Description
Book SynopsisThe revealing backstory of spaceflight before the establishment of NASA.
NASA''s history is a familiar story, culminating with the agency successfully landing men on the moon in 1969, but its prehistory is an important and rarely told tale. Breaking the Chains of Gravity looks at the evolving roots of America''s space program--the scientific advances, the personalities, and the rivalries between the various arms of the United States military.
America''s space agency drew together some of the best minds the non-Soviet world had to offer. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the U.S. Air Force, meanwhile, brought rocket technology into the world of manned flight.
The road to NASA and successful spaceflight was paved by fascinating stories and characters. At the end of World War II, Wernher von Braun escaped Nazi Germany and came to America where he began developing missiles for the United States Army. Ten years after he created
Trade Review
Teitel explores the fascinating history of one of the most crucial space flight innovations that made the Apollo moon landings possible. * How it Works *
Teitel delivers on detail, such as the exploits of supersonic-flight pioneer Chuck Yeager. * Nature *
A really compulsive story, excellently and engagingly told, effortlessly carries the burden of fact and detail with as much deceptive ease as a Redstone Rocket. * Adventures in Historyland *
Breaking the Chains of Gravity tells the story of how we began to explore the cosmos – the lessons we had to learn the hard way – and shows why space exploration even today remains anything but routine. * Bobak Ferdowsi, Flight Director, Mars Science Laboratory *
Teitel … illuminates the foundations of American spaceflight with this exceptional and detailed ‘prehistory’ of the field … fascinating new territory, filled with a galaxy of lively characters. * Publisher's Weekly *
Table of Contents
Preface Chapter 1: Hobby Rocketeers Chapter 2: The Rocket Loophole Chapter 3: The Turning Tide of War Chapter 4: Escape and Surrender Chapter 5: Nazi Rockets in New Mexico Chapter 6: Rockets Meet Airplanes Chapter 7: A New War, a New Missile, and a New Leader Chapter 8: Higher and Faster Chapter 9: Edging into Hypersonics Chapter 10: The Floating Astronaut Chapter 11: Space Becomes an Option Chapter 12: The First Satellite Race Chapter 13: One Little Ball’s Big Impact Chapter 14: The Fight to Control Space Epilogue: America Finds Its Footing in Space Glossary of People Glossary of Places and Organizations Glossary of Rockets Selected Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index
