Remembering the Space Age: Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference

After 50 years of robotic and human spaceflight, and as serious plans are being implemented to return humans to the Moon and continue on to Mars, now is a good time to step back and ask questions about the meaning of the Space Age and the importance of space exploration.

In Remembering the Space Age: Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference, noted scholars discuss key topics in Space Age history. Part 1, “National and Global Dimensions of the Space Age,” includes essays on:

• Spaceflight in the National Imagination
• Operation Paperclip in Huntsville, Alabama
• The Great Leap Upward: China’s Human Spaceflight Program and Chinese National Identity

Part 2, “Remembrance and Cultural Representation of the Space Age,” focusing on such topics as:

• Far Out: The Space Age in American Culture
• From the Cradle to the Grave: Cosmonaut Nostalgia in Soviet and Post-Soviet Film
• Robert A. Heinlein’s Influence on Spaceflight

Part 3, “Reflections on the Space Age,” provides a broad overview of the significance of the Space Age, featuring:

• A Melancholic Space Age Anniversary
• Has the Space Age made a Difference?
• Has there been a Space Age?
• Cultural Functions of Space Exploration

Remembering the Space Age is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of the era of spaceflight.

Exploring the Unknown, Volume VII: Human Spaceflight: Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo

The first six volumes of this projected eight-volume documentary history have become an indispensable reference work for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. civil space program and its development over time. This volume contains over 100 key documents, many of which are published for the first time. Each is introduced by a headnote providing context, bibliographical details, and background information necessary to understand the document. These are organized into two chapters, each beginning with an essay that keys the documents to major events in the history of space exploration.

William H. Pickering: America’s Deep Space Pioneer

On the first day of February 1958, three men held aloft a model of Explorer 1, America’s first Earth satellite, for the press photographers. That image of William Pickering, Wernher von Braun, and James Van Allen became an icon for America’s response to the Sputnik challenge.

Von Braun and Van Allen were well known, but who was Pickering? This authoritative biography provides a comprehensive account of his life and career. From humble beginnings in a remote country town in New Zealand, Pickering came to California in 1928 and quickly established himself as an outstanding student at the then-new California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In October 1957, the Sputnik satellite startled the world with its spectacular demonstration of Soviet supremacy in space. Pickering led an intense effort at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), joining with the von Braun and Van Allen teams to answer the Soviet challenge. Eighty-three days later, on 31 January 1958, America’s first satellite roared into Earth orbit.

A few months after that, Pickering’s decided to affiliate JPL with the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Eventually, NASA and JPL resolve paid off. First the Moon, then Venus, and then Mars yielded their scientific mysteries to JPL spacecraft of ever-increasing sophistication.

William H. Pickering: America’s Deep Space Pioneer is a landmark study of one of the great pioneers of America’s venture into space.