A concise history of spaceflight, from military rocketry through Sputnik, Apollo, robots in space, space culture, and human spaceflight today. Spaceflight is one of the greatest human achievements of the twentieth century. The Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite, in 1957; less than twelve years later, the American Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon. In this volume of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Michael Neufeld offers a concise history of spaceflight, mapping the full spectrum of activities that humans have developed in space.
Contents
Introduction -- Spaceflight dreams and military imperatives -- The Cold War space race -- Space science and exploration -- A global space infrastructure -- Astroculture : spaceflight and the imagination -- Human spaceflight after the cold war -- Epilogue : the past and future of spaceflight.
