Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) [Paperback]

Pat Norris (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387716726 | ISBN-13: 978-0387716725 | Publication Date: October 4, 2007 | Edition: 1

In this book, Patrick Norris responds to the 50th Anniversary of the dawn of the Space Age – the launch of Sputnik 1 – with a review of the most important historical applications of space science for the benefit of the human race during that half century, focusing on the prevention of nuclear war. In developing this story Norris illuminates a little-known aspect of the Space Age, namely the military dimension.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "The author’s aim, in this book, is to persuade readers that ‘the most crucial role’ played by satellites … . The book is illustrated with 50 black-and-white photos and has a reference section … . In one neat and readable package, this book brings together the myths and rumours, facts and factoids, of which most of us have … recollection, and places them in an historical setting. In the final analysis, the author’s take on the ‘crucial role’ of spy satellites is compelling … ." (Satellite Evolution Group, October, 2008)

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Praxis; 1 edition (October 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387716726
• ISBN-13: 978-0387716725
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,615,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good review of topic, April 23, 2008

By 

Patrick J. Brunet - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

Norris is an englishman who has spent over 40 years in the aerospace industry and time on the U.S. Apollo program. Here he reviews the history and technology of spy satellites. Readers will find a good, fairly clear review of the topic based on secondary, unclassified resources. The first half of the book is heavily historical while the second half devotes more space to strategy and analysis. Easily understandable for undergrads and high schoolers, it reads like an extended article from Aviation Week and Space Technology. English origins are obvious but he succeeds in covering all the international players (U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China, India, etc.) and that is a strength of the work. A little bit repetitive and at least one footnote is not supported. (He cites Rhodes but there is no Rhodes in the biblography. No doubt he meant Richard Rhodes). Still, all-in-all a good overview of a topic where there isn't much available. High school, college and medium-sized or larger public libraries will find this a good purchase.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as thorough as expected, August 24, 2008

By 

Haubrechts Patrick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

Spies in the Sky, Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace.

From the title, I expected a book covering all aspects of spying from space. Instead, the author focuses on the first generation Corona program, based on film return in re-entry capsules. This is normal, because he was working in this project. Still, very little is said about other kinds of surveillance satellites, such as the signal interception, electronic signature intelligence, missile detection, atomic explosion detection, submarines monitoring, etc. No description of the Echelon program, or the Vortex system, for example.

Since the book is not restricted on US satellites, little is said about Soviet counterparts, some about the Zenith, equivalent to the Corona, but not much more. There is not even one word about the Almaz soviet program, which is one of the few examples of human operating spying devices from space, except perhaps the space shuttle.

His style is more narrative than descriptive, making the reading very easy. The subject is well introduced, but some comparison tables would have helped to gather and compare data.

As a conclusion, if this book had been titled :

US spy satellites, the Corona Program, it would have been an excellent book.

P. Haubrechts