Das NASA Archiv
Piers Bizony
The book was put together in occasion of NASA's 60th birthday and covers the agency's activities from the Mercury era to the Mars rovers.
It is as much about the science as it is about the people who contributed in one way or another to the various programs, and contains essays by Andrew Chalkin and Dr. Roger Launius as well as excerpts from books by Jules Verne and others, plus transcripts of radio communication with astronauts and speeches made by some of them, by NASA officials and others.
I have been a space enthusiast for decades, and therefore knew much of what the book recalls, but by no means everything. Also, the way photos and words were put together sometimes made for a new perspective, and some of the pictures I had never come across before. In short, it is a great book to delve into, and I have enjoyed it very much.
It will certainly not sit on my book shelf undisturbed for long; it is the kind of book you take out every now and then to re-read a certain chapter or look at some particularly great photos.
Thank you, sis, for this great present!
My middle son lives in a suburb of Houston, TX and so we went to the NASA museum there when I was visiting him. It's amazing to read all of the information about all of the astronauts and their missions. Seeing the rocket - so HUGE - stretched out across the whole giant building. It's hard to imagine how it all works as it looks too big and heavy to fly but it did!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! In 1999, my then husband and I went to Florida. It was my first (and so far only) visit to the US. We visited the Kennedy Space Centre, where one of the Saturn V rockets is on display. The entire visit was impressive, and I remember it very well.
Delete