Realizing tomorrow : the path to private spaceflight /

This book by Dubbs (coauthor, Animals in Space, 2007; Space Dogs, 2003) and Paat-Dahlstrom (Singularity Univ., NASA Ames campus) does not focus on the engineering or technological aspects of private spaceflight, but on the individuals involved. It begins with a foreword by Charles Walker, "industry's first astronaut," who traveled in space as a test engineer as part of McDonnell Douglas's Electrophoresis Operations in Space project. The first chapter is about some of the "blue sky" ideas of Gerard O'Neill, followed by a description of Robert Truax and his rockets. The authors devote an entire chapter to Russia's commercialization of space. They discuss the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, and NASA's opposition to his flight, and provide interesting accounts of the saga of Rotary Rocket and the history of the X PRIZE. Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and British adventurer/entrepreneur Richard Branson have their own chapters. The final chapter deals with Elon Musk and the other major players in the private spacecraft business. The jacket aptly states that the book "provides a behind-the-scenes look at the visionaries, crackpots, the financial schemes, the legal wrangling, [and] the turf battles" that accompanied the effort to get private citizens into space. Summing Up: Recommended. Readers interested in commercial spaceflight, including undergraduate students and general audiences. A. M. Strauss Vanderbilt University

With the conclusion of the space shuttle program impending, the topic of private spaceflight has never been timelier. Dubbs and Paat-Dahlstrom provide a bracing people's history of spaceflight, heavily emphasizing those who sought, from the beginning of manned missions, to make private space programs a reality. In wide-ranging discussions that move from exploration to politics to Evil Knievel, Realizing Tomorrow is about NASA and garage inventors, and it celebrates, in particular, the optimism that has pervaded the careers of Richard Branson and Burt Rutan. The breadth of information presented is impressive, and the manner in which sf writers, rocket engineers, astronauts, cosmonauts, and thrill-seekers are so effectively woven into a single volume is laudable. Sections devoted to NASA shed much-needed light on the political machinations that led to including payload and mission specialists on shuttle flights and, ultimately, to the ill-fated Teacher in Space Project. This far-reaching, well-illustrated history oriented toward the future of spaceflight should catch many an eye.--Mondor, Collee. Copyright 2010 Booklist