To Reach the High Frontier : A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles

Access―no single word better describes the primary concern of the exploration and development of space. Every participant in space activities―civil, military, scientific, or commercial―needs affordable, reliable, frequent, and flexible access to space. __To Reach the High Frontier__ details the histories of the various space access vehicles developed in the United States since the birth of the space age in 1957. Each case study has been written by a specialist knowledgeable about the vehicle described and places each system in the larger context of the history of spaceflight. The technical challenge of reaching space with chemical rockets, the high costs associated with space launch, the long lead times necessary for scheduling flights, and the poor reliability of the rockets themselves show launch vehicles to be the space program's most difficult challenge.

"Access — no single word better describes the primary concern of the exploration and development of space. Every participant in space activities — civil, military, scientific, or commercial — needs affordable, reliable, frequent, and flexible access to space. To Reach the High Frontier details the histories of the various space access vehicles developed in the United States since the birth of the space age in 1957. Each case study has been written by a specialist knowledgeable about the vehicle described and places each system in the larger context of the history of spaceflight. The technical challenge of reaching space with chemical rockets, the high costs associated with space launch, the long lead times necessary for scheduling flights, and the poor reliability of the rockets themselves show launch vehicles to be the space program's most difficult challenge.

"To Reach the High Frontier details the histories of the various launch vehicles developed in the United States since the birth of the space age in 1957." "This book presents case studies in the history of all the major rockets built by the United States. Each study has been written by a specialist knowledgeable about the vehicle described and places each system in the larger context of the history of space flight. To Reach the High Frontier promises to aid in the effort to resolve the launch vehicle problem, offering a comprehensive history and analysis of rocket development and suggesting remarkable new directions for future efforts."--BOOK JACKET Beskriver den historiske og teknologiske udvikling inden for det amerikanske rumprogram med fokus på de store løfteraketter Curiosity about the universe and other worlds has been one of the few constants in the history of humankind.