Description
EUROSPAN GROUP Ambassadors from Earth by Jay Gallentine
Ambassadors from Earth reminds us that our first mad scrambles to reach orbit, the moon, and the planets were littered with enough histrionics and cliff-hanging turmoil to rival the most far-out sci-fi film. But it all really happened!Drawing on original interviews with key players and bolstered by previously unpublished photographs, journal excerpts, and primary source documents, Jay Gallentine delivers a quirky and unforgettable look at the lives and legacy of the people who conceived, built, and guided our first unmanned spacecraft and planetary probes. From the Sputnik and Explorer satellites of the late 1950s, to the thrilling Voyager "Grand Tour" of the '70s and '80s, they yielded some of the most celebrated successes and spectacular failures of the space age.Confessed one participant, "We were making it up as we went along."Gallentine fearlessly clambers to the bottom of a surprisingly bitter controversy over who first developed the technique of using gravity to steer a spacecraft. Also of special note are his candid discussions with James Van Allen, the discoverer of the rings of planetary radiation that now bear his name. List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Aboard the Glacier2. Problem Child3. The Convict4. Light Fuse, GET AWAY5. New Moon6. Let's Make a Deal7. The Creators and the Makers8. Storming the Sea of Dreams9. Moving at the Speed of Design10. Job Number MA-1111. The Science and the Cyclist12. Get Off the Bus13. Swing in Time14. The Meeting and the Mechta15. Think Like Gravity16. Didn't They Get It?17. The Death and the Funeral18. One Hundred Percent Failure19. Three-Problem Shipley20. Pete and Al's Little Field Trip21. Irradiated Plans22. Embarking23. Get It24. Instant Science25. Circles of Gold26. Last Light27. ContinuumSourcesIndex