Read Online Heroes of the Space Age Incredible Stories of the Famous and Forgotten Men and Women Who Took Humanity to the Stars Rod Pyle 9781633885240 Books

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A NASA insider tells the exciting story of the people, some well-known but many unrecognized, who were responsible for so many daring space missions.

Award-winning science writer Rod Pyle profiles the remarkable pilots, scientists, and engineers whose work was instrumental in space missions to every corner of our solar system and beyond. Besides heralded names like Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, and Gene Kranz, the author highlights some of the "hidden figures" who played crucial roles in the success of NASA, Soviet, and international space exploration.

For example, Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to travel into space, aboard Soviet spacecraft Vostok 6. American Margaret Hamilton was an accomplished mathematician and one of the first female software engineers to design programs for spaceflight, software that proved critical to the success of the moon landing. And Pete Conrad, "salty sailor of the skies," flew twice in the Gemini programs, landed on the moon in Apollo 12, and was the commander of the first crew to visit America's new Skylab space station--its first ever--in 1973.

Complemented by many rarely-seen photos and illustrations, these stories of the highly talented and dedicated people, many of whom worked tirelessly behind the scenes, will fascinate and inspire.

Read Online Heroes of the Space Age Incredible Stories of the Famous and Forgotten Men and Women Who Took Humanity to the Stars Rod Pyle 9781633885240 Books

"This a good overview of well known key figures—Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin—from the U.S.-Soviet space race of the last century.

My space-obsessed son, 11, has heard all these names before, of course, but this gave him a much more in-depth look at the figures he’s seen in documentaries, movies and previous space books he’s read that were more geared towards children.

There’s also a few on lesser known, at least to him, behind the scenes people, and several women who held key roles in an era that, that was rare, like first-woman-in space, Valentina Tereshkova.

The stories are interesting, well written and informative and, I read several before giving him the book, educational without reading like a textbook.

A great biological overview for those interested in learning more about the people that shaped this era."

Product details Paperback 315 pages Publisher Prometheus Books (May 7, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1633885240

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Heroes of the Space Age Incredible Stories of the Famous and Forgotten Men and Women Who Took Humanity to the Stars Rod Pyle 9781633885240 Books Reviews :

Heroes of the Space Age Incredible Stories of the Famous and Forgotten Men and Women Who Took Humanity to the Stars Rod Pyle 9781633885240 Books Reviews

• When I ordered Rod Pyle’s “Heroes of the Space Age,” I expected a lot of it to focus on some of the “heroes” who had not adequately been covered in other books.
  
  For example, I hoped to learn about the scientists, engineers and technicians who labored behind-the-scenes and for little credit in labs, engineering bullpens, assembly lines and test facilities on work that made it possible for the first humans to leave earth and travel to another celestial body (not, by the way, “to the stars,” as the cover blurb breathlessly insists—we’re a long, LONG way from reaching “the stars,” and probably never will).
  
  But what I found was mostly stories about U.S. and Soviet spacefarers whose lives and missions have been exhaustively documented at greater depth and in more detail in other books.
  
  All spaceflight fans worthy of the name will certainly already have read one or more stand-alone biographies of Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Pete Conrad. Most will have devoured the memoirs of NASA Mission Control’s Gene Kranz. While not as widely known, Valentina Tereshkova does not lack for attention in the literature of spaceflight. The only chapter in “Heroes of the Space Age” that really focuses on a largely unknown person is the one on NASA Software Engineer Margaret Hamilton.
  
  That’s not to say that “Heroes of the Space Age” is bad. It assuredly is not. It’s a well written, highly readable and, as far as I can determine, very accurate survey of the lives of the men and women who flew some of the key missions in human spaceflight.
  
  While I’m a bit disappointed in its limited scope, and think that Mr. Pyle missed the opportunity to make a more significant contribution to the history of human spaceflight by concentrating on some of the REALLY unsung “heroes” while they’re still around to tell their stories (sadly, many are not), I still enjoyed it a lot.
  
  The fact that “Heroes of the Space Age” didn’t live up to my unfounded expectations is MY bad, not the book’s. Thus I don’t penalize it, and my five-star rating reflects my opinion of what it actually is, not what I thought—or wished—it was. All readers, even spaceflight enthusiasts who think they already know it all, should find it fast-paced, interesting and well worth reading.
• This book is a collection of short profiles of eight people who made major contributions to the "manned" exploration of space in its early years, up through the middle of the Apollo program. Most of the profiles are of astronauts, but there is also a software engineer and an Apollo flight director.
  
  The author could have stuck with Americans, but I am glad he started with Yuri Gagarin. I vaguely remember he died young but was not aware of the problems he had dealing with the pressures his fame put on him. Valentina Tereshkova was also included. There is a certain tendency to ascribe all Soviet actions to a desire to beat the West and score propaganda coups. That was certainly an element (especially with Tereshkova), but it's not like the US didn't have reciprocal desires. Tereshkova seems to have had the Right Stuff--for prospering in the Soviet nomenclatura. She eventually rose to be a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
  
  For the American astronauts, the author gives a thumbnail of their backgrounds, and what they did "afterwards," but focuses on their iconic mission. It is amazing to see the informed risk-taking and can-do attitude of those days, compared to now, where NASA is given a new political direction every administration, and must be 103% sure everything will go exactly as promised. I was also amused to hear about some of the technology used. The lunar lander, for example, had walls so thin (to be light weight) that the astronauts had to be careful not to punch through them accidentally, and still managed to bend some on their way in and out.
  
  I give the author all kinds of points for including the software engineer Margaret Hamilton (who coined the term "software engineer"). She led the team that developed the on-board flight software for the Apollo program. She tried to include a good deal of self-monitoring and error corrections but worked with a management who believed "our astronauts are highly trained, and would not make mistakes during flight." Which is a stunning lack of understanding of human nature under intense pressure. It can be argued that the error detection and recovery Hamilton did manage to get into the program saved the mission when the computer froze up during landing. The points of the chapter are a little more technical than the astronaut/pilot derring-do, but it shows how many strands and roles had to come together for the mission to succeed.
  
  Overall, I liked the book, even though I am not the right audience. It is a bit lightweight for my taste, but I have a technical background and I am a space junkie. Having lived through this period as an immensely interested youngster, this book brought back some good memories and added some details I did not know.
• This a good overview of well known key figures—Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin—from the U.S.-Soviet space race of the last century.
  
  My space-obsessed son, 11, has heard all these names before, of course, but this gave him a much more in-depth look at the figures he’s seen in documentaries, movies and previous space books he’s read that were more geared towards children.
  
  There’s also a few on lesser known, at least to him, behind the scenes people, and several women who held key roles in an era that, that was rare, like first-woman-in space, Valentina Tereshkova.
  
  The stories are interesting, well written and informative and, I read several before giving him the book, educational without reading like a textbook.
  
  A great biological overview for those interested in learning more about the people that shaped this era.
• I appreciate the aim of this book and the writing is competent, but it doesn't measure up to its title as well as I think it should have. To anyone even moderately interested in the world's pioneering space programs there is only one figure covered who might be considered "forgotten" (a better term might be "unknown")–Margaret Hamilton–and even she is gaining public recognition through ongoing efforts to illuminate the women participants of this era. Always glad to read about Pete Conrad though; the man was quite a character as well as being a top-flight astronaut.