The Real Space Cowboys

The Real Space Cowboys
Author: Ed Buckbee
Publisher: Burlington, Ont. : Apogee Books
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

In 1959, seven U.S. military fighter pilots were selected to train as America's first astronauts. Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra and Deke Slayton would become known as the Mercury Seven (M7). These men, who had jockeyed for the best flying jobs in the military, began com-peting for rides on rockets. Most would eventually vie for the ultimate ride to the moon. The author Ed Buckbee, who has enjoyed a 40+ year association with the U.S. manned space flight program, follows these brave men who pioneered the U.S. space program. Through time and personal friend-ships, he captures dreams of flying higher, faster and farther than any-one in the known universe. Readers are invited behind the scenes to witness the competition between chimpanzees and astronauts, and the conflict between NASA engineers designing capsules and those who would pilot them. Through this book, readers feel the collective will of a nation to defeat the Russians in an all-out space race via an American team of 400,000 engineers, technicians, astronauts and sup-port personnel who performed as if the country were at war. The eras of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo-- these were times of nobility and humility, but also times of arrogance, tension, and from time-to--time, humour. "Gotcha's" were commonplace astronaut pranks and a dubious answer to the question, "Are you a turtle?" resulted in a healthy bar tab. But what of our first space heroes after the Apollo program was com-pleted? Accepting the call of Project Mercury meant a lifetime com-mitment. Their work continued with motivational programs for youth through the U.S. Space Camp programs, public programs at institu-tions such as the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and oth-ers. The author himself shared the task of motivating the next generation through creation of U.S. Space Camp and the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Bonus DVD-10 with rare film footage: 1976 Interview with Wernher von Braun; 30th Anniversary Documentary on Skylab; "Gotcha" film about Alan Shepard; Space Camp Documentary - Reach For The Stars; 1997 Panel Discussion at Pensacola with Armstrong, Shepard, Lovell, Aldrin & Cernan; 2002 Panel Discussion at Pensacola with the Mercury Astronauts; "Gotcha" Documentary - The Lighthouse Never Fails; U.S. Space & Rocket Center Documentary - From the Valley to the Moon; Documentary - The Flight of Freedom 7; Mercury Astronauts Documentary - The First; "Gotcha" film of Apollo 12.

Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys

Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys
Author: Steve Sheinkin
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1250148987

Using his in-depth knowledge of American history, award winning author Steve Sheinkin and illustrator Neil Swaab create exciting adventures through time with historical figures going AWOL and true fun facts about each person. WARNING: DO NOT BELIEVE THE STORY YOU’RE ABOUT TO READ. Well, you can believe some of it. There is some real history. But also hijinks. Time travel. And famous figures setting off on adventures that definitely never happened—till now. Time is getting twisted, and it’s up to two kids to straighten things out. The students of Ms. Maybee's class used to think history was boring, but that was before time started to get twisted! When a spaceship carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leaves 1969—and lands in 1869 Texas—cowboy Nat Love decides to trade in his horse for a trip to the moon. Can siblings Doc and Abby untwist history and get everyone back where they belong? Houston, we have a problem! History will never be boring again! Check out Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys and don't miss the other books in the Time Twisters series, including Abraham Lincoln, Pro Wrestler and Abigail Adams, Pirate of the Caribbean!

Bad Astronomy

Bad Astronomy
Author: Philip C. Plait
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2002-10-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780471422075

Advance praise for Philip Plait s Bad Astronomy "Bad Astronomy is just plain good! Philip Plait clears up everymisconception on astronomy and space you never knew you sufferedfrom." --Stephen Maran, Author of Astronomy for Dummies and editorof The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia "Thank the cosmos for the bundle of star stuff named Philip Plait,who is the world s leading consumer advocate for quality science inspace and on Earth. This important contribution to science willrest firmly on my reference library shelf, ready for easy accessthe next time an astrologer calls." --Dr. Michael Shermer,Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for ScientificAmerican, and author of The Borderlands of Science "Philip Plait has given us a readable, erudite, informative,useful, and entertaining book. Bad Astronomy is Good Science. Verygood science..." --James "The Amazing" Randi, President, JamesRandi Educational Foundation, and author of An Encyclopedia ofClaims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural "Bad Astronomy is a fun read. Plait is wonderfully witty andeducational as he debunks the myths, legends, and 'conspiraciesthat abound in our society. 'The Truth Is Out There' and it's inthis book. I loved it!" --Mike Mullane, Space Shuttle astronaut andauthor of Do Your Ears Pop in Space?

The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff
Author: Tom Wolfe
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2008-03-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1429961325

Tom Wolfe at his very best" (The New York Times Book Review), The Right Stuff is the basis for the 1983 Oscar Award-winning film of the same name and the 8-part Disney+ TV mini-series. From "America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek)--a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. " Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.

Rocket Men

Rocket Men
Author: Craig Nelson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2009-06-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1101057734

A New York Times Bestseller "Celebrates a bold era when voyaging beyond the Earth was deemed crucial to national security and pride." -The Wall Street Journal Restoring the drama, majesty, and sheer improbability of an American triumph, this is award-winning historian Craig Nelson's definitive and thrilling story of man's first trip to the moon. At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Rocket Men presents a vivid narrative of the moon mission, taking readers on the journey to one of the last frontiers of the human imagination.

Apollo 1

Apollo 1
Author: Ryan S. Walters
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1684510945

On January 27, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee climbed into a new spacecraft perched atop a large Saturn rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a routine dress rehearsal of their upcoming launch into orbit, then less than a month away. All three astronauts were experienced pilots and had dreams of one day walking on the moon. But little did they know, nor did anyone else, that once they entered the spacecraft that cold winter day they would never leave it alive. The Apollo program would be perilously close to failure before it ever got off the ground. But rather than dooming the space program, this tragedy caused the spacecraft to be completely overhauled, creating a stellar flying machine to achieve the program’s primary goal: putting man on the moon. Apollo 1 is a candid portrayal of the astronauts, the disaster that killed them, and its aftermath. In it, readers will learn: How the Apollo 1 spacecraft was doomed from the start, with miles of uninsulated wiring and tons of flammable materials in a pure oxygen atmosphere, along with a hatch that wouldn’t open How, due to political pressure, the government contract to build the Apollo 1 craft went to a bidder with an inferior plan How public opinion polls were beginning to turn against the space program before the tragedy and got much worse after Apollo 1 is about America fulfilling its destiny of man setting foot on the moon. It’s also about the three American heroes who lost their lives in the tragedy, but whose lives were not lost in vain.

Rocket Man

Rocket Man
Author: Nancy Conrad
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9785558756968

Pete Conrad was the third man on the moon, but he was the first to dance on it. This personal story is almost too amazing to be true, as seen through the eyes of the original Space Cowboy.

Blacktop Cowboys

Blacktop Cowboys
Author: Ty Phillips
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2013-12-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1466859172

A fascinating account of the world of competitive steer wrestling and the talented, live-fast, bruise-hard rodeo cowboys who do it. Ty Phillips's Blacktop Cowboys chronicles the 2004 rodeo season through the eyes of several steer wrestlers trying to make it back to rodeo's version of the Super Bowl, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas. Steer wrestling is an adventure that entails riding into an arena at 25 mph, sliding off a horse while taking hold of a 500-pound steer, and then throwing the animal to the ground. The best cowboys often accomplish all this in less than four seconds. The two main characters of Blacktop Cowboys are Luke Branquinho, a young carefree cowboy on a quest for his first title, and his best friend, Travis Cadwell, a veteran trying to make the NFR one last time. Much of Blacktop Cowboys unfolds in trucks, trailers, arenas, behind the chutes, casinos, beds and everywhere else cowboys spend their time. By taking the reader deep into the cowboys' lives, Blacktop Cowboys offers a true and intimate portrait of men having the time of their lives while living on the road in pursuit of the dream to be the best.

Real Cowboys

Real Cowboys
Author: Kate Hoefler
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1328686108

In Kate Hoefler’s realistic and poetic picture book debut about the wide open West, the myth of rowdy, rough-riding cowboys and cowgirls is remade. A timely and multifaceted portrayal reveals a lifestyle that is as diverse as it contrary to what we've come to expect.