Customer Reviews

This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury

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"This New Ocean" is a completely comprehensive account of the United States' first manned space program. The text is incredibly detailed in chronicling the entire history of all aspects of Project Mercury - from the first multi-g experiments on man to various heat-shielding techniques, rocket boosters, and environmental subsystems, and countless space schemes thought up by the military. The development of the program is quite fascinating. So comprehensive is the text that Alan Shepard's historic sub-orbital flight doesn't actually occur until halfway through the book.

It's not a read for those just getting their feet wet in the history of space flight. This book is for those who already know the basics but crave every detail - all the early tests on man and machine and a full dissection of every part of the capsule.

My only complaint is that "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" does not have an index. For such a comprehensive work of non-fiction, this omission is a crime. So many names and acronyms are mentioned in rapid succession that it's almost impossible to remember the roles of everyone. I keep a notepad with me to jot down names, acronyms, and page numbers, so that when I come across something that sounds familiar, I know where I saw it before. A glossary for the acronyms would also be a helpful feature. If a second edition of this chronology is ever made, it needs an index badly. I'd compile it myself if the publishers asked me to.

Still, it's a well-worthwhile read for those who need to know everything about EXACTLY how we first got to space.