Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story(Outward Odyssey: a People's History of Spaceflight)

About the Book

As the United States and the Soviet Union went from exploring space to living in it, a space station was conceived as the logical successor to the Apollo moon program. But between conception and execution stood the vastness of space itself, to say nothing of the monumental technological challenges. Homesteading Space, by two of Skylab's own astronauts and a NASA journalist, tells the dramatic story of America's first space station from beginning to fiery end. Homesteading Space is much more than a story of technological and scientific success; it is also an absorbing, sometimes humorous, often inspiring account of the determined, hardworking individuals who shepherded the program through a near-disastrous launch, a heroic rescue, an exhausting study of Comet Kohoutek, and the lab's ultimate descent into the Indian Ocean. Featuring the unpublished in-flight diary of astronaut Alan Bean, the book is replete with the personal recollections and experiences of the Skylab crew and those who worked with them in training, during the mission, and in bringing them safely home. Purchase the audio edition.

Table of Contents:
List of IllustrationsForeword by Homer HickamPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1. From the Ground Up2. The Homesteaders3. Getting Ready to Fly4. Fifty-six Days in a Can5. A Tour of Skylab6. Ten Days in May7. "We Fix Anything"8. "Marooned"9. High Performance10. Sprinting a Marathon11. Science on Skylab12. What Goes Up13. The Legacy of SkylabAppendix: Alan Bean's In-Flight DiaryBibliographyIndex

About the Author :
David Hitt is a journalist, writer, and editor for NASA Educational Technology Services. Owen Garriott is a former NASA astronaut—and one of the first six scientist-astronauts selected in 1965. He was stationed on Skylab in 1973 and later flew STS-9, the first international Spacelab mission. A former NASA astronaut, Joe Kerwin is also one of the first scientist-astronauts selected in 1965 and flew on the first Skylab mission in 1973. Alan Bean is the former spacecraft commander of Skylab 3 and became the fourth man to walk on the moon in 1969. Homer Hickam is a former NASA engineer.

Review :
"Savvy consumers of space history have come to expect high quality in the 'Outward Odyssey - A People's History of Spaceflight' series edited by Colin Burgess. This fourth volume definitely does not disappoint." Rick W. Sturdevant, Air Power History "A well-told saga of Skylab from start to fiery fall." Coalition for Space Exploration "Published here for the first time, [Alan] Bean's diary, added to voice transcripts of space walks, produces the you-are-there immediacy that buffs crave." Gilbert Taylor, Booklist "A launch accident nearly doomed Skylab, America's first space station, before its mission could begin. This first-hand story of how American ingenuity, innovation, and gutsy risk-taking turned tragedy to triumph and produced pioneering science in orbit is an inspiration. Homesteading Space captures the never-give-up spirit of our first attempts to explore spaceoand stay there." Tom Jones, veteran shuttle astronaut and author of Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir "When people now spend half a year at a time aboard a continuously-occupied orbital outpost, it's hard to imagine when the first steps in that direction were being made. Homesteading Space provides a powerful and eye-popping narrative of what it took to begin that journey. This book tells its story with candor, context, and humor, and is a worthy addition to any space libraryoincluding, I hope soon, the one aboard today's International Space Station." Jim Oberg, NASA Mission Control veteran, NBC News space consultant