Imagining Space: Achievements, Predictions, Possibilities 1950-2050 [Hardcover]

Roger Launius (Author), Howard McCurdy (Author), Ray Bradbury (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0811831159 | ISBN-13: 978-0811831154 | Edition: 1St Edition

Space travel has gone from fantasy to reality in just fifty years where will we be fifty years from now? This breathtaking book follows our projections for space exploration in the 1950s to our actual accomplishments today and goes on to predict the spacecraft, commerce, ecology, and manned explorations yet to come in the next 50 years. Lavishly illustrated, with a visionary foreword by Ray Bradbury as well as an adventurous text by NASA's chief historian and an expert on the U.S. space program, Imagining Space will inspire science fiction enthusiasts, pop culture fans, and anyone who has ever looked up at the stars in wonder.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Imagining Space is a lovely coffee-table collection of artists' renderings, photographs, and schematics, along with a comprehensive history of the human effort to explore space and a look at what's ahead. Starting with paintings from the 1950s of what vehicles and their destinations might look like, and zooming through the decades to fantastic renderings of upcoming space technology, NASA historian Roger D. Launius and American University professor Howard E. McCurdy offer a fascinating overview of the promise of the final frontier.

With a foreword by Ray Bradbury and space art by Chesley Bonestell, Imagining Space has a solid science fiction pedigree. But some of this stuff is real, and images from achievements like moon landings, interplanetary probes, and the Mars rover seem even more amazing when juxtaposed with the wide-eyed scientific speculations of domed habitats and faster-than-light propulsion systems. After all, the rover really got built ... and it worked! No one really knows where we'll go next, or who'll pay for it, but it's exciting to think that we're likely to go somewhere by 2050, even if it's just high enough to admire our own beautiful planet from a distance. --Therese Littleton

About the Author

Roger D. Launius >NASA's chief historian for more than 10 years, is vice-president of publications of the American Astronomical Society, editor of the magazine Space Times, and author of numerous books on aerospace history. He lives in Maryland.

Howard E. McCurdy is professor of public affairs at American University in Washington, D.C., and the author of three previous books on the U.S. space program. He lives in Maryland.

Ray Bradbury is the author of more than 30 books, including The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. Recipient of a National Book Award for his lasting contribution to American literature, he lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 1St Edition edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811831159
• ISBN-13: 978-0811831154
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roger D. Launius is a senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A graduate of Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, he received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1982 and worked as a civilian historian with the United States Air Force until 1990.

He has written or edited more than twenty books on aerospace history, among others including "Smithsonian Atlas of Space Exploration" (HarperCollins, 2009); "Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008); "Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars" (Smithsonian Books, 2003; 2nd ed. 2009), which received the AIAA's history manuscript prize; "Flight: A Celebration of 100 Years in Art and Literature" (Welcome Books, 2003); "Reconsidering a Century of Flight" (University of North Carolina Press, 2003); "To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles" (University Press of Kentucky, 2002); "Imagining Space: Achievements, Possibilities, Projections, 1950-2050" (Chronicle Books, 2001); "Innovation and the Development of Flight" (Texas A&M University Press, 1999); "NASA & the Exploration of Space" (Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1998); "Frontiers of Space Exploration" (Greenwood Press, 1998, rev. ed. 2004); "Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership" (University of Illinois Press, 1997); and "NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program" (Krieger Publishing Co., 1994, rev. ed. 2001).

He is also involved in other historical studies. His book, "Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet" (University of Illinois Press, 1988), won the prestigious Evans Award for biography. He has also published "Differing Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1994), "Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois" (Utah State University Press, 1995), "Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited: Nauvoo in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1996), and several others. "Alexander William Doniphan: Portrait of a Missouri Moderate" (University of Missouri Press, 1997), discusses the role of the vital center in American politics during the Mexican-American War and sectional conflict.

More recently he has been studying the relationship of baseball to American culture and has published, "Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman" (Walker and Co., 2010), and "Seasons in the Sun: The Story of Big League Baseball in Missouri" (University of Missouri Press, 2002).

He served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and presented the prestigious Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History at the United States Air Force Academy in 2006. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Astronautical Society, and Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues, and has been a guest commentator on National Public Radio and all the major television networks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With stunningly beautiful illustrations, December 13, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imagining Space: Achievements, Predictions, Possibilities 1950-2050 (Hardcover)

With a special foreword by famed science fiction author Ray Bradbury, Imagining Space: Achievements, Predications, Possibilities 1950-2050 is an amazing, informative, thought-provoking, and superbly illustrated armchair traveler's guide - one that takes the reader to other planets, past the solar system, and beyond the Milky Way galaxy. It looks back to the 1950 predictions of rocket scientists and science fiction authors, to the present day space program, and forward to the possibilities of 2050. Chief NASA historian Roger D. Launius and Dr. Howard E. McCurdy of American University explore the dreams and realities of our past and future as connected to space travel, including speculations of one day exploring Mars and creating space colonies. Imagining Space is written in lay terminology so that its dreams can easily be imparted to the casual reader, but by far its most vivid asset are its stunningly beautiful illustrations; over 150 artists' renderings and photographs display a breathtaking, unforgettable glimpse into the past, present, and future of space travel. Very highly recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the future beyond the boundaries of the Earth.