The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

When 2001 was first released it was criticised for its lack of plot structure, lack of dialogue and for its confusing ending. Some critics argued that Kubrick had sacrificed plot and meaning for visual effects and technology, but a younger audience discovered the film and it became a huge commercial success. 2001 inspired later film-makers, engineers and scientists. It is a matter of personal opinion, but the design of the space shuttle looks as if it came straight from the set of 2001.

Gene Cernan, the commander of Apollo 17, the last manned mission to land on the Moon, agreed about the need for inspiration. He said that it is vital to “inspire young people to reach out further than they thought they could reach before”. “The inspiration of our young people is truly what the future is all about,” he said.

Science fiction has provided some of the terms by which we describe developments in space. In 1997, aboard the space station Mir, the astronaut Jerry Linenger wrote to his son: “Space is a frontier, and I’m out here exploring!… what a privilege!” The opening sequence of the television science fiction series, Star Trek, began “Space, the final frontier…”

In 2003, a new form of propulsion drive was described as “the Star Trek propulsion drive”. It is currently driving the European Space Agency’s Smart 1 probe to the moon.

List of Illustrations

Soviet Semyorka boosters

Which way to the moon?: lunar landing techniques

Mercury capsule and escape tower

Angles for orbit, retro-firing and re-entry

Three orbit paths, tracking and communications stations of Project Mercury

Sections of the Gemini capsule

Comparative sizes of NASA spacecraft

Comparative sizes of NASA launchers for manned space flight

Apollo 13’s journey 11–17 April 1970

Repairs to Skylab

The Mir space station

Mir: an unmanned Progress supply vessel crashes into Mir (25 June 1997)

The European Space Agency’s Smart 1

Smart 1’s elliptical orbits

Cross-section of Smart 1’s ion engine

Timeline of the Galileo probe (1610–2003)

Geocentric theory of the universe

High-altitude man-carrying rocket as conceived by Arthur C. Clarkein 1951

Bibliography & Sources

Aldrin, Buzz & McConnell, Malcolm, Men from Earth, Bantam, 1989.

Bridgeman, Bill & Hazard, Jacqueline, The Lonely Sky, Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1955.

Burrough, Bryan, Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir, Fourth Estate, 1999.

Carpenter, Scott & Stoever, Kris, For Spacious Skies, Harcourt, 2002.

Clarke, A.C., The Exploration of Space, Temple Press, 1951.

Coster, Graham (ed.), The Wild Blue Yonder, Picador, 1997.

Duke, Neville & Lanchberry, Edward, Sound Barrier, Cassell & Co., 1954.

Gilzin, K., Sputniks and After, Macdonald, 1954.

Glenn, John & Taylor, Nick, John Glenn: a memoir, Bantam Books, 2000.

Glenn, J., Carpenter, S., Grissom, V., Slayton, D. & Schirra, W., Into Orbit, Cassell/Time Inc., 1962.

Lindsay, H., Tracking Apollo to the Moon, Springer, 2001.

Lovell, J., & Kluger, J., Apollo 13, Pocket Books, 1995.

Swanson, G.E. (ed.), Before this decade is out… personal reflections on the Apollo program, University Press of Florida, 2002.

Turnhill, Reginald, The Moon Landings: an Eyewitness Account, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Von Braun, Wernher & Ryan, Cornelius, Across the Space Frontier, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1952.

Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff, Jonathan Cape, 1979.

Other titles available from Robinson Publishing

The Mammoth Book of Endurance & Adventure

Ed. Jon E. Lewis

£7.99 [  ]

Eyewitness recollections from the world’s most intrepid adventurers It recounts over 50 true-life adventures taken from contemporary memoirs, letters and journals of ordinary mortals who achieved extraordinary things.

The Mammoth Book of Special Forces

Ed. Jon E. Lewis

£7.99 [  ]

Thirty true and graphic accounts of the most heroic SAS and Special-forces missions ever undertaken into the most dangerous place of all – behind enemy lines This up-to-date collection includes recent operations into Iraq in 2003, Afghanistan and Bosnia and features the entire range of special forces from SAS, Commandos and Rangers to Navy SEALS and paratroopers.

The Mammoth Book of Fighter Pilots

Ed. Jon E. Lewis

£7.99 [  ]