spaceflight_log

MANNED SPACEFLIGHT LOG

1961-2006

by Tim Furniss and David J. Shayler with Michael D. Shayler.

with Foreword by Alfred M. Worden

former NASA astronaut

Almost 50 years ago, Yuri Gagarin moved the world into a new era of exploration, that of manned spaceflight. Over the next five decades and over 250 missions later, almost 500 individuals from countries around the globe have followed him into space. Yet only 27 astronauts have ventured beyond Earth orbit and then only as far as the Moon. As we plan for a return to the Moon and onwards to Mars, it is timely to look back at these missions and review their successes and achievements, as well as their setbacks.

Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 is a comprehensive guide to all the space missions, from Gagarin to the ISS and the latest Chinese Shenzhou missions. A chronological sequence of orbital flights that also includes facts on the sub-orbital and ballistic flights that are a fundamental part of the quest for space. Also featured are:

A summary of manned spaceflight mission profiles and programmes.

'Space' flights of the X-15 rocket plane and X-prize winner Spaceship 1.

All manned missions to the Moon and to space stations.

Sub-orbital manned spaceflights.

Accidents, aborts and abandoned missions.

This book is an invaluable companion to the range of manned spaceflight books from Springer-Praxis.