Rocket Dreams
Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
“Thrilling . . . an important tale of how American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit is creating a new type of space age.”—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk
Musk vs. Bezos. China vs. the United States. The government vs. the private sector.
Welcome to the rivalries and alliances defining the New Space Age. At stake? Trillions of dollars, national prestige, and a place in the history books.
“A fine piece of reporting; historians will be able to use this first draft of rocket history to craft deeper analyses of our first real steps as a space-faring society.”—The New York Times
Moon landings and space walks once captivated the public’s attention. But, in recent decades, the U.S. space enterprise has felt moribund. Now, that’s finally about to change.
A fleet of powerful new rockets is poised to take humans into the cosmos more than ever before. A lunar land rush has sparked a geopolitical competition among nations. And the world’s two richest men have engaged in escalating brinkmanship, as NASA and the U.S. government embraces Silicon Valley innovation to jump-start the nation’s ambitions.
Space has entered a golden age, and this is just the beginning. In this gripping work, award-winning Washington Post writer Christian Davenport chronicles the mad scramble to shape humanity’s off-planet future. He takes readers behind the scenes at NASA and the Pentagon as China’s aggressive moon mining plans raise alarms, onto the sprawling Cape Canaveral factory where Blue Origin is working toward Amazon-style lunar deliveries, and onto SpaceX launch pads as Musk’s engineers log 100-hour weeks—leaving veteran astronauts marveling that they’re now operating “flying iPhones.”
What will happen as human ambition outpaces governmental regulation? Which country will win the race back to the moon? Was Donald Trump’s much-derided creation of the Space Force a surprising act of foresight, and will the U.S. finally make a real push to the moon and eventually toward Mars?
Masterfully paced, rigorously reported, and vividly told, Rocket Dreams offers a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of the grit-fueled global battle to push humankind further into the cosmos—revealing that the science fiction dreams of the last century may soon become our reality.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Washington Post staff writer Davenport (The Space Barons) offers a captivating, fast-paced account of the ambitions and rivalries of the billionaires and superpowers driving modern space exploration. Opening with the successful 2024 launch and landing of SpaceX's Starship, the "most powerful rocket ever assembled," Davenport follows the manic progress toward deep space exploration, largely led by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin as they battle over billion-dollar contracts from NASA, as well as by an increasingly competitive China. Well sourced with a surprising level of access to major players like Musk, the book's fly-on-the-wall perspective contrasts the American organizations' divergent managerial styles: SpaceX's no-sleep, breakneck speed; Blue Origin's "homey, comfortable vibe"; and NASA's conservative caution. These distinctions provide insight into the tensions behind historic achievements, such as experienced astronauts' skepticism about flying SpaceX's Dragon capsule without a stick ("like flying an iPhone"); they also help explain ongoing failures, like Blue Origin's frequent trailing behind SpaceX's innovation. Among the narrative's many amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes are a Blue Origin senior vice president who consoles disappointed employees after the loss of a lunar lander contract by playing Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping," and Musk's relentless "string of insults" aimed at Bezos. It makes for a revealing glimpse into the egomaniacal antics, stagnant bureaucracy, and awe-inspiring advancement that define the new space age.
