1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778232603321

Autore

Gainor Chris

Titolo

To a distant day [[electronic resource] ] : the rocket pioneers / / Chris Gainor ; foreword by Alfred Worden

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lincoln, : University of Nebraska Press, c2008

ISBN

1-281-21352-7

9786611213527

0-8032-2258-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (264 p.)

Collana

Outward odyssey

Disciplina

621.43/560922

Soggetti

Rocketry - History

Astronautics - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-218) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; Foreword; Preface and Acknowledgments; Acronyms and Abbreviations; 1. Space Dreams and War Drums; 2. Tsiolkovsky and theBirth of Soviet Astronautics; 3. Robert Goddard's Solitary Trail; 4. Hermann Oberth andEarly German Rocketry; 5. Von Braun, Dornberger,and World War II; 6. Rockets, Balloons, and the Right Stuff; 7. Korolev and the First ICBM; 8. The Military-Industrial Complex; 9. Sputniks and Muttniks; 10. The Birth of NASA; 11. Man in Space Soonest; Epilogue: July 16, 1969; Sources; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Chris Gainor's irresistible narrative introduces us to pioneers such as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Hermann Oberth, who pointed the way to the cosmos and created the earliest wave of international enthusiasm for space exploration. It shows us German engineer Wernher von Braun creating the V-2, the first large rocket, which opened the door to space but failed utterly as the "wonder weapon" it was meant to be. From there Gainor follows the space race to the Soviet Union and the United States and gives us a close look at the competitive hysteria that led to Sputnik, satellites, sp