American moonshot : John F. Kennedy and the great space race

Title:

Author:

Summary:

On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Brinkley brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America's success, Brinkley pays homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit. -- Adapted from jacket.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Preface: Kennedy's new ocean -- Rockets. Dr. Robert Goddard meets Buck Rogers ; Kennedy, von Braun, and the crucible of World War II ; Surviving a savage war ; Who's afraid of the V-2? -- Generation Sputnik. Spooked into the space race ; Sputnik revolution ; Missile gaps and the creation of NASA ; Mercury Seven to the rescue ; Kennedy for President -- Moonbound. Skyward with James Webb ; Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard ; ""Going to the moon": Washington, DC, May 25, 1961 ; Searching for moonlight in Tulsa and Vienna ; Moon momentum with television and Gus Grissom ; Godspeed, John Glenn ; Scott Carpenter, Telstar, and presidential space touring -- Projects Gemini and Apollo. "We choose to go to the moon": Rice University, September 12, 1962 ; Gemini Nine and Wally Schirra ; State of space exploration ; "The space effort must go on" ; Cape Kennedy -- Epilogue: The triumph of Apollo 11.

Physical Description:

xxv, 548 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits (some color) ; 24 cm

Personal Subject:

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.

Corporate Subject:

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- History -- 20th century.

Subject Term:

Space flight to the moon -- History -- 20th century.

Space race.

Astronautics and state.

Manned space flight -- History -- 20th century.

Astronautics -- Political aspects -- History -- 20th century.