Overview

The Dawn of the Space Age takes you on a fascinating journey into our space past. You'll experience what rocket pioneers had to go through to develop today's rockets, missiles, and space vehicles. In bringing to life the drama and complex interplay among scientists, engineers, and politicians that gave birth to the launch vehicles and spacecraft we take for granted today, The Dawn of the Space Age harnesses surrounding events as never before: political maneuvering, the drama of spies and counterspies, the feelings that key characters--all of whom are real--experienced, the society and political structure, life-changing crises, and more. You'll be taken behind the scenes and come away with an understanding underlying what happened, what caused it to happen, and what nearly happened. This highly informative book begins with exciting tales of the earliest developers of rudimentary rockets and the deadly battles they fought in China between 200 and 1600 A.D. A historical fiction approach brings long-ago characters and events to life. The tremendous achievements of the Wright Brothers - Wilbur and Orville - in the early 1900s serve as a useful backdrop for showcasing the difficulties involved in developing completely new technologies for practical use. The ingenious Dr. Robert Goddard, widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern rocket, developed a sound theory in the 1910s and conducted pioneering flight tests in the 1920s and 1930s, while overcoming many failures. World War II gave the biggest impetus ever to advancing rocket science and related technologies. The book describes how the German V2, Soviet Soyuz, and American Corporal rockets paved the way for the design, fabrication, and operation of more refined, sophisticated second and third-generation missile systems that followed. In the ensuing decades many unsung space heroes on both sides of the Iron Curtain matured the field to where it is today. Led by the indomitable Sergei Korolyov, the Soviet Union captured an early lead over their archrival superpower during the Cold War, and achieved an embarrassing (for the United States) plethora of civilian space firsts. In the U.S., Dr. Wernher von Braun led the American space program during the crucial decades of the 1950s-1960s. He did more than anyone else in America to advance missiles, rockets, spaceflight; and made the manned landings on the moon possible. Von Braun led America's race to the Moon, including the precursor Mercury Program, the Gemini Program, and finally the Apollo Program which landed 12 men on the Moon and returned over 835 pounds (379 kg) of moon rocks to the Earth.

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9781736550779

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Reviews

This is a beautifully constructed volume with innumerable photographs and illustrations on almost every page, many in color. The meticulous and detailed attention to the gradual progress of humanity towards space flight is expertly described by the author, a man with four decades in the aerospace and defense arenas. The US Review of Books One does not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate Walter Sierra's Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science: The Dawn of the Space Age. The first book in the Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science series, it is a fascinating history of how humanity sent rockets, missiles, and spaceships soaring into the heavens. This sweeping account does not stint in scientific detail, either. Sierra explains the mechanical side of how flight works, breaking down concepts like lift, airfoils, centrifugal force, and escape velocity. Clarion Foreword Reviews While one might think the space age began with astronauts circling earth, actual rocket scientists such as Walter Sierra know that the genesis of rocketry dates back several millennia. In this glossy, coffee-table style volume-the first of a series- Sierra presents that often fascinating history. Readers will discover many interesting tidbits, including that the Soviet space program moved quicker than the U.S.'s because it wasn't bound by the need to make things perfect, only complete. And the trip for famous space-dog Laika was always intended as one-way; had she managed to survive the stress of the journey, she would have been euthanized with poisoned food upon landing. The book is nicely produced, with scores of photos and informational graphics. BlueInk Review The Dawn of the Space Age is the first in the Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science series of books by Walter Sierra, which dives into rocketry and the people who contributed to the rocket science we know today. It's well-researched, concise, and well-versed. It's entertaining and educational, really engaging you into the world of rockets, as it pulls you through the past, teaching each concept as it was developed. The biographical information is written in a storytelling prose, which does more than state facts. Sierra frames the background information through stories, turning these famous figures into characters. This allows for a chance to get to know the Wright Brothers, engineer Albert Zadler, and others on a deeper level, developing them into more than famous names in history; indeed showing them beyond their achievements. Sierra brings them to life as ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Illustrations, photographs, and diagrams are included throughout, providing faces to names as well as easy breakdowns of models and how the rockets were created. This book will mainly appeal to those interested in rocket science and its history, but also those wanting to further their understanding of the topic or simply wanting to learn something new. Pacific Book Review While Sierra explains the science behind each shuffle forward for rocket technology-the reader is treated to brief explanations of things like drag coefficients-he also deftly analyzes the political and cultural context within which experimentation necessarily occurs. For example, there is an extended discussion of the impact Stalin's limitlessly repressive rule had on the Soviet Union's technological progress. Sierra consistently writes in lucid prose-even when discussing maddeningly technical subject matter-and the text is mercifully strewn with plenty of helpfully illustrative photographs and diagrams...it's hard to imagine a single volume that delves so deeply into rocket science with such clarity. Kirkus Reviews

