Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars

Winner of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics History Manuscript Award. Originally published by the Smithsonian Institution in 2003 and priced at $39.95, this new edition has been fully updated by the author, Roger Launius, former chief historian of NASA and current member of the Space History Division of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It tells the complete story of the vision, technological achievement and political infighting that led to the establishment of the first space stations as base camps for space exploration. Currently in orbit, the International Space Station s mission continues to expand, with new proposals including the possibility of using it as a way station to beam solar power to meet the earth s energy needs. The book s extensive illustrative material draws heavily on NASA archives as well as the collection of the Air and Space Museum. Illustrated in color throughout.