Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race

Fifty years after the Moon landing, a new history of the space race explores the lives of both Soviet and American engineers

At the dawn of the space age, technological breakthroughs in Earth orbit flight were both breathtaking feats of ingenuity and disturbances to a delicate global balance of power. In this short book, aerospace historian Roger D. Launius concisely and engagingly explores the driving force of this era: the race to the Moon. Beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 in Octob...