Spaceflight: The Complete Illustrated Story - from the Earliest Designs to Plans for the 21st Century

by Valerie Neal, Cathleen S. Lewis, Frank H. Winter

Spaceflight This comprehensive, easy-to-use guide tells the fascinating story of one of the greatest scientific achievements of our times—the conquest of space. Produced in association with the world-renowned Smithsonian Institution and its scientific experts, Spaceflight recounts the epic adventure of the men, women, and machines that took us into space. This Smithsonian Guide features: Other titles: Aviation • Planets • Zoo Animals • Automobiles • Railroads

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, Science, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Dr. Valerie Neal joined the Museum as a curator in 1989 and is responsible for artifact collections from the Space Shuttle era and International Space Station, most prominently the orbiter Discovery. She led the Museum's effort to prepare shuttle test vehicle Enterprise for public display and to acquire Spacelab, SpaceShipOne, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit for the national collection. She worked closely with NASA and Museum staff to orchestrate the transfer of Discovery to the Smithsonian and the release of Enterprise back to NASA in 2012. She has curated three major exhibitions: Where Next Columbus? on the challenges of future exploration; Space Race; and Moving Beyond Earth about spaceflight in and beyond the Space Shuttle era.

Dr. Neal's publications include Discovery, Champion of the Space Shuttle Fleet (2014) and two edited books on space exploration, Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide (1995) and Where Next, Columbus? The Future of Space Exploration (1994). Her articles on shuttle history have appeared in History and Technology and Space Policy. She has been instrumental in the production of two Smithsonian Channel documentaries about the shuttle. Her current projects include completing a book about spaceflight in the shuttle era.

Before joining the Museum, Dr. Neal spent a decade as a writer, editor, and manager for some 25 NASA publications on shuttle and Spacelab missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and other great space observatories, the space sciences, and NASA history. She also participated in underwater astronaut-training activities and worked on the mission management support team for four shuttle missions.

She earned a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Minnesota, following an M.A. in American studies from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in English and history from Texas Christian University. She has taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Vanderbilt University.

Reviews

[Blake Suder · Rating 4 out of 5]

detailed

[Steve Van Slyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1995, it's a bit dated but nevertheless a well written and designed summary of international space exploration efforts up to that time. Being a bit of a space nut, when I saw it on the shelf of a used book store, I grabbed it. The photos alone are worth the time.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came out what, 15 years ago now? So, yeah, it's not very current. However, it does give a pretty good overview of the history of human beings in space. I consider it a decent launching point for more serious, specific studies.