Outward Odyssey: A History of Human Space Flight

Earlier this summer, I came across the documentary, In the Shadow of the Moon, and went hunting for a book, and came across one by the same title, by Francis French and Colin Burgess. It was a fantastic read on the history of Gemini to Apollo 11, and by a coincidence, the book and film had the same title. A little more searching came across a second book, Into That Silent Sea by the same two authors, which is about the first space flights. I'm almost done with that one, and a review will be coming for both books shortly. I did a little more looking today and found that these two books are the first of ten, in a series that's being published by the University of Nebraska Press, which is fantastic. The Series is called Outward Odyssey: A History of Human Space Exploration. The first two books were absolutely astonishing - these are a history of human space flight, from the human side of things, rather than the technological side.

Here's what's coming up from the University of Nebraska Press's Outward Odyssey series: To a Distant Day: The Rocket Pioneers, due out early 2008, by Chris Gainor. Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story, due out late 2008, by David Hitt, Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin Ambassadors from Earth: Pioneering Explorations with Unmanned Spacecraft, early 2009, by Jay Gallentine Footprints in the Dust: Apollo and the Conquest of the Moon, late 2009, by Tod Bryant. There's a couple others forthcoming, one on the history of Soviet spacestations and the ISS, as well as two on the space shuttle, from the early orgins to Challenger, and from Challenger to today. The last book will be on private ventures into space. This is a really exciting series, and I can't wait to read them, if the first two were any indication, these are likely to be classics.