First American Into SpaceHere is the spine-tingling, true story of that first American blast into the realm of the stars, of the men who underwent rigorous training for that epic mission, and of the one man who made the safe journey. This is the factual account of the history of rocketry, its triumphs and its failures, our shame in the neglect of it, and our pride in its later accomplishments. Here, too, is a glimpse into the future, as only science fiction writer Robert Silverberg could foresee: orbiting space stations, a man on the moon, and more! |
Contents
Section 1 | 17 |
Section 2 | 31 |
Section 3 | 47 |
Section 4 | 55 |
Section 5 | 61 |
Section 6 | 67 |
Section 7 | 79 |
Section 8 | 95 |
Section 9 | 105 |
Section 10 | 125 |
Common terms and phrases
acceleration Alan Shepard American astro Atlantic Atlas Atlas missile Atlas rocket atmosphere ballistic flight blastoff blunt Braun Cape Canaveral capsule's Carpenter carried centrifuge Commander Shepard Cooper couch countdown descent engineers escape rocket escape velocity feels feet firing fuel Gagarin gravitational pull gravity Gus Grissom heat shield human jets John Glenn landing later launching pad look MASTIF Mercury Astronauts Mercury capsule miles a second miles an hour minutes missile Moon moving NASA naut Navy operation orbital flight orbiting trip oxygen parachute pioneer planets pounds President pressure probes Project Mercury Project Orbiter Project Vanguard re-entry reached Redstone rocket ride Russian says Schirra scientists shot Slayton space capsule space exploration space flight space program space research space satellite space stations space travel spaceman speed Sputnik suit sule test pilot thrust tion tumbling Virgil Grissom wait weight weightlessness Wernher von Braun Zero minus zero-G