Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science: The Dawn of the Space Age

The Dawn of the Space Age begins with exciting tales of the earliest developers of rudimentary rockets and the deadly battles they fought in China between 200 and 1600 A.D. A historical fiction approach brings long–ago characters and events to life. Palace intrigues, treachery, and warmongering are interwoven with vivid depictions of courage and bravery to showcase the gradual progression of the science of rocketry from fireworks displays to effective weapons in the battlefield. Readers in the West will learn something about the mindset of the East, where over half the world’s population lives today.You’ll experience what early stalwart pioneers had to do to make the controlled explosions we call rockets work. Men like Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun, Sergei Korolyov, and Valentin Glushko succeeded against all odds with miraculous feats of engineering.You’ll be introduced to the basics of rocketry and aerodynamics, in easy to understand words and pictures instead of equations. The Wright Brothers— Wilbur and Orville—pioneered powered flight, and presaged the early innovators who would found the giant aerospace conglomerates of today. Every rocket and aircraft that flies today depends upon the crucial developments in the science of aerodynamics, led by Ludwig Prandtl in Germany and Theodore von Kármán in the United States.World War II gave the biggest impetus ever to advancing rocket science and related technologies. In the ensuing decades many unsung space heroes on both sides of the Cold War’s Iron Curtain matured the field to where it is today. You’ll see how the Soviet Union, led by Korolyov and Glushko, captured an early lead over the United States and established many space firsts: world’s first satellites, first man and first woman in orbit, first interplanetary spacecraft, first space station. As an extreme example, Korolyov practically carried the entire Soviet space program on his shoulders, yet the Soviet media did not even acknowledge his existence, and his very name was hidden from public view and guarded as a state secret while he was alive! Unbelievable, but true. The U.S. had its own rocket experts—Wernher von Braun and his team of 114 captured WW II German rocket scientists. America mounted a counterattack.Von Braun’s team spearheaded the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs during the crucial decades of the 1950s-1960s. His name's not a household word today, but he did more to advance missiles, rockets, spaceflight, and make manned landings on the moon possible than anyone else in America, alive or dead. Six astronauts flew solo on six Project Mercury flights (1961-1963). Three of them joined another 13 astronauts to orbit Earth on 10 two-person Project Gemini flights (1965-1966). Without a single failure. The United States went on to win the Moon Race against the Soviets when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon in July 1969. Read more