Autorentext

Emily Carney is a former nuclear technician for the U.S. Navy and an accomplished space journalist. She is the manager of public engagement and social media for the Space 3.0 Foundation, founder of the popular spaceflight group Space Hipsters, and cohost of the Space and Things podcast. Bruce McCandless III is a novelist, an attorney, and the son of a shuttle astronaut. He is the author of Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space.

Klappentext

Star Bound is a book for anyone who wants to learn about the American space program but isn't sure where to start. First and foremost, it's a history—short, sweet, and straightforward. From rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard's primitive flight tests in 1926 through the creation of NASA, from our first steps on the moon to construction of the International Space Station and planning a trip to Mars, readers will meet the people and projects that have put the United States at the forefront of space exploration. Along the way, they'll learn:

• How the United States beat the Soviets to the moon

• Why astronauts float in space (Hint: It's not for lack of gravity!)

• How fast spacecraft have to go to stay in orbit around Earth

• How we can "look back in time" through a space telescope

Authored by two veteran space writers with unique insights into the topic, Star Bound offers up the story of Americans in space with a focus on the cultural and societal contexts of the country's most important missions. Vibrant, positive, and humorous, Star Bound is packed with facts, asides, and not-entirely-definitive lists of the greatest space songs, books, movies, and more.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Few Dates to Remember
NASA’s Crewed Spaceflights (So Far)

1. First Principles
2. The Wizard of Worcester
3. Rocketry and Death
4. The SS Major and the Suicide Squad
   The All-Time Greatest Space Exploration Playlist
5. A Starting Gun Called Sputnik
6. Shadows in the Sky
7. Project Mercury
   Eleven Boffo Space Books to Launch at Your Brain
8. Gemini’s Forgotten Flights
9. The Rise and Fall of the American Astronaut
   The Best Space Stuff You Can Watch
10. Apollo and the First Man on the Moon
11. Skylab and the Renaissance of American Science
    NASA’s Eleven Coolest Astronauts
12. Probes, Rovers, and the Golden Record
13. The Butterfly and the Bullet
    NASA’s Eleven Greatest Missions
14. Sleeping with the Russians
15. False Starts, Missteps, and the Promise of Artemis
    America’s Eleven Biggest Space Losses
16. The New Space Race
17. The Commercialization of Space
    Eleven Everyday Benefits of the American Space Program
18. Curse You, Gene Roddenberry!
    The Eleven Most Persistent Rumors, Riddles, and Conspiracy Theories about the American Space Program
19. Looking Outward
    Eleven Fearless Space Predictions
20. Why It’s Worth It
    Sources