Tag Archives: cold war
Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Culture of the Cold War”
The Culture of the Cold War. By Stephen Whitfield. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, second edition 1996. I was preconditioned to appreciate this book when I first picked it up for a reading. I have been devouring studies … Continue reading
A New Moon Race?
It’s amazing when you think about it. One might think that there is a new race to the Moon underway, this time with robotic spacecraft rather than astronauts and cosmonauts. There has been a small armada of space probes sent … Continue reading
Redirect: Chicken Little Was Right
I published on March 4, 2013, a new commentary on the policy issues surrounding what to do about asteroid/meteor/comet impacts. Chicken Little Was Right just appeared on the National Air and Space Museum’s blog. It notes that yes, indeed, the … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946—1967″
US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946—1967. By Sean Kalic. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012. I was quite pleased when Sean Kalic’s book, US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946—1967, appeared in the Centennial of Flight … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age”
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age. By Matthew Brzezinski. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2007. The fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, sparked the publication of … Continue reading
Evening Event: “Caution and Boldness: Balancing Risk in Spaceflight” on February 1, 2013
The Smithsonian Institution’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, is holding an event which promises to be interesting—”Caution and Boldness: Balancing Risk in Spaceflight“—on the evening of February 1, 2013. This is an event for the National Air and … Continue reading
A Chronology of Space Anniversaries for 2013
Many people have asked what anniversaries are upcoming in 2013 in space history. Here is a quick list. Are there items that I should add to this accounting? 1923—90 years ago December: Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into … Continue reading
Roger Launius Interviewed on “The Space Show,” November 30, 2012
On Friday, November 30, 2012, I participated in an interview about the history of spaceflight on “The Space Show,” hosted by Dr. David Livingston. We talked about my new book, Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space, co-written with Dennis … Continue reading
New Study Available: “Toward a History of the Space Shuttle: An Annotated Bibliography Part 2, 1992–2011″
Twenty years ago I compiled with Aaron Gillette an annotated bibliography of the Space Shuttle program entitled Toward a History of the Space Shuttle. We intended it as a starting point for serious historical investigation into the program’s history. At … Continue reading
A Truly Hilarious Cartoon on the Apollo/Saturn Stack
This cartoon from the XKCD website helps explain with considerable humor the awesomeness of the Saturn V. It uses onlty the most common words in English to rescribe the stack. You may find the original here. Enjoy!
