On October 4th 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, inaugurating the Space Age. To the general public and many politicians in the West the small satellite racing overhead was a shocking and frightening display of communist technological advance. But in the back rooms of the Pentagon and the headquarters of the United States' Air Force, work had been underway since the end of World War II on the inevitability of space flight.The shock of Sputnik created an opportunity to bring this work into the light of day. During the 12 months between October 1957 and September 1958 engineers, doctors and a host of Air Force Colonels and Generals began a concerted effort to persuade President Eisenhower to allow them to take control of the United States' future space efforts, and to place humans into space no later than 1960 and then send them to the surface of the moon by 1964.In February 1958, without going through the usual gauntlet of hearings the Air Force brass were informed that they were in charge of the country's space program. Emboldened by this unexpected surprise a team of more than 60 Air Force staff quickly put together a long-range plan for the exploration of space.This new plan included the evolution of Air Force missiles from the Thor, through the Titan, to the Super-Titan and ultimately to the 2,200,000 lb thrust "Big B" booster. The proposed spacecraft carried acronym names like MISS, MISSOPH, LUREC and finally LUMAN, for the manned lunar lander. This book includes the official Air Force history of these events, for many years classified as "SECRET." It explains how many of these ideas ended up being adopted by NASA and led to the Space Race of the 1960s.

This book presents a collection of chapters, which address various contexts and challenges of the idea of human enhancement for the purposes of human space missions. The authors discuss pros and cons of mostly biological enhancement of human astronauts operating in hostile space environments, but also ethical and theological aspects are addressed. In contrast to the idea and program of human enhancement on Earth, human enhancement in space is considered a serious and necessary option. This book aims at scholars in the following fields: ethics and philosophy, space policy, public policy, as well as biologists and psychologists.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made structure to orbit Earth and has been conducting research for close to a decade and a half. Yet it is only the latest in a long line of space stations and laboratories that have flown in orbit since the early 1970s. The histories of these earlier programs have been all but forgotten as the public focused on other, higher-profile adventures such as the Apollo moon landings. A vast trove of stories filled with excitement, danger, humor, sadness, failure, and success, Outposts on the Frontier reveals how the Soviets and the Americans combined strengths to build space stations over the past fifty years. At the heart of these scientific advances are people of both greatness and modesty. Jay Chladek documents the historical tapestry of the people, the early attempts at space station programs, and how astronauts and engineers have contributed to and shaped the ISS in surprising ways. Outposts on the Frontier delves into the intriguing stories behind the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory, the Almaz and Salyut programs, Skylab, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Spacelab, Mir station, Spacehab, and the ISS and gives past-due attention to Vladimir Chelomei, the Russian designer whose influence in space station development is as significant as Sergei Korolev’s in rocketry. Outposts on the Frontier is an informative and dynamic history of humankind’s first outposts on the frontier of space. Purchase the audio edition.

This classic on space travel was first published in 1953, when interplanetary space flight was considered science fiction by most of those who considered it at all. Here the German-born scientist Wernher von Braun detailed what he believed were the problems and possibilities inherent in a projected expedition to Mars. Today von Braun is recognized as the person most responsible for laying the groundwork for public acceptance of America's space program. When President Bush directed NASA in 1989 to prepare plans for an orbiting space station, lunar research bases, and human exploration of Mars, he was largely echoing what von Braun proposed in The Mars Project.