Between dream, space and reality
Apollo - The Lost and Forgotten Missions just
published by Springer-Verlag
The Apollo programme is known for one of the greatest human leaps in history
- the first walk on the Moon in July 1969. Stepping into a new era of scientific
research, the world had crossed yet another borderline of imagination. In the
following three years, six manned lunar landings took place. But then NASA
concentrated on Skylab, their first permanent station in space.
In his new book Apollo - The Lost and Forgotten Missions David Shayler
chronicles those missions of the programme that were never realised - abandoned
projects that never had the chance to come true. From the beginning, Apollo
hardware aimed high: It was geared to enable an extensive exploration of the
Moon and, finally, evolve into the first manned expedition to the planet Mars.
None of that happened. Funds from the government were put on ice, the moon shots
of the last three missions cancelled. Several astronauts, trained to go on a
further trip to the Moon, waited in vain to step onto the foreign planet Mars.
Space enthusiasts will find in this book not only the story of Apollo's
tremendous achievements, but also of lost dreams and abandoned opportunities. In
a clear-cut style, Shayler recalls the background to one of the milestones of
scientific progress. Although some of Apollo's initial projects were given up
on, they were never completely forgotten - research needed such ideas to meet
future challenges and enter into new adventures of space exploration.
David J. Shayler has written several books on astronautics. A Fellow of the
British Interplanetary Society, he contributes regularly to their publications.
Moreover, Shayler is in charge of the Astro Info Service, a platform for
research on human space exploration.
Detailed information and order possibility:
David J. Shayler
Apollo - The Lost and Forgotten Missions
2002. Softcover, 344 pp.
£24.50; $37.55; Euro 39.95 (net price)
ISBN 1-85233-575-0
Jointly published with Praxis Publishing, UK
Contact:
Joan Robinson
Springer-Verlag Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49- (0) 6221-487-8130,
Fax: +49- (0) 6221-487-8141,
E-mail: robinson@springer.de
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