
1959 amid a flurry of publicity and patriotism. This work provides
biographical details of all thirty-two finalists for the seven
coveted places as America's pioneering astronauts. All of the
candidates were among the nation's elite pilots involved in testing
new supersonic aircraft capabilities. Most had served as wartime
fighter and bomber pilots; some were test pilots on top secret and
sophisticated aviation projects, while others were fleet admirals,
prisoners of war, and proposed pilots for spaceflight programs such
as the Dyna-Soar (X-20). The names of all 32 finalists have been
kept secret until very recently. "Selecting the Mercury Seven" also
relates the history and difficulties behind the initial choice of
candidates. The lives, motivations, military careers, and
achievements of the unsuccessful twenty-five finalists are explored
first in fully authorized biographies. Test pilots for the U.S.
Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, each man has a fascinating and
very different story to tell. All thirty-two men had to endure
meticulous, demeaning, and brutal week-long medical examinations at
the Lovelace Clinic in New Mexico. This was followed by another
torturous week at the Wright Aeromedical Laboratory in Ohio, where
they were subjected to extreme fitness and physiological testing,
the sole purpose of which was to sort out the Supermen from the
near-supermen. The final part of the book examines the
accomplishments and spaceflights of the seven successful
candidates, bringing their amazing stories right up to date.
Mounting pressure in the early 1960s from the National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) to study ways of expanding the role of astronauts to
conduct science on future space missions led to NASA's conclusion
that flying scientifically trained crewmembers would generate
greater returns from each mission.
The space race was perhaps the greatest technological contest of
the 20th century. It was a thrilling era of innovation, discovery
and exploration, as astronauts and cosmonauts were launched on
space missions of increasing length, complexity and danger. The
Greatest Adventure traces the events of this extraordinary period,
describing the initial string of Soviet achievements: the first
satellite in orbit; the first animal, man and woman in space; the
first spacewalk; as well as the ultimate US victory in the race to
land on the moon. The book then takes the reader on a journey
through the following decades of space exploration to the present
time, detailing the many successes, tragedies, risks and rewards of
space exploration.
In this deeply researched chronology, Colin Burgess describes the
Soviet Union’s extraordinary success in the pioneering years of
space exploration. Within a decade the Soviets not only launched
the world’s first satellite, but were the first to send an animal
and a human being into Earth orbit. More than that, their
ground-breaking missions sent a woman into space, launched a
three-man spacecraft and included the first person to walk in
space. Six decades on from the historic spaceflight of cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin, Burgess guides us through the amazing achievements of
Russia’s spaceflight programme through to the present day,
introducing the men and women who have flown the missions as we
seek to delve ever deeper into the wonders and complexities of the
cosmos.
Near the end of the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott and fellow
moonwalker James Irwin conducted a secret ceremony unsanctioned by
NASA: they placed on the lunar soil a small tin figurine called The
Fallen Astronaut, along with a plaque bearing a list of names. By
telling the stories of those sixteen astronauts and cosmonauts who
died in the quest to reach the moon between 1962 and 1972, this
book enriches the saga of humankind's greatest scientific
undertaking, Project Apollo, and conveys the human cost of the
space race. Many people are aware of the first manned Apollo
mission, in which Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost
their lives in a fire during a ground test, but few know of the
other five fallen astronauts whose stories this book tells as well,
including Ted Freeman and C.C. Williams, who died in the crashes of
their T-38 jets; the "Gemini Twins," Charlie Bassett and Elliot
See, killed when their jet slammed into the building where their
Gemini capsule was undergoing final construction; and Ed Givens,
whose fatal car crash has until now been obscured by rumors.
Supported by extensive interviews and archival material, the
extraordinary lives and accomplishments of these and other fallen
astronauts-including eight Russian cosmonauts who lost their lives
during training-unfold here in intimate and compelling detail.
Their stories return us to a stirring time in the history of our
nation and remind us of the cost of fulfilling our dreams. This
revised edition includes expanded and revised biographies and
additional photographs. Purchase the audio edition.
Following the fortieth anniversary of Apollo 11, as NASA prepares
to return astronauts to the moon, Footprints in the Dust offers a
thorough, engrossing, and multifaceted account of the Apollo
missions. The flight of Apollo 11 was a triumph of human endeavor,
persistence, and technology, one of the greatest achievements in
human history. This book begins with the mission that sent Neil
Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin to the moon, then follows
American spaceflight through the harrowing rescue of Apollo 13
before moving on to the successful joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in
1975. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with key figures
in the space program, the authors convey the human drama and chart
the technological marvels that went into the Apollo missions. They
also put the accomplishments of American spaceflight into
historical context, examining the competitive space race with the
Soviet Union, the roles of politics and personality in launching
the mission, and the consequences, practical and profound, of this
giant leap for mankind. Purchase the audio edition.
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. Â
Purchase the audio edition.
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. These pages chronicle a
varied and riveting cavalcade of human stories, including a look at
Yuri Gagarin's harrowing childhood in war-ravaged Russia and Alan
Shepard'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 Leonov'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.
Purchase the audio edition.
Near the end of the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott and fellow
moonwalker James Irwin conducted a secret ceremony unsanctioned by
NASA: they placed on the lunar soil a small tin figurine called
"The Fallen Astronaut," along with a plaque bearing a list of
names. This book enriches the saga of mankind's greatest scientific
undertaking, Project Apollo, and conveys the human cost of the
space race - by telling the stories of those sixteen astronauts and
cosmonauts who died reaching for the moon. Many people are aware of
the Apollo launch pad disaster in which three men lost their lives,
but few know of the other five fallen astronauts whose stories this
book tells as well: among them, Ted Freeman and C.C. Williams, who
died in the crashes of their -38 jets; the "Gemini Twins," Charlie
Bassett and Elliot See, killed when their jet slammed into the
building where their Gemini capsule was undergoing final
construction; and Ed Givens, whose fatal car crash has until now
been obscured by rumors. The extraordinary lives and
accomplishments of these and other fallen astronauts - including
eight Russian cosmonauts who lost their lives during training -
unfold here in intimate and compelling detail, supported by
extensive interviews and archival material. Their stories return us
to a stirring time in the history of our nation and remind us of
the cost of fulfilling our dreams.
Shattered Dreams delves into the personal stories and recollections
of several men and women who were in line to fly a specific or
future space mission but lost that opportunity due to personal
reasons, mission cancellations, or even tragedies. While some of
the subjects are familiar names in spaceflight history, the
accounts of others are told here for the first time. Colin Burgess
features spaceflight candidates from the United States, Russia,
Indonesia, Australia, and Great Britain. Shattered Dreams brings to
new life such episodes and upheavals in spaceflight history as the
saga of the three Apollo missions that were cancelled due to
budgetary constraints and never flew; NASA astronaut Patricia
Hilliard Robertson, who died of burn injuries after her airplane
crashed before she had a chance to fly into space; and a female
cosmonaut who might have become the first journalist to fly in
space. Another NASA astronaut was preparing to fly an Apollo
mission before he was diagnosed with a disqualifying illness. There
is also the amazing story of the pilot who could have bailed out of
his damaged aircraft but held off while heroically avoiding a
populated area and later applied to NASA to fulfill his cherished
dream of becoming an astronaut despite having lost both legs in the
accident. These are the incredibly human stories of competitive
realists fired with an unquenchable passion. Their accounts reveal
in their own words—and those of others close to them—how their
shared ambition would go awry through personal accidents, illness,
the Challenger disaster, death, or other circumstances. Â
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