"Manned Spaceflight Log" discusses over 40 recent spaceflights from
September 2006 through September 2012, a time of great change in human
spaceflight history. Following on from "Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log
1961-2006," the authors continue the story until the end of September
2012, with new chapters detailing the development and accomplishments of
human spaceflight, expanded tables and additional photographs, many in
color, throughout. The book opens with a new foreword by Colonel Alfred
M. Worden, USAF Retired, NASA Astronaut and CMP of Apollo 15, which
reflects on the changing history of human spaceflight and the prospects
for future operations.
The first chapter explains how human spaceflight has approached the
different challenges of exploring space and provided the hardware to
meet those challenges. This chapter also describes the various attempts
to reach orbital flight and the often confusing distinction between
ballistic, sub-orbital, and so-called 'astro-flights' of the X-15 rocket
research aircraft program. Chapter 2 recalls key historic moments and
missions across five decades of human spaceflight. Each decade has
provided useful lessons for the next and a foundation for future
achievement. The new mission entries are collected in the third section
in chronological order. A review of the next steps in human spaceflight,
including plans to occupy the International Space Station well into the
2020s and the growth of the Chinese manned space program including a
large space station and planned base on the Moon, is discussed in
Chapter 4. The tables provide a complete up-to-date overview of human
spaceflight operations and experience from April 1961 to September 2012
and a selected chronology of important milestones from those years.
Completing the book is a comprehensive bibliography that lists all the
major Springer-Praxis human spaceflight titles and other important works
that provide the reader with a resource to continue further research.
