Featured Resource: Books on NASA
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, ushering in the Space Age. Today, it is difficult to imagine the stir caused by a small satellite that only stayed in orbit for 98 minutes! Children and adults alike were enthralled with the idea that we could leave Earth’s gravity and actually experience outer space. To read more about how America entered the Space Age 50 years ago by establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, visit NASA's 50th Anniversary Web site. Also check out the titles below.
Space Dogs: Pioneers of Space Travel
Author: Chris Dubbs
Ages: 9-12
Publisher: Writer's Showcase Press, 2003
Science Concepts: Astronomy & space, science history, animals
This book provides a look at the dogs of the Soviet space program. Suitable for middle school and up, it describes dog training, contains photos not seen before, and underscores the dogs’ importance to the success of the program. Dog lovers may find it difficult to read about the dogs that died in the name of science.
Excerpt:
She got up, stretched herself thoroughly, front legs and body, then back legs to their full extension. Then she came to greet him. “You have been selected to go on the fourth flight. I was just at the meeting where they decided.” He stuck his fingers through the wire to pet her nose. “They said you were a brave dog, and very strong.” He smiled at this play of words on her name, Smelaya – Brave One – as the brave one licked his fingers. “You will be famous, Smelaya. Your name will be written in the stars.”
A Ball, A Dog, and a Monkey: 1957 – The Space Race Begins
Author: Michael D’Antonio
Ages: Adults
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2007
Science Concepts: Astronomy & space, science history, animals
The launch of Sputnik marked the beginning of a competition that took Americans to the moon. Author Michael D’Antonio chronicles a series of events that changed our world, including little-known accounts of “rockoons” – balloons that launched rockets – and a secret facility nicknamed the Skunk Works. The author revives names and events that had been forgotten or were closely guarded by governments. This is a very readable account of America’s reaction to the launch of Sputnik and how America went “space crazy.”
Excerpt:
At 10:28, when the countdown reached zero, a young lieutenant named Boris Chekunov pressed the button to ignite the R-7. Fire and smoke poured out of the roaring engine as the massive rocket lifted off slowly and then picked up speed. After the rocket was away, radio operators tracking its performance soon reported it was perfectly on course. Racing into the night sky at roughly 18,000 miles per hour, it carried Sputnik on a roaring flame that could be seen by precious few as it arced over scattered farms and a vast desert, racing toward Siberia.
Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle
Authors: Colin Burgess and Chris Dubbs
Ages: Adults
Publisher: Springer, 2007
Science Concepts: Astronomy & space, science history, animals
The authors wanted to publish a book about all the animals involved in space flights to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the adventure of Laika the dog, the first earthling in space. This is a well-researched resource on little-known stories of the dogs, monkeys, rabbits, cats, rats, fish and insects that went into orbit so that scientists could learn how human astronauts would tolerate space travel. The technology of each mission is explained and illustrated for those who wonder how an animal could be sent into space and retrieved. This book could upset dog lovers with its details on the dogs’ training and inevitable deaths.
Excerpt:
Among the group of dogs to go into training for the first series of dog launches were those named Bobik, Chizhik, Dezik, Lisa, Mishka, Neputevvy, Ryzhik, Smelaya and Tsygan. Unfortunately, Bobik missed his chance for fame by running off the day before his flight. A stray dog was quickly recruited and given the name ZIB, which is the Russian acronym, derived from the words “substitute for missing dog Bobik.”
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited
the Space Age
Authors: Matthew Brzezinski
Ages: Adults
Publisher: Times Books, 2007
Science Concepts: Astronomy & space, science history
Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, this book provides a look at the politics behind the space race, from Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev to Lyndon Johnson. It begins at the end of World War II with programs by the Germans and Russians to produce and test rockets for use as weapons. The technology they developed and later brought to the U.S. became the basis for the vehicles that propelled astronauts to the moon. This book offers a fascinating look behind the scenes at Russian politics and the secrecy that preceded the digital age.
Excerpt:
When told that Explorer was in orbit, Nikita Khrushchev reportedly shrugged. The race, he well knew, would no longer be so one-sided, now that a sleeping giant had been roused; and for the Soviet Union, it would be a contest of diminishing returns. But it did not matter.
Moscow had already scored its biggest gains by the time Juno soared into space, and those all-important early victories could never be pushed aside.
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