Oberg, James
First Edition
ON OCTOBER 4, 1357, taking the whole world by surprise, the Soviet Union launched its Sputnik satellite into the starry heavens and the great Space Race was on. In the decades that followed, the post-Sputnik boom pitted the U.S. and Soviet space programs against each other in a race for headlines, hasty glories, and real prizes. It was a marathon plagued by misinformation, suspicion, and rumor. And while the headlines have endured in our patriotic memory, the hidden consequences of hollow triumphs still shape our attitudes and beliefs today, in an era of so-called cooperation.
With great fanfare, this 30-year Space Race officially ended in 1993, and in its place the U.S.-Russian space alliance was born. But beneath all the official rhetoric of a bold new era of space exploration, the "marriage made in the heavens" has been fraught with the same pitfalls of misunderstanding, suspicion, and high-level chicanery that started with Sputnik- souvenirs of the misperceptions and delusions of the Cold War that threaten to drag down the alliance and the space programs of several other nations with it.
In Star-Crossed Orbits, space veteran and best-selling author James Oberg combines riveting personal memoir with top-notch investigative journalism to tell the complete untold story of the U.S.-Russian space alliance, describing the strengths and weaknesses of each side and revealing, for the first time, the full story of Russia's decaying space program, the dangerous secrets it kept from its American partners, and the ultimate cost of NASA's all-too-often self-imposed ignorance about its "space partner."
A space sleuth with unparallelecl access to official Russian archives, facilities, and key individuals, Oberg leads the reader through ihe attics of the Russian space program to uncover the greed, corruption, and covered-up setbacks that have nearly brought the program to virtual collapse. He describes the U.S.-Mir venture and NASA's reluctance to learn from its lessons. He explores the "jewel in the crown" of the alliance, the International Space Station, a project begun with the best intentions, but which is now in danger of running aground on reefs of self-delusion. Finally, in an impassioned plea, Oberg urges the alliance to "break free of the star-crossed orbits of misperception that bind us to the ground." Only then, insists the author will we be truly allied, with a reach that can grasp the stars.
About the Author
JAMES OBERG was a space engineer for 22 years in NASA's mission control in Houston. He has been the space consultant for ABC News, United Press International, and several foreign networks. Oberg is widely recognized as a world authority on the Russian space-program, and he has been invited on several occasions to testify before Congress on the problems facing the Russian space industry. He is the author of 10 books, including the classic, Red Star in Orbit, and about 1,000 magazine and newspaper articles on all aspects of space flight.
Hardcover with dust jacket
355 Seiten / pages
many photos
very good condition, with a name label of the previous owner
New York - 2002 - McGraw-Hill
Art.Nr. 25298
