posted 08-21-2006 01:46 AM               

Outward Odyssey
A History of Human Space Exploration

To be published by the University of Nebraska Press

Information release by series editor Colin Burgess, Sydney, Australia

I am pleased to announce the imminent release of the first books in a major undertaking by the University of Nebraska Press, which will detail the social history (human, rather than technical) of space exploration. This series of important books will be released under the series title of Outward Odyssey.

Many of the series' writers, carefully selected over the past three years, are first-time book authors, but all are long-time space enthusiasts, and most are well known to collectSPACE readers.

The first two books, to be titled Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era 1961-1965 and In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility 1965-1969 will be released in the spring and summer of 2007. These two books, which I have co-authored with Francis French, include forewords by Paul Haney and Walt Cunningham respectively. They tell the story of human space flight from Yuri Gagarin to the day that Apollo 11 set down on the moon. Being a social history of that enterprise, they contain the stories of the men and women involved in the Space Race between the United States and what was then the Soviet Union. The personal stories of the cosmonauts and astronauts are told through their words, and those of colleagues and friends who knew them well. What were the motivations and inspirations in their lives that led them to wanting to ride rockets into the silent sea of space?

As this is a progressive series, published over the next few years, not all details are finalized, but here is a brief breakdown of the series.

A book on the Apollo program (including ASTP) is being written, and like other series books contains extensive interviews with the astronauts and other people involved in this magnificent effort.

The Skylab book has been written by David Hitt, together with Skylab astronauts Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin, and features original contributions from other Skylab astronauts, including an important section based on the personal in-flight diary of Alan Bean. The foreword has already been written by Homer Hickam.

As many will know, another collectSPACE regular, Jay Gallentine, has been working on a book about the history of unmanned satellites and interplanetary probes, and it is a pleasure to finally announce that this book is also a part of the Outward Odyssey series. It will include what has turned out to be the last, extensive interview ever carried out with Dr. James Van Allen. A foreword candidate has yet to be announced.

There will also be two books on the social history of the space shuttle program. The first will discuss the origins and early days of the shuttle program, and will cover the period up to and including the Challenger tragedy. This book will be written by David Hitt, in his second book of the series.

The second shuttle book, which examines the aftermath of the loss of Challenger and her crew, will essentially track the history of the shuttle program through the loss of Columbia and beyond. An author has been selected for this book.

Well-known British space writer Brian Harvey is about to begin writing a book on the history of the Soviet space stations, as well as the ISS. Once again, extensive personal interviews will form the basis of this book, which will look at the human side of these monumental undertakings.

For the tenth and final book in the series, dealing with the ongoing history of private space flight and citizens in space, a suitable author (again a collectSPACE regular) has already been selected. As contracts have yet to be finalized, the author cannot be named at this time.

There will be a large function held to launch the space book series in the summer of 2007, and I will release details once full details of the dates and venue have been determined.

Each of the books is designed to stand alone, but also to be an integral part of the entire space book series.

Further details will be announced as they become known.

posted 09-27-2006 10:26 AM               

Finally, I am announcing the inauguration of a new line in the NASA History series, SP-4900, Societal Impact of Spaceflight. As many of you know, this is a particular interest of mine, and the History Division has taken up this important subject as part of its portfolio at a time when it is clear that a sustained multigenerational space exploration vision requires society to understand the importance of space exploration and its impact on the daily lives of individuals and on the long-term future of the nation. The first book in this series will be the proceedings of our "Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference," to be held 19-21 September at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC.

Subsequent volumes in the series will include a variety of special studies that have been commissioned on the topic. We are still commissioning these studies; if you have an idea, please contact me directly.

posted 09-27-2006 08:43 PM               

The NASA History Series (which, by the way, sounds terrific) looks like it will examine the impact that space flight had, and will continue to have, on society. By comparison, the Outward Odyssey series is intended as a social history of space flight, relating the human story of this endeavour through the memories and voices of those who were and are most closely involved, and from all nations.

The Outward Odyssey series not only offers profoundly human stories of triumph and tragedy in one of our greatest-ever scientific undertakings, but how it impacted on the lives of those incredible pioneers who built or rode the rockets and spacecraft. While most attention is obviously focused on the space explorers themselves, there are many previously untold stories about those who created these incredible machines.

For instance, as Jay Gallentine has already mentioned in a collectSPACE forum, his is probably the last and most extensive interview ever carried out with the late James Van Allen. Through literally hundreds of personal recollections the readers of this series will learn of the early lives and influences of these people, and how they came to be a part of a mammoth effort to fly into space, to reach the moon, and everything that has subsequently happened in all areas of space exploration.

