The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

Chapter 2 is called “Rockets Away – Escape from Earth”. It relives the early days of space flight, including the US Mercury program, with the astronauts revealing just how much they had to do. Among their accounts, John Glenn’s first American orbital flight stands out for its memorable description of “Zero G and I feel fine”.

Chapter 3 (“Man in Space – The Glory Days”) spans the period from 1963 until 1974, including the US Gemini and Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz programs. The vivid descriptions here include Alexei Leonov’s fight for his life as the first man to space walk when he found himself unable to get back into the spacecraft without taking the risk of deflating his space suit. Later he and his fellow cosmonaut crash-landed and had to spend the night sheltering from wild wolves.

The triumph of Apollo 11 is followed by the mishap of Apollo 12 and the famous “problem” of Apollo 13. You can only admire the resourcefulness of the ground team who brought them home safely. The chapter concludes with the memorable moment of “Apollo-Soyuz shaking hands” during the final Apollo mission.

Chapter 4 is entitled “Retreat to Earth – Cancellations Galore”. Its accounts record the cancellations and setbacks during the period after 1974, including the Shuttle disasters (1986 and 2003) plus the endless crises aboard the space station Mir in 1997. The US-Russian crew suffered from depression, a near miss, fire, loss of power and a collision. In addition, they had to make a succession of perilous space walks; not all of them went back for more.

Chapter 5, entitled “New Horizons – The Ongoing Quest”, continues the story up to the present day. It brings home the trials and tribulations of scientists involved in the search for life and the origins of the universe. In 2003 several new competitors joined the space race and “the Star Trek propulsion drive” began driving the European Space Agency’s Smart 1 probe to the moon. Despite the human cost over the decades, it is clear the urge to explore space remains undiminished.

As Wernher von Braun, rocket scientist, put it, “I have learned to use the word ‘impossible’ with the greatest caution… Don’t tell me that man doesn’t belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go.”

Chapter 1 At Heaven’s Door – Testing the Limits

Introduction: from the Wright brothers to the X-1

The first successful powered flight took place in the United States. On 17 December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first sustained, controlled flight in a powered aircraft, but by 1915 the US government realised that the United States had fallen behind Europe in terms of military aircraft development and set up the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA). From 1917 NACA produced technical reports on aircraft and engine development and by 1939 it was investigating rotary wing aircraft. In 1941 the Chairman of NACA appointed a Special Committee on Jet Propulsion. Germany had flown turbojets, and her researchers were working intensively on the development of an operational jet-propelled interceptor. In Britain the propulsion scientist Frank Whittle had designed and built a gas-turbine engine and had flown a turbojet-powered aircraft.