To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles

ISBN 10: 0813122457 / ISBN 13: 9780813122458

Published by University Press of Kentucky, 2002

About this Item

HARDCOVER Acceptable - This is a significantly damaged book. It should be considered a reading copy only. Please order this book only if you are interested in the content and not the condition. May be ex-library. Standard-sized.

Seller Inventory # M0813122457Z4

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813122457
• ISBN 13: 9780813122458
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

Access―no single word better describes the primary concern of the exploration and development of space. Every participant in space activities―civil, military, scientific, or commercial―needs affordable, reliable, frequent, and flexible access to space. To Reach the High Frontier details the histories of the various space access vehicles developed in the United States since the birth of the space age in 1957. Each case study has been written by a specialist knowledgeable about the vehicle described and places each system in the larger context of the history of spaceflight. The technical challenge of reaching space with chemical rockets, the high costs associated with space launch, the long lead times necessary for scheduling flights, and the poor reliability of the rockets themselves show launch vehicles to be the space program's most difficult challenge.

About the Author

Roger D. Launius, chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C., has written or edited more than twenty books, most recently Imagining Space: Achievements, Predictions, Possibilities, 1950-2050.

Dennis R. Jenkins, a consulting engineer in Cape Canaveral, Florida, has written over 30 works on aerospace history, including Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System—The First 100 Flights.