Single Stage to Orbit: Politics, Space Technology, and the Quest for Reusable Rocketry (New Series in NASA History)
The 'holy grail' of the spaceship movement has been the development of a vehicle that could accomplish single stage to orbit (SSTO) flight. This study describes the evolution of this concept from the 1920s to the present, revealing a conservative space agenda that has not yet been the subject of historical analysis. As such, it makes an important contribution to space history literature.(Roger D. Launius, The Smithsonian Institution)A history of one particular aspect of US space history—the attempt to develop a single-stage-to-orbit launcher... it is a story of muddle and waste... Butrica provides a competent and readable account of this debacle, which concentrates on the small research vehicle, DC-X.(D. M. AshfordTimes Literary Supplement)