When the death of Neil Armstrong was announced in 2012, all those old enough to remember where they were when he took "one small step for man" in 1969 bowed their heads and paused in reflection. Yet four decades had passed since man had last walked on the Moon and economic realities had forced President Obama to all but abandon the exploration of space. Had Armstrong and his generation risked their lives in vain?
The answer is surely no. The achievements of the past half-century are there to be examined and celebrated, and this publication does just that. We relive the race to the Moon between the United States and the Soviet Union that took up the Sixties. We follow the timeline of space exploration from the first unmanned Sputniks through the Moon landing and US/Soviet space station to the recent Mars lander, and profile 10 top space men (and women) who make interstellar history with their daring deeds.
We also look at some of the technological advances that have emerged from the space program to benefit us in everyday life, examine the way man has sought to explore and map the planets and, last but far from least, examine the lasting legacy of the space program.
Neil Armstron and his fellow astronauts will never be forgotten. This publication explains why in words and pictures.
