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Full Description
The incredible story of spaceflight before the establishment of NASA.
NASA's history is a familiar story, one that typically peaks with Neil Armstrong taking his small step on the Moon in 1969. But America's space agency wasn't created in a vacuum. It was assembled from pre-existing parts, drawing together some of the best minds the non-Soviet world had to offer.
In the 1930s, rockets were all the rage in Germany, the focus both of scientists hoping to fly into space and of the German armed forces, looking to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. One of the key figures in this period was Wernher von Braun, an engineer who designed the rockets that became the devastating V-2. As the war came to its chaotic conclusion, von Braun escaped from the ruins of Nazi Germany, and was taken to America where he began developing missiles for the US Army. Meanwhile, the US Air Force was looking ahead to a time when men would fly in space, and test pilots like Neil Armstrong were flying cutting-edge, rocket-powered aircraft in the thin upper atmosphere.
Breaking the Chains of Gravity tells the story of America's nascent space program, its scientific advances, its personalities and the rivalries it caused between the various arms of the US military. At this point getting a man in space became a national imperative, leading to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, otherwise known as NASA.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Hobby Rocketeers
Chapter 2: The Rocket Loophole
Chapter 3: The Turning Tide of War
Chapter 4: Escape and Surrender
Chapter 5: Nazi Rockets in New Mexico
Chapter 6: Rockets Meet Airplanes
Chapter 7: A New War, a New Missile, and a New Leader
Chapter 8: Higher and Faster
Chapter 9: Edging into Hypersonics
Chapter 10: The Floating Astronaut
Chapter 11: Space Becomes an Option
Chapter 12: The First Satellite Race
Chapter 13: One Little Ball's Big Impact
Chapter 14: The Fight to Control Space
Epilogue: America Finds Its Footing in Space
Glossary of People
Glossary of Places and Organizations
Glossary of Rockets
Selected Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
