Frontiers of Space Exploration
This reference work provides a basic introduction to the history of space exploration at a time when the two former antagonistsAthe United States and RussiaAare embarking on the multinational Space Station program. Organizing the book in four sections, Launius (chief NASA historian) presents a chronology of major events, four essays that provide a historical overview of space exploration, biographies of major space pioneers, and dozens of primary documents relating to major space policy decisions. Additionally, two appendixes list all manned spaceflights from 1961 through 1997, and an annotated bibliography covers major space history titles. Despite several minor errors in the chronology section, Launius does an excellent job summarizing the early history of spaceflight with his essaysAthe real meat of the bookAand the inclusion of the primary documents provides interesting insights into how major policy decisions were reached, from Kennedy's Apollo decision to the building of the space shuttle. Recommended for public and academic libraries.AThomas J. Frieling, Bainbridge Coll., GACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.