First into Outer Space

Gordon, Theodore, J., and Scheer, Julian

Published by St. Martin's Press, New York, 1959

About this Item

xvii, [1], 197, [5] pages. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations. Glossary. Index. DJ is missing part of spine and is in pieces and has wear, soiling, tears, and chips. Ted Gordon was a Douglas Aircraft engineer who fired the American missile 130 that was the first to penetrate outer space. Mr. Scheer, who had covered the fledgling space program as a newspaper reporter, joined NASA in 1962 as a consultant and was named assistant administrator for public affairs in 1963. Working closely with James E. Webb, the second head of the agency but the most influential of NASA administrators, he built an information program that embraced the news media and fed their appetite for news about space. The result was a steady flow of generally positive public attention during the risky and expensive drive to land a man on the Moon, making public heroes of the early astronauts. After the lunar landing, Mr. Scheer was awarded NASA's highest recognition, the Distinguished Service Medal. On October 11, 1958, Pioneer 1 became the first spacecraft launched by NASA, the newly formed space agency of the United States. The flight was the second and most successful of the three Thor-Able space probes. Pioneer 1 was fabricated by Ramo-Wooldridge Corp.(TRW), and consisted of a thin cylindrical midsection with a squat truncated cone on each side. Along the axis of the spacecraft and protruding from the end of the lower cone was an 11 kg solid propellant injection rocket and rocket case, which formed the main structural member of the spacecraft. Eight small low-thrust solid propellant velocity adjustment rockets were mounted on the end of the upper cone in a ring assembly. The three-stage Thor-Able vehicle consisted of a modified Air Force Thor IRBM (liquid propellant) as the first stage. A liquid-propellant rocket engine powered the second stage (modified Vanguard second stage). The third stage was a solid-propellant unit based on Vanguard design.

Seller Inventory # 9755

Bibliographic Details

• Title: First into Outer Space
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York
• Publication Date: 1959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Presumed First Edition, First printing.
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Part of DJ present
• Seller catalogs:
  • Space