Ambassadors from Earth
Subtitle: pioneering explorations with unmanned spacecraft
By: Jay Gallentine.
Series: Outward odyssey : a people's history of spaceflight
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Lincoln
Language: eng
Number of pages: 500
ISBN-13: 9780803222205
Subjects: Space probes -- Popular works; Outer space -- Exploration -- Popular works
Genres: Popular works
Description: Ambassadors from Earth relates the story of the first unmanned space probes and planetary explorers - from the Sputnik and Explorer satellites launched in the late 1950s to the thrilling interstellar Voyager missions of the '70s - that yielded some of the most celebrated successes and spectacular failures of the space age. Keep in mind that our first mad scrambles to reach orbit, the moon, and the planets were littered with enough histrionics and cliffhanging turmoil to rival the most far-out sci-fi film. Utilizing original interviews with key players, bolstered by never-before-seen photographs, journal excerpts, and primary source documents, Jay Gallentine delivers a quirky and unforgettable look at the lives and legacy of the Americans and Soviets who conceived, built, and guided those unmanned missions to the planets and beyond.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Aboard the glacier; title: Problem child; title: The convict; title: Light fuse, get away; title: New moon; title: Let's make a deal; title: The creators and the makers; title: Storming the Sea of Dreams; title: Moving at the speed of design; title: Job number MA-11; title: The science and the cyclist; title: Get off the bus; title: Swing in time; title: The meeting and the mechta; title: Think like gravity; title: Didn't they get it?; title: The death and the funeral; title: One hundred percent failure; title: Three-problem shipley; title: Pete and Al's little field trip; title: Irradiated plans; title: Embarking; title: Get it; title: Instant science; title: Circles of gold; title: Last light; title: Continuum.