Eugen Reichl Book order

With the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union started the space race; the race for the moon soon followed. Here too the USSR was ahead of the game: the first flyby of the moon, the first lunar-impact probe, the first pictures of the far side, and the first soft landing. Defending the lead, and thus demonstrating the superiority of communism, was an ideological must for Soviet leadership. The United States soon caught up and surpassed the Soviet moon program. This book chronologically examines the fifty-nine missions the USSR sent or intended to send to the moon from 1959 to 1976. Eventually, the Soviets finally abandoned the idea of a manned moon landing and for the following decade and a half claimed that they never conducted such a program. Unmanned Soviet lunar flights continued until 1976, by which time they had used up all of the space probes built in the years previous.

The N1 was the booster rocket for the Soviet manned moon program and was thus the direct counterpart of the Saturn V, the rocket that took American astronauts to the moon in 1969. Standing 345 feet tall, the N1 was the largest rocket ever built by the Soviets and was roughly the same height and weight as the Saturn. Though initially ahead of the US in the space race, the Soviets lagged behind as the pace for being first on the moon accelerated. Massive technical and personnel difficulties, plus spectacular failures, repeatedly delayed the N1 program. After the successful American landings on the moon, it was finally canceled without the N1 ever achieving orbit. The complete history of this rarely known Soviet program is presented here, starting in 1959, along with detailed technical descriptions of the N1's design and development. A full discussion of its attempted launches, disasters, and ultimate cancellation in 1974 completes this definitive history.

Without the mighty Saturn V rocket, the Apollo 11 moon landing would not have been possible in July 1969. Even today, nearly fifty years later, it remains by far the largest and most powerful rocket ever used. Equipped with computers that are easily surpassed today by any mobile phone, the Saturn V was an unprecedented technical achievement. This book, part of the America in Space series, tells the gripping story of the development and creation of the Saturn V in concise, detailed text, and features numerous high-quality color images, technical drawings, and specification/dimension charts. As well as a detailed look at the Saturn V's design and construction, all thirty-two Apollo missions are discussed, including the later Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

In May 1961, American president John F. Kennedy committed the nation to carrying out a manned landing on the moon before the end of the decade. This volume covers the early years of the Apollo program (1960-1967), still the most significant space effort in the history of mankind. In a very short time, NASA developed the mighty Saturn rockets, the Apollo spacecraft, and the lunar lander. This breathtaking development came at a cost, however, as in 1967 astronauts Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White lost their lives during a test. Ten months after the catastrophe, however, the Saturn V, America s moon rocket, made its triumphal unmanned maiden flight. After that, just twenty more months would pass before man set foot on another celestial body for the first time."

Project Mercury was America's entry into the manned spaceflight program. When the program began in 1958, the Soviet Union was far ahead of the US in the race for supremacy in space. With immense effort, and in record time, NASA, the newly created spaceflight organization, developed a space transport system with orbital capsule and booster rockets. They used it to send Alan Shepard on a first suborbital "jump" into space in May 1961, and in February 1962 to make John Glenn the first American astronaut to orbit the earth. Nevertheless, the Americans were beaten by the Soviets in the race to put the first man into space. Project Mercury was, however, the foundation for NASA's later success in the race to the moon. All Project Mercury missions are discussed, including details on all craft and the astronauts involved. Superb color, archival images, cutaways and plans are also included.

In just two-and-a-half years, beginning in 1964, two unmanned and ten manned flights took place in the Gemini program. This program was the turning point in the space race with the USSR; from then on the Americans took the lead. Flights lasting two weeks, into the Van Allen Belt, the first extravehicular activities, rendezvous maneuvers and docking with other spacecraft—all of this was achieved by Gemini, paving the way for the more demanding moon landing program. It was not all success, however. Like almost every significant undertaking, Project Gemini also had its dramas and tragedies. All Project Gemini missions are discussed, including details on all craft and the astronauts involved. Superb color, archival images, cutaways and plans are also included.