Discover the history of space exploration including some very recent finds.

Since the early days of flight, animals have helped researchers learn how to survive in the sky, and their role continues as humanity voyages into outer space. In 1783, a rooster, a duck, and a sheep were placed in a basket attached to the first hot-air balloon. In the age of rockets and space travel, many more animals have traveled into orbit, and most have returned safely to earth. This book tells the stories of 50 trips into space, and the animals...

"On the fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing, acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley takes a fresh look at the American space program, President John F. Kennedy's inspiring challenge, and the race to the moon. Just months after being elected President of the United States, John F. Kennedy made an astonishing announcement to the nation: we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing epic of contemporary history,...