This book provides an insider look at the trials, tribulations, successes and failures involved in unmanned space exploration during the 1970s. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in space, project management, policy, technology and history.

Kraemer, the former director of NASA's plantary exploration program, has an easy-reading style, but he doesn't skimp on details. The book is well-organized, discussing each probe and its history in turn. He also provides diagrams and charts, including one very striking and effective 'balanced approach' chart that all program managers should study and modify for their own use. The center section of the hardcover version also includes some beautiful color plates of some of the planets and their moons.

This book will give you an appreciation of the extreme technical, social and political difficulties that need to be overcome to study our solar system in depth. If you liked Donna Shirley's "Managing Martians," you'll like this book as well.

During the period from 1971 through 1978, NASA launched twelve space probes to explore the planets and the sun and achieved many firsts, such as, the first planetary orbiter, the first planetary lander, the first spacecraft to visit the outer planets and the first spacecraft to use the gravity assist. While a good portion of these stories is presented in the first person, such as the budget battles the author had to fight, this is not his autobiography.

The book is divided into chapters covering each planetary or solar probe and also includes an introductory and closing chapter. Each chapter presents the organization of the spacecraft management team, the determination the science objects, hardware development problems, the budget (and sometimes budget problems), the problems encountered from launch to the arrival, and finally a summary of the important discoveries of each planetary encounter. Each chapter also presents a detailed drawing or two of the spacecraft and a few photographs. Detailed findings from each mission are presented, since these would be books in themselves.

One of the most interesting chapters covers the joint German-US solar probe Helios. This was the first major joint space project. This spacecraft orbited the sun at a distance of less than 30 million miles, which closer to the sun than the planet Mercury and returned valuable data on the nature of the sun.

While I found all the chapters in this book very interesting, I think the final chapter of the book was by far and away the best. The author summarizes what he learned over his many years in the upper management of NASA and his dealings with Congress. In this position, he learned two things. 1) Do not let politics dictate technical decisions and, 2) Do not lie to Congress. These are two concepts that our current NASA administrator should embrace. If he did, I believe more of our country's space projects would funded and succeed.

Not a simple chronology of space exploration, this volume looks at why humans want to go and what they want to do when they get there. Life on Mars, extraterrestrial life, space warfare, and space colonization are among the ideas whose histories are explored. The stories of the people who developed the technology to go to space, their ideas, theories, and inventions are related, with many color illustrations. Launius is a historian and editor; McCurdy teaches public affairs at the American U. in Washington DC.

With a special foreword by famed science fiction author Ray Bradbury, Imagining Space: Achievements, Predications, Possibilities 1950-2050 is an amazing, informative, thought-provoking, and superbly illustrated armchair traveler's guide - one that takes the reader to other planets, past the solar system, and beyond the Milky Way galaxy. It looks back to the 1950 predictions of rocket scientists and science fiction authors, to the present day space program, and forward to the possibilities of 2050. Chief NASA historian Roger D. Launius and Dr. Howard E. McCurdy of American University explore the dreams and realities of our past and future as connected to space travel, including speculations of one day exploring Mars and creating space colonies. Imagining Space is written in lay terminology so that its dreams can easily be imparted to the casual reader, but by far its most vivid asset are its stunningly beautiful illustrations; over 150 artists' renderings and photographs display a breathtaking, unforgettable glimpse into the past, present, and future of space travel. Very highly recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the future beyond the boundaries of the Earth.

Mr. Bertram Ulrich demonstrates rare talent in picking out selections from NASA's art collection that are emblematic of different period's of the Agency's history.

Mary Kalamaras was the in-house STC editor not the author. Please correct. I wanted, when planning the publication of this book, to publish an exciting and riveting history of the space program. I wanted to illustrate it with the extraordinary art collection that NASA has been building from its inception, inviting artists from Robert Rauschenberg to Norman Rockwell to attend its launches and observe and document its work. This published work is my dream come true. Brilliantly written and finally designed by Nai Chang, and superbly printed, it is everything a gift book is supposed to be: a great story informed by extraordinary images... in this case one of the most absorbing stories of the twentieth century. Lena Tabori, until August 1,1998, Publisher/President of Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

Alexander William Doniphan was one of the most significant and popular figures in Missouri from the 1830s through the 1870s. He excelled as an orator above all but was also an extremely successful attorney (he defended 188 clients on murder charges with most being found innocent and none receiving the death penalty), military leader, politician and businessman and an influential educator and farmer. Doniphan's most famous exploit, the conquest of New Mexico and Chihuahua and the creation of a law code to govern the first area, was chronicalled several times in the 19th century but this is the first full biography to be published about this important man. I have studied most of the available primary and secondary sources on Doniphan and find this biography to be both balanced and complete. Anyone who is interested in Mormon, Missouri or Western History should find this book worth reading.

Dr. Roger Launius, who is the chief historian of NASA, has moved from space into examining the history of professional baseball in the state of Missouri. A great read. Launius tells all the stories concerning the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, KC Royals, Monarchs, and KC A's and others. He blends compelling stories and anecdotes about each team's history(both Major League and Negro league) and their places in the overall history of baseball. Maybe the best concise history of baseball in a state ever written. A must for every baseball fan. I especially enjoyed the section on the Kansas City Athletics and their owner Charlie O. Finley. Buy this book.

Well-known aerospace experts Launius and Jenkins have done a good job assembling 12 well-written chapters covering every major U.S. launch vehicle - Atlas, Delta, Titan, Saturn, Shuttle, etc. - as well as the Centaur upper stage. All of the chapters (including several by Launius and Jenkins) are very thorough in their coverage, resenting a well-written chronology of the subject. Extensive notes at the end of each chapter. Highly recommended.

This book filled in a lot of information for me that I had wondered about. It is well written and easy to read. If you are interested in early Mormonism and the origins of what used to be called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS), this is a good source.

However, it does have some gaps. It doesn't give us much about his mother and their relationship. It doesn't really delve into the man's spiritual life beyond what he did when and only talks about his revelations as they affect some program he was trying to bring about.

But I was very interested to learn about his role in the persecution of the Utah Saints in trying to end polygamy. And I did find it kind of funny that a man who was obsessed with others having more than one wife ended up having three and children with two of them. The last one being far younger than him. Sure it is a serial form of polygamy, but...

I am glad that I own it and have read it.

The authors did a good job of research and excellent writing to give us a sense of life in Nauvoo. Of course, some controversial subjects are broached, polygamy, masonry, etc. but these were a part of life in Nauvoo so to shrink away from discussing them would have been to completley distort Nauvoo during the 1840's. The footnotes were easy to find and follow and the bibliography was excellent. This book is reccomened to anyone interested in Mormon Church history, and is indispensable if you want to learn about or write about Nauvoo, Illinois.