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Outposts on the Frontier: A Fifty-Year History of Space Stations
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made structure to orbit Earth and has been conducting research for close to a decade and a half. Yet it is only the latest in a long line of space stations and laboratories that have flown in orbit since the early 1970s. The histories of these earlier programs have been all but forgotten as the public focused on other, higher-profile adventures such as the Apollo moon landings.
A vast trove of stories filled with excitement, danger, humor, sadness, failure, and success, Outposts on the Frontier reveals how the Soviets and the Americans combined strengths to build space stations over the past fifty years. At the heart of these scientific advances are people of both greatness and modesty. Jay Chladek documents the historical tapestry of the people, the early attempts at space station programs, and how astronauts and engineers have contributed to and shaped the ISS in surprising ways. Outposts on the Frontier delves into the intriguing stories behind the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory, the Almaz and Salyut programs, Skylab, the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, Spacelab, Mir station, Spacehab, and the ISS, and gives past-due attention to Vladimir Chelomei, the Russian designer whose influence in space station development is as significant as Sergei Korolev’s in rocketry.
Outposts on the Frontier is an informative and dynamic history of humankind’s first outposts on the frontier of space.
A vast trove of stories filled with excitement, danger, humor, sadness, failure, and success, Outposts on the Frontier reveals how the Soviets and the Americans combined strengths to build space stations over the past fifty years. At the heart of these scientific advances are people of both greatness and modesty. Jay Chladek documents the historical tapestry of the people, the early attempts at space station programs, and how astronauts and engineers have contributed to and shaped the ISS in surprising ways. Outposts on the Frontier delves into the intriguing stories behind the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory, the Almaz and Salyut programs, Skylab, the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, Spacelab, Mir station, Spacehab, and the ISS, and gives past-due attention to Vladimir Chelomei, the Russian designer whose influence in space station development is as significant as Sergei Korolev’s in rocketry.
Outposts on the Frontier is an informative and dynamic history of humankind’s first outposts on the frontier of space.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 11, 2021
A must read for any one interested in manned spaceflight. The book needs a better list of the discoveries made by the research done on the space stations that have been launched so far. As of this date no major scientific discoveries have been made to justify the money spent on the orbiting labs.
May 8, 2023
As it stands, this is probably the best study of the topic at hand, and will probably be the best available study into the foreseeable future. For me, once one gets past how Werner von Braun had the initial concept of the space station as a jumping-off point for interplanetary exploration, I found the very early origins of technical development to be the most interesting portions of the book. This means examining the USAF's "Manned Orbital Laboratory" program, and the parallel Soviet "Almaz" project, which both mostly aimed at getting a sustained strategic reconnaissance capacity into space. From there, Chladek examines how the post-Apollo period saw the respective American and Soviet station station programs (Skylab and Salyut/Mir) conceptually merged into the International Space Station, which now exists as a monument to the brief period of concord following 1989. This book is recent enough that Chladek can end on the note of how conflict over Ukraine makes another project such as the ISS unlikely in the extreme.
June 6, 2021
Another outstanding volume in the Outward Odyssey history of spaceflight series, a series which I can very much recommend (I have the ISS Lego set sitting about three feet from me as I type this).
This volume, as can be guessed, covers the history of long-term human occupation of an orbital station, going all the way from the US military's never-launched MOL platform all the way to the ISS with its guitars and walls bearing Douglas Adams-references.
Two things will surprise you: 1) There have pretty much been space stations in orbit since the first Salyut and Skylab in the early 70s. 2) This is very much a Russian story.
That's right, the science of human endurance and space and the nature of its habitation was pretty much the Russians' doing, right up until the ISS. Most of this volume is given over to accounts of all seven Salyut stations, then the one more folks might be familiar with, Mir. There's a lot of cool info and stories here, a lot of it not known at the time about the trials and tribulations of the cosmonauts, especially on Mir. The whole story of the construction in orbit of the ISS ends the history nicely, since that was very much an international endeavor, but piggybacking off of decades of Russian experience, know-how, and ships to-and-fro.
There's also chapters on other things you might not know about, like the Apollo-Soyuz joint docking project in 1975, the Spacelab that European space agencies had on the shuttle, and all the other astronauts who weren't Russian or American, they're here, too!
A great, fun read!
This volume, as can be guessed, covers the history of long-term human occupation of an orbital station, going all the way from the US military's never-launched MOL platform all the way to the ISS with its guitars and walls bearing Douglas Adams-references.
Two things will surprise you: 1) There have pretty much been space stations in orbit since the first Salyut and Skylab in the early 70s. 2) This is very much a Russian story.
That's right, the science of human endurance and space and the nature of its habitation was pretty much the Russians' doing, right up until the ISS. Most of this volume is given over to accounts of all seven Salyut stations, then the one more folks might be familiar with, Mir. There's a lot of cool info and stories here, a lot of it not known at the time about the trials and tribulations of the cosmonauts, especially on Mir. The whole story of the construction in orbit of the ISS ends the history nicely, since that was very much an international endeavor, but piggybacking off of decades of Russian experience, know-how, and ships to-and-fro.
There's also chapters on other things you might not know about, like the Apollo-Soyuz joint docking project in 1975, the Spacelab that European space agencies had on the shuttle, and all the other astronauts who weren't Russian or American, they're here, too!
A great, fun read!
