This flagship work charts a complete chronological log of orbital manned
spaceflight. Included are the X-15 "astroflights" of the 1960s, and the
two 1961 Mercury and Redstone missions which were non-orbital. There is
an image depicting each manned spaceflight, and data boxes containing
brief biographies of all the space travelers and basic flight data. The
main text is a narrative of each mission, its highlights and
accomplishments, including the strange facts and humorous stories
connected to every mission. The resulting book is a handy reference to
all manned spaceflights, the names of astronauts and cosmonauts who flew
on each mission, their roles and accomplishments. Recent announcements
of a return to the Moon and eventual manned flights to Mars, as new
hardware and procedures are developed to support these long-range
programs, emphasizes the case for future updates of this book.