Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race

Fifty years after the Moon landing, a new history of the space race explores the lives of Soviet and American engineers and how technological breakthroughs in Earth orbit flight blurred the lines between military and civilian activities, leading to space firsts and crushing failures.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 02 July 2019
Publisher: Yale University Press

Fifty years after the Moon landing, a new history of the space race delves into the lives of Soviet and American engineers. At the dawn of the space age, technological breakthroughs in Earth orbit flight were both awe-inspiring feats of ingenuity and disruptions to a delicate global power balance. In this concise yet captivating book, aerospace historian Roger D. Launius explores the driving force of this era: the race to the Moon. Spanning from the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 to the conclusion of the Apollo program in 1972, Launius examines how early space exploration blurred the lines between military and civilian activities, leading to significant achievements and devastating failures.

To provide a balanced perspective, Launius places American and Soviet programs on equal footing, following the trailblazing American aerospace engineers Wernher von Braun and Robert Gilruth, their Soviet counterparts Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, and the iconic astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Alexei Leonov. Through their journeys, Launius highlights key actions that resulted in various successes, setbacks, and ultimately the American Moon landing.

This captivating narrative sheds light on the intense competition, collaboration, and personal sacrifices that characterized the space race, leaving an indelible mark on the history of human exploration and innovation. Fifty years after the Moon landing, the legacy of this extraordinary era continues to inspire and captivate us, reminding us of the boundless possibilities that lie beyond our planet's limits.

Weight: 448g
Dimension: 214 x 161 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300230468