February 12, 2018
Wow! Everything you wanted to know about space stations but were afraid to ask. Ask average Joe about the subject, they'll probably know about the ISS and Mir or Skylab if they're old enough (and not a Flat Earther...) but few will know more than that. This book has it all; the whole story. I can't begin to imagine the hours of research that went into it, not to mention the hours spent converting that research into a book that is both informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.
June 22, 2020
Rich in factual details, Outposts on the Frontier offers a meticulous, captivating, and balanced account of both the US and Soviet history of space stations. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...
June 5, 2020
Excellent book. Lots of description and details about various space stations.
I learned/relearned a lot about the Russian/Soviet Mir and Salyut stations.
Recommended if you are a space fan.
I learned/relearned a lot about the Russian/Soviet Mir and Salyut stations.
Recommended if you are a space fan.
July 2, 2024
Chladek's book is part of the University of Nebraska's "A People's History of Spaceflight" series to which, I'll admit, I'm becoming (somewhat) addicted. Like most of their titles it's an easy read, presented well, and covers it's topic in a more generalist manner than perhaps the more technically minded would like.
The subtitle "A Fifty-Year History of Space Stations" initially threw me when coupled with the 2017 publication date, as the narrative comes to a shuddering halt in 2011. I had expected it to run to around 2015 but Chladek seems to have anchored the start date for his narrative around the Gagarin / Shepherd flights so, fifty years it is (give or take), but I couldn't find it mentioned in the book itself.
On the plus side the book covers both USSR/Russian and USA Space Stations (and their participants) in enough detail to provide a reasonably complete, if not very detailed, coverage across 460 odd pages of text.
On the minus side, the book is neither fish nor fowl, in that it does not concentrate on the technology or science of Space Stations, nor does it concentrate on the people involved in their construction, maintenance or "staffing", but tries to walk a middle path that somehow just does not work. I'm supposing that with the plethora of memoirs, recollections and biographies out there from ex space-station astronauts (USA ISS members in particular) Chladek felt the ground was already well enough covered.
In addition the latter stages of the ISS construction narrative felt more as if a shopping list of events and/or dates was being dragged out, rather than a coherent story about the maturing of ISS as a scientific platform. Perhaps the sheer number of ISS missions, crews and associated flights just would not admit inclusion in the work, but the end result is somewhat less than satisfying.
It's by no means a bad or difficult read, but quite the contrary and one worth the effort of seeking out, especially to those new to the area or wanting a broad-brush introduction to space stations. I can't shake the feeling, however, that Chladek has tried to cut down what would have been a great two or three volume, comprehensive, treatment of a fifty year history of space stations into one volume.
The subtitle "A Fifty-Year History of Space Stations" initially threw me when coupled with the 2017 publication date, as the narrative comes to a shuddering halt in 2011. I had expected it to run to around 2015 but Chladek seems to have anchored the start date for his narrative around the Gagarin / Shepherd flights so, fifty years it is (give or take), but I couldn't find it mentioned in the book itself.
On the plus side the book covers both USSR/Russian and USA Space Stations (and their participants) in enough detail to provide a reasonably complete, if not very detailed, coverage across 460 odd pages of text.
On the minus side, the book is neither fish nor fowl, in that it does not concentrate on the technology or science of Space Stations, nor does it concentrate on the people involved in their construction, maintenance or "staffing", but tries to walk a middle path that somehow just does not work. I'm supposing that with the plethora of memoirs, recollections and biographies out there from ex space-station astronauts (USA ISS members in particular) Chladek felt the ground was already well enough covered.
In addition the latter stages of the ISS construction narrative felt more as if a shopping list of events and/or dates was being dragged out, rather than a coherent story about the maturing of ISS as a scientific platform. Perhaps the sheer number of ISS missions, crews and associated flights just would not admit inclusion in the work, but the end result is somewhat less than satisfying.
It's by no means a bad or difficult read, but quite the contrary and one worth the effort of seeking out, especially to those new to the area or wanting a broad-brush introduction to space stations. I can't shake the feeling, however, that Chladek has tried to cut down what would have been a great two or three volume, comprehensive, treatment of a fifty year history of space stations into one volume.
November 28, 2021
Really good history of Space Stations and the efforts to support them.
Outpost is an interesting book. Tough I've been interested in space travel, space station and space shuttles for a long time. For the most part I have only been able to satisfy my curiosity with the American side of the story. Outpost however isn't so discriminatory. The American, Sovjet, European, Japanese and even Chinese effort all got their place in the book.
The book was easy to understand as it takes a chronological ride though time per country explaining each era of Space Travel, and then switches to another country and overs what they did in the same period. For those not overly familiar with Sovjet era this is an absolute must. Though this title mainly focuses on Space Stations, other aspects such as rocketry, life in space and various personal an political implications that had an impact on Space Travel.
In all an informative and enjoyable book.
Outpost is an interesting book. Tough I've been interested in space travel, space station and space shuttles for a long time. For the most part I have only been able to satisfy my curiosity with the American side of the story. Outpost however isn't so discriminatory. The American, Sovjet, European, Japanese and even Chinese effort all got their place in the book.
The book was easy to understand as it takes a chronological ride though time per country explaining each era of Space Travel, and then switches to another country and overs what they did in the same period. For those not overly familiar with Sovjet era this is an absolute must. Though this title mainly focuses on Space Stations, other aspects such as rocketry, life in space and various personal an political implications that had an impact on Space Travel.
In all an informative and enjoyable book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews