T. A. Heppenheimer – författare

T. A. Heppenheimer's acclaimed chronicle of rockets, politics, and the pioneers who dared to reach beyond humanity's limits."The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and best written history of space flight there is."—The Times (London)"A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one-volume overview of space as exists."—Scientific American"Countdown is by far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories."—Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph"Science writer Heppenheimer's readable account provides a timely historical overview of the early visionaries, the engineers, and the geopolitical forces that placed men on the moon and created today's aerospace industry. . . . A thoughtful analysis that is highly recommended."—Library Journal"By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen. . . . [Heppenheimer] concentrates unerringly on key elements, both technical and managerial, in this account of man's initial space ventures."—Lee Atwood, Former president and chairman, North American Aviation Corporation"Like a skilled artisan, Heppenheimer weaves social, political, scientific, technological, military, and economic threads of the history of space flight into a tapestry that reveals fascinating patterns and themes."—Publishers Weekly

The prospectus of humans living, working, and establishing communities in space can no longer be dismissed as the romantic notions of science fiction writers and space buffs. With the launch of the space shuttle human kind will enter a new era in space exploration, one giant step closer to the goal of human colonization. Our understanding of man’s role in space is maturing, and the myths of life in space as a slick Buck Rogers episode or a scene from Star Wars must give way to a realistic plan for human life in other part of the solar system. We are ready now for a factual assessment of the challenges ahead: in Toward Distant Suns, the prospects of space exploration and space colonization have come of age. Here, for the first time, is a realistic look at what humankind must accomplish in order to colonize near space. Based on the most up-to-date research available, Toward Distant Suns tackles the problems of technology and lifestyle that will face those men and women whose mission is to settle space. Here is realistic, in-depth coverage of: space shuttle’s role in near space construction, development of new, more versatile rocket fuels and motors, building the large communications platforms, power satellites the “Space Spider,” and space colonies, the space workers—how they will be chosen, trained, and transported; life in zero-g—space tourism and space war; “suburbanizing” space earth dwellers; the real future of interstellar colonization. Toward Distant Suns also takes a new look at the tantalizing question: What is our place in the galaxy? It reviews the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments, the latest work on interstellar flight and colonization, and the current scientific information on planetary formation and humanoid development, to reach the startling conclusion: Mankind may be unique and along.

'We are going forward with research on a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport and accelerate up to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low-earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours.'