posted 12-06-2012 02:19 PM               

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Originally posted by spacehiker:
This is one area I feel has been neglected.

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posted 12-06-2012 07:51 PM               

While von Braun was the conductor of the orchestra, his associates such as Kurt Debus, Ernest Stuhlinger, Eberhard Rees, Arthur Rudolph and other Operation Paperclip veterans did much of the actual engineering work, both in Germany and later the U.S.

I would be fascinated by a book about these team members, many of whom went on to high positions at NASA e.g. Debus as KSC director and Rees as MSFC director.

posted 12-08-2012 12:02 PM               

The criteria used in the MSE selection process, just as for MOL, proved to be spot on when one considers the career paths of the MSE's and MOL astronauts, whether they flew or not.

Aside from AFP-675 (and Starlab)*, there little interaction with payloads, aside from a few switch throws. The spacecraft checkout was done through downlinked telemetry or it wasn't done at all, since it was done prelaunch like most payloads on ELV's.

* both which could have been done cheaper on ELV's and obtained more data. The ESS for AFP-675 was designed to demonstrate the utility of military man in space and therefore had limited ground commanding and telemetry. This was a concern for STS-39 since the data to be gathered by the experience was more important than the MMIS demonstration. And in fact, one tape record for an experience failed and the crew had to some wire splicing so that the data could downlinked.

Last of my ramblings, since this is off topic.

posted 12-08-2012 04:04 PM               

Don't wish to offend anyone, but the perspectives of astronauts' wives and kids, while they would certainly make for interesting vignettes...I have a hard time imagining them as a viable book in the context of this series. Outward Odyssey is about the people who actually did these things.

posted 12-08-2012 09:17 PM               

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
How about a book about the science training for the astronauts?

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posted 12-08-2012 09:19 PM               

I realize they can only speak in generalities, but there should be enough DoD/USAF officials to speak about it, as well as astronauts. And the photos would be intriguing (such as the one of Holder undergoing EVA training.)

posted 01-21-2013 06:06 PM               

2014 will see two more books published and possibly even three. These will be the David Hitt/Heather Smith book on the shuttle program from its inception through to 1986. Editing problems caused the two shuttle books to be flipped in their release dates. That is currently slated for a spring 2014 release and Jay Gallentine's follow-on book to "Amabassadors From Earth" will be released in the fall of 2014. A publication date has not yet been established for Jay Chladek's book on the history and crewing of space stations, but I will advise readers once this is know. In fact the contents of this book will answer some of the points raised in the previous post.

As to a book totally devoted to Soyuz, this has already been done most successfully by David Shayler and Rex Hall with their great Springer-Praxis book, "Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft," and I believe that the series already discusses all but the most recent Soyuz missions.

One of the books under discussion for an expansion of the series is on the Payload Specialists who flew on missions prior to the loss of Challenger and her crew.

I'll give more information once the University of Nebraska Press has formally given me the green flag to proceed with at least four new series books and they have asked me if I would stay on as series editor. I have agreed to that.

posted 01-21-2013 07:19 PM               

True, Hall/Shayler covered the Soyuz technically. But Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle have all been covered in considerably more depth in English language, yet they were worthy of a volume (if not two volumes) of OO each.

posted 01-21-2013 09:03 PM               

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Originally posted by johntosullivan:
Thanks for the reply Colin. Is there not a need for a "social history" of the Soyuz to balance the Shuttle books?

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Can't speak to "need," but I doubt that the readership is there. Keep in mind, we're talking about a relatively small market for the series in general. Forgive me for sounding like a provincial Yank, but I don't get the sense that U-N Press would seriously consider the idea that the history of the Shuttle needs to be "balanced" with an English-language work covering a Soviet/Russian spacecraft. That's not to denigrate the importance of Soyuz at all...I just don't think the market is there for such a work, at least in the purview and sales model of the OO series.

posted 01-21-2013 11:02 PM               

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
I don't get the sense that U-N Press would seriously consider the idea that the history of the Shuttle needs to be "balanced" with an English-language work covering a Soviet/Russian spacecraft.

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I was beaten to the punch on this one as I was about to respond with similar sentiments. I agree entirely that a fully ESA- or Russian-themed book would not find favour with the Press. I had considered books on the Intercosmos programs and international space fliers, but set them aside for that very reason. The buyers just would not be there for such books in the U.S.

posted 01-22-2013 12:02 PM               

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Originally posted by garymilgrom:
As a certified Shuttle Hugger I'm really looking forward to Rick's book.

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Same here. The series has been uniformly excellent so far, but the Shuttle and X-15 volumes will really be "in my wheelhouse."

posted 01-24-2013 01:23 PM               

Colin is right a book based on mainly Euro/Russian/ROW activities is difficult to 'sell' to an American publisher, which is why the cooperation through Clive Horwood at Praxis Books in the UK has been so valuable in recent years. Saying that... never say never. I am always trying to find new avenues for my works.

posted 01-24-2013 03:44 PM               

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
"Wheels Stop: The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986-2011" by Rick Houston will be released in the (U.S.) fall of this year.

