One Small Step: Astronauts In Their Own Words [Abridged] [Hardcover]

What is it really like to launch into space? To gaze back upon a shrunken Earth? Or to step onto another world? One Small Step reveals space travel as it has never been seen before. In the most up-to-date history of the manned exploration of space, the men and women who journeyed into the unknown paint a vivid and dramatic portrait of spaceflight - and bring to life its exhilarations and dangers. Drawing on NASA archives, top-secret documents from the former Soviet Union, and frank interviews with cosmonauts and astronauts, space mission insider David Whitehouse creates an absorbing history, packed full of previously unpublished revelations. From a top-ranking shuttle commander's breathless description of the sheer terror of a launch, to one astronaut's struggle to maintain control as the crew of the shuttle Columbia plunged to their death, here are numerous unforgettable first-hand accounts of triumph and tragedy in space. From Laika, Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepard and John Glenn, to Columbia, the International Space Station and SpaceShipOne, via the Vostok, Soyuz, Gemini and Apollo missions and the Moon landings, One Small Step is the story of space exploration - told as never before.

Here is the extraordinary story of the manned exploration of space. From the perils of a rocket launch to the euphoria of setting foot onto an unknown world, astronauts reveal what it is really like to journey into space. Researched from NASA and Soviet archives, One Small Step contains many astounding revelations, including: How Soviet agents tried to stop the launch of Apollo 8; Fresh insights into the true dangers of the spacewalk to rescue the Skylab space station; A remarkable account of how the Russians sent a cosmonaut with missing fingers into space; And why NASA did not want Buzz Aldrin to be the first man to step onto the Moon. Shocking, uplifting, and always dramatic, this is a truly compelling first-hand history of space exploration - told through the words of those who were there. With a 70-minute CD of more than 40 archive recording, including: Radio Moscow's Sputnik announcement, Yuri Gagarin speaking to ground control, Alan Shepard's launch commentary, John Glenn, Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman in space, Neil Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface, and Apollo 13's legendary 'Houston - we've had a problem' distress call.