Customer Reviews

Astronautics: Book 2: To the Moon and Towards the Future (Apogee Books Space Series) (Bk. 2)

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The obscure title hardly does justice to the lucid story of man's
exploration of the heavens that should charm both a novice and a rocket
scientist. The comprehensive coverage of topics spans manned missions going around the earth and spacewalks, to the unbelievable and yet true landing on moon and back, and further on to the more esoteric deep space interplanetary missions and fairy tale like trips to collect atoms from solar winds and dust from a comet's tail. The author has buffered his fascinating story of Science and Technology with a healthy dose of human drama like the mission chief promising the Neil Armstrong's team dibs on the next mission should their mission fail; helplessness of the rescue team as the Apollo 1 crew is consumed by a fire right on land; desperate attempts by the soviet rescue team to resuscitate a cosmonaut after his spaceship's parachute lines got entangled; and the urgency faced by the Soviet-American team as they were putting down a smoky fire aboard a spaceship with nowhere to escape.

The book describes experiments in space that would be readily understood by a common man, like hitting a golf ball on lunar surface, and by every Science student since the time of Galileo but found it hard to believe - a rock and a feather would take the same time to strike the ground. Other wondrous topics included are the close examination of planets, asteroids and their moons that could only be seen through telescopes until a couple of decades ago. The author also recalls numerous failures and tragedies that beset the soviet space program, and their undeclared race to beat the Americans in bringing samples from moon, but were unknown to the west until the secretive Soviet Union unraveled.

A few pictures of spaceship mechanisms like Gyros and Vernier rockets, inclusion of spaceflight terminologies like Attitude, Spin, Soft and Hard Lock in the Glossary, and a richer index to locate interesting events would have helped. Otherwise, the book is an excellent work and I would recommend it to anyone who has some curiosity about the birds, airplanes, skies, and the heavens beyond.

"To the Moon and Towards the Future" captured my attention with an excellent review and story of the evolution of the space age. It provided the pertinent technical information I was looking for with a good balance of relevant political and social implications. I feel the book offered a clear and concise picture of the major factors which influenced space programs.

I appreciate the tremendous effort to compile this information and the forthright presentation. Valid critique and evaluation of the space industry is refreshing in light of the typical propaganda and marketing. I believe a realistic look at our successes and failures will enhance our current activities and future in space.

Robert Talmage, TAAS Company