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posted 01-27-2013 10:10 AM               

In a small nutshell (I'm not going to reveal too much mind you), what my title covers in its history of space stations and laboratories is a continuous narrative starting with the USAF MOL program to Vladimir Chelomei's Almaz, to the engineering mutiny that led to Almaz hardware being re-purposed for Salyut. It covers the high spots of the Salyut program from the missions to Salyuts 1, 4, 6 and 7. There is a little coverage of Almaz Salyuts 3 and 5, but considering most of those programs are still classified, not much can be said about what happened on orbit.

The American coverage includes a chapter on Skylab which primarily tells it from the behind the scenes of AAP's early days up through the missions themselves. I don't go in depth into the Skylab missions from the astronauts point of view since "Homesteading Space" already did that with its full body of text. So I hope my chapter works as a complement to what has come before. ASTP is covered since it has a direct bearing on Shuttle Mir from a political and a hardware slant, which comes after a chapter on Soviet Space Station Mir (before it became Russian Space Station Mir). The NASA ESA relationship is discussed in a chapter about the development of Spacelab, which even though the missions were short duration compared to the Salyuts, it did turn the shuttle into a flying space laboratory.

Finally, things wrap up with the last few chapters devoted to the ISS, Columbia (it was a space laboratory flight afterall) and how it impacted the ISS and the building of international partnerships with other nations. My narrative pretty much concludes at the close of 2011, although there are a couple minor points from 2012 I bring up (Tiangong 1 for instance).

Granted I will concede that I can't fit EVERYTHING I wanted to into the body of the text since there are just SO MANY elements to a story that encompasses the past 50 years of space flight. But it is the kind of story that I wanted to read and it is my hope that others will enjoy reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I will also say that while these UNP books are being published in the US and are mostly being written by American authors, Colin being an Aussie (and Francis French being the ex-patriot Brit) helped to launch it on a very good international footing. While I have not sought direct guidance from them in certain matters (it is my book afterall), the long yardstick they established in the first two books they co-wrote has been foremost on my mind as I have written mine.

By the way, if you want to read a very good book that in my opinion covers the history of Salyut even further, pick up a copy of David Harland's "Mir" from Springer Praxis. Don't let its title fool you as it gives a full narrative of Salyut missions from Soyuz 11 up to the end of Salyut 7. Another Springer Praxis book, "Salyut, the First Space Station" by Grujica S. Ivanovich tells a very good story in depth about the development of Salyut (including the engineering mutiny) up through the loss of the Soyuz 11 crew and the investigation that came after. Both resources (and many many others) were invaluable to my research.

A good narrative about the Soviet rocket program can be had by Boris Chertok's memoirs "Of Rockets and People" which covers four volumes. I've only had a chance to really read portions of volume four, since it covers the shift from the Soviet lunar program to Salyut (and Chertok was part of the engineering mutiny), but I plan to get all four volumes to read about life on the Russian side in depth when I get a chance.

posted 05-31-2013 11:13 PM               

Go Flight!: The Unsung Heroes of Mission Control, 1965-1993, to be written by Rick Houston and Milt Heflin. The proposal for this book has already been accepted for publication by the University of Nebraska Press and a contract will be issued.

Eight Million Miles of Work: Flying Three Space Shuttle Missions, to be written by payload specialist Charlie Walker. The proposal for this book has been sent to the Nebraska Press for review and acceptance.

Payload Specialists: Flying the First Non-NASA Astronauts, to be written by Mel Croft and John Youskauskas. Their proposal is currently also with the Nebraska Press awaiting the go-ahead from the educational board.

The fourth book is yet to be officially announced pending acceptance of the yet-to-be-prepared proposal, although it is a very exciting prospect that involves the unpublished story of an Apollo astronaut. Very broad hints were given at Spacefest for those in the panel audience that day, but the person associated with this book project prefers that no names or subjects be formally announced until the proposal is accepted for the book to go to publication. As I am working under instructions, I'm afraid that is all I can generally reveal about this particular project, although hopefully a full revelation may just be a matter of a few weeks away.

posted 08-12-2015 04:18 PM               

Two that are under contract and currently being written are "Eight Million Miles of Work: Flying Three Space Shuttle Missions" by Charlie Walker and "Payload Specialists: Flying the Non-NASA Astronauts" by Mel Croft and John Youskauskas.

Exciting proposals for two further books in the series have recently been submitted to UNP, and are likely be awarded publication contracts. I can't say too much about these as yet, but one is by an existing Outward Odyssey author, and the other is by a previously-published collectSPACE regular with great credentials.

posted 08-18-2015 06:14 AM               

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Originally posted by Jay Gallentine:
"Infinity" will go into MUCH detail about the Soviet Lunokhod program, looking for life on Mars with Viking, and the Soviet explorations of Venus.

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posted 08-18-2015 11:05 PM               

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
"Outposts on the Frontier" has been delayed a little and will probably have a Winter 2016 release.

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