Star Bound

Emily Carney is a former nuclear technician for the U.S. Navy and an accomplished space journalist. She is the manager of public engagement and social media for the Space 3.0 Foundation, founder of the popular spaceflight group Space Hipsters, and cohost of the Space and Things podcast. Bruce McCandless III is a novelist, an attorney, and the son of a shuttle astronaut. He is the author of Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space.    

1:  First Principles…………………….………………………….…………
How to find space—and why it’s so difficult to get there.
2.  The Wizard of Worcester………...………………………..….…………
America’s home-grown Daedalus was bald, bold, and dreamed of machines that could sail through space. He was widely mocked as a result. But it turns out he was right.
3.  Rocketry and Death……………...............................................................
Three brilliant individuals from very different backgrounds provided ideas about rocketry that Nazi Germany turned into a terrifying weapon—the V-2 missile, grandparent of all current space launch vehicles.
4. The SS Major and the Suicide Squad……………………………..…..
The end of the Second World War was just the start of another conflict, the Cold War—and the justification for an unusual experiment in situational ethics.
The All-Time Greatest Space Exploration Playlist
5.  A Starting Gun Called Sputnik…….………………..…………………..
The U.S. and the Soviet Union used space technology to fight a proxy war in the heavens. For years, it looked like the Soviets were winning. Then an American president issued a challenge. 
6.  The Man Who Fell to Earth…………….…….………………….……..
Created as a civilian agency, NASA inherited gifted people, amazing machines, and extravagant space plans from America’s armed services. But they didn’t come without a fight.
7.  Light This Candle! The Mercury Program…….………………………..
America’s first crewed space program launched six astronauts on solo spaceflights from May 1961 to May 1963. The missions lasted longer each time, with the latter four accomplishing a total of 34 Earth orbits.
11 Boffo Space Books to Launch at Your Brain
8.  Gemini’s Forgotten Flights…………………………….………………..
NASA sent up ten Gemini missions in the mid-sixties. Each flight carried two astronauts, who put their spaceships through progressively more complicated tasks meant to demonstrate the viability of a journey to the Moon. No one remembers anything about these events, leading some experts to question whether they really happened. 
9.  The Rise and Fall of the American Astronaut……….………………,…..
America’s astronaut corps has evolved from a cadre of cockpit cowboys to a more inclusive but still highly skilled group of fliers and scientists, doctors and engineers. But does anyone know their names?
The Best Space Stuff You Can Watch
10.  Apollo and the First Man on the Moon…………………….…….…..….
The Apollo program remains America’s iconic accomplishment in space—and quite possibly the most exciting thing human beings have ever done. This is both a blessing and a mild curse for NASA administrators, who have been trying to equal the achievement ever since.
11.  Skylab and the Renaissance of American Science……….……...…....
America’s first space station was scarred by launch and almost left to die. But Skylab, largely ignored at the time, survived to deliver a surprising win for science, sincerity, and general funkiness.
America’s Coolest Astronauts
12.  Send More Chuck Berry! Probes, Rovers, and the Golden Record……
Several unmanned American space probes of the seventies have proven remarkably valuable—and long-lived.
13.  The Butterfly and the Bullet…………….…………..………,.…..….…
America’s first reusable spacecraft was sophisticated, versatile, and beautiful. It promised the world, and broke a million hearts.
NASA’s Greatest Missions
14.  Sleeping with the Russians………………………………………..…….
An orbital space base rivalry between the U.S. and Russia eventually resulted in creation of the International Space Station.
15.  False Starts, Missteps, and the Promise of Artemis……………………..
For years, NASA has been trying to figure out where to go next. Artemis is the current answer.
America’s Biggest Space Failures
16.  The New Space Race…………………………………...……...…….…..
The dynamic and secretive Chinese space program is America’s chief cosmic rival.
17.  The Commercialization of Space…………………………………….…..
At long last, private industry is building increasingly capable and ingenious space vehicles. But not every company will survive.
The 11 Everyday Benefits of the American Space Program 
18.  Curse You, Gene Roddenberry!………………….………………….……
Science fiction makes interstellar travel look easy. But human beings aren’t going anywhere beyond Jupiter without some significant advancements in technology—especially propulsion technology. 
The 11 Best (and Worst) Rumors, Riddles, and Conspiracy Theories About the American Space Program
19. Looking Outward……………………….………………………….…….
Mathematics tells us that we almost certainly have company in the universe—maybe even LOTS of company. But if that’s the case, where is everybody?
11 Fearless Space Predictions 
20.  The Ultimate Question: Is It Worth It?.....................................................
Onward.
Sources