This is a beautifully constructed volume with innumerable photographs and illustrations on almost every page, many in color. The meticulous and detailed attention to the gradual progress of humanity towards space flight is expertly described by the author, a man with four decades in the aerospace and defense arenas. The US Review of Books One does not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate Walter Sierra's Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science: The Dawn of the Space Age. The first book in the Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science series, it is a fascinating history of how humanity sent rockets, missiles, and spaceships soaring into the heavens. This sweeping account does not stint in scientific detail, either. Sierra explains the mechanical side of how flight works, breaking down concepts like lift, airfoils, centrifugal force, and escape velocity. Clarion Foreword Reviews While one might think the space age began with astronauts circling earth, actual rocket scientists such as Walter Sierra know that the genesis of rocketry dates back several millennia. In this glossy, coffee-table style volume-the first of a series- Sierra presents that often fascinating history. Readers will discover many interesting tidbits, including that the Soviet space program moved quicker than the U.S.'s because it wasn't bound by the need to make things perfect, only complete. And the trip for famous space-dog Laika was always intended as one-way; had she managed to survive the stress of the journey, she would have been euthanized with poisoned food upon landing. The book is nicely produced, with scores of photos and informational graphics. BlueInk Review The Dawn of the Space Age is the first in the Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science series of books by Walter Sierra, which dives into rocketry and the people who contributed to the rocket science we know today. It's well-researched, concise, and well-versed. It's entertaining and educational, really engaging you into the world of rockets, as it pulls you through the past, teaching each concept as it was developed. The biographical information is written in a storytelling prose, which does more than state facts. Sierra frames the background information through stories, turning these famous figures into characters. This allows for a chance to get to know the Wright Brothers, engineer Albert Zadler, and others on a deeper level, developing them into more than famous names in history; indeed showing them beyond their achievements. Sierra brings them to life as ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Illustrations, photographs, and diagrams are included throughout, providing faces to names as well as easy breakdowns of models and how the rockets were created. This book will mainly appeal to those interested in rocket science and its history, but also those wanting to further their understanding of the topic or simply wanting to learn something new. Pacific Book Review While Sierra explains the science behind each shuffle forward for rocket technology-the reader is treated to brief explanations of things like drag coefficients-he also deftly analyzes the political and cultural context within which experimentation necessarily occurs. For example, there is an extended discussion of the impact Stalin's limitlessly repressive rule had on the Soviet Union's technological progress. Sierra consistently writes in lucid prose-even when discussing maddeningly technical subject matter-and the text is mercifully strewn with plenty of helpfully illustrative photographs and diagrams...it's hard to imagine a single volume that delves so deeply into rocket science with such clarity. Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Prolific author and space transportation systems expert with 45+ years of progressive experience in systems engineering and integration of aerospace and defense systems, systems analysis and trade studies, formulation of system requirements, verification, and validation. Walter Sierra has worked in a variety of assignments from staff engineer to branch supervisor, in locations from major rocket firms in California to the halls of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and many places in between. Author of a four-book series (2021) entitled Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science which is easily readable for those interested in the history of the world's space programs: (1) The Dawn of the Space Age, (2) Avoiding Armageddon, (3) In Space To Stay, (4) The Never-Ending Frontier. These books have received excellent reviews by Kirkus Reviews, the US Review of Books, Foreword Clarion Reviews, Pacific Book Review, and Blue Ink Review.Author Website: https: //www.waltersierra.com

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