So while one series looks at the impact space flight has had on society, the other focuses on the people actually involved in that historic undertaking.

posted 09-06-2007 05:04 PM               

• To A Distant Day: The Rocket Pioneers, by Chris Gainor, due early 2008

• Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story, by David Hitt, Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin, due late 2008

• Ambassadors from Earth: Pioneering Explorations with Unmanned Spacecraft, by Jay Gallentine, due early 2009

• Footprints in the Dust: Apollo and the Conquest of the Moon, due late 2009

posted 10-23-2007 07:05 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
By comparison, the Outward Odyssey series is intended as a social history of space flight, relating the human story of this endeavour through the memories and voices of those who were and are most closely involved, and from all nations.

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posted 10-23-2007 05:16 PM               

Of course you are quite right in your assessment, but "social history" is what the academic press publishers (not me) came up with to briefly encapsulate the intent of this series, and I don't really have a problem with that.

Wikipedia's definition of 'social history,' in part, defines it in this way: "Social history is often described as 'history from below' or 'grass roots history' because it deals with the everyday people, the masses and how they shape history rather than the leaders." The Outward Odyssey book series so far follows that general trend, by including the stories of nurses, family members, engineers, pilots, people in mission control, and a wide variety of other voices to tell the stories of these flights. The major aim of these books is to tell the stories of the people who made the flights, and in that respect they are certainly far more biographical (something that interested us far more) than social. But the books follow some general social history trends by keeping the stories fixed on the non-management people and the behind-the-scenes eyewitnesses, rather than concentrating on the decisions of the leaders such as the NASA administrators and presidents.

posted 12-29-2007 07:00 PM               

For release later in the year is the much-anticipated "Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story." This promises to be a must-have book for anyone interested in spaceflight history; it certainly tells the definitive story of the Skylab program. Beautifully written by collectSPACE regular David Hitt, Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin (and actually written by these former astronauts - not just lending their names), the book is chock-full of personal stories and information surrounding one of the most fascinating science programs ever undertaken. Every one of the surviving Skylab astronauts has participated in this book to ensure complete accuracy. And as a bonus, the book will feature the contents of a personal diary that Alan Bean kept during his Skylab mission - now published for the very first time. I've read and been involved in the editing process for this book, and it is a winner!

2008 promises to be a particularly exciting year for the Outward Odyssey series, and within a few months I should finally be able to reveal the titles and authors of all eleven books currently being prepared for the series (yes, eleven: another title has now been added!)

posted 02-13-2008 04:45 AM               

Absolutely fantastic. I can't wait to read the upcoming Skylab, Salyut, Shuttle books!

posted 03-12-2008 03:33 PM               

So here is the full list of all twelve (main) titles:

Now published:

• Into That Silent Sea - Francis French and Colin Burgess

• In the Shadow of the Moon - Francis French and Colin Burgess

• To a Distant Day - Chris Gainor

• Homesteading Space - David Hitt, Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin

• Amabassadors From Earth (Satellites and Plaetary Probes) - Jay Gallentine

• Footprints in the Dust (Apollo)

• Bold They Rise (First space shuttle era)

• Realizing Tomorrow (Private and Commercial Space Flight) - Chris Dubbs, Eric Dahlstrom and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom

• Stations in the Sky (A History of Space Stations) - Jay Chladek

• X-15: Wings Into Space

• Pilgrims of the Universe (Continuing the planetary probes story)

• Dawn's Early Light (Ending the shuttle era)

posted 03-21-2008 12:23 PM               

But I will say that with Colin in charge of this series, Outward Odyssey couldn't be in better hands.

posted 01-30-2009 08:53 AM               

• "Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era 1961-1965" by Francis French and Colin Burgess.

• "In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility 1965-1969" by FRancis French and Colin Burgess.

• "To a Distant Day: The Rocket Pioneers" by Chris Gainor.

• "Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story" by David Hitt, Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin.

• "Ambassadors From Earth: Pioneering Explorations With Unmanned Spacecraft" by Jay Gallentine.

• "Footprints in the Dust: The Epic Voyages of Apollo 1969-1975" by numerous authors, edited by Colin Burgess.

• "Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight" by Chris Dubbs, Eric Dahlstrom and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom.

• "Bold They Rise: The First Space Shuttle Era" by David Hitt.

• "Stations in the Sky: Laboratories in Earth Orbit" by Jay Chladek.

• "X-15: Wings Into Space. Flying the World's First Reusable Spacecraft" by Michelle Evans.

posted 11-17-2009 08:34 PM               

Jay, thanks for a wonderful book!

posted 11-29-2009 11:11 AM               

My question is whether it is possible to make the index for each of the earlier books available in electronic form somehow, either through an online posting or via e-mail by request, for those of us who have already purchased the first editions. I know I for one would very much appreciate having a copy of each index that I could print out and keep with the individual books.