Race for Space 1: Dawn of the Space Age

The mid-20th century saw America and the Soviet Union embark on one of the most remarkable endeavors the world has ever seen – the race to conquer space and land a man on the Moon.


Now, in a series of 12 enhanced multi-touch eBooks, ex-NASA scientist David Baker and Russian space expert Anatoly Zak give their own unique perspective on the events leading up to the historic landing of Apollo 11 in July 1969. 


This amazing story has been told many times over the last 50 years – but never in the kind of visual and audio-visual detail that you’ll find in RACE FOR SPACE.


It's an absorbing read that debunks many of the myths left over from the Cold War and sets the record straight about who did what in the space race. And as well as reading about it, you can watch the story unfold as it happened thanks to the movie snippets, newsreels and rare archive photos embedded within each title. There are also slideshows, cutaways and interactive illustrations to help fill in the all-important details.


It all adds up to a package that’s inspiring, informative and educational on so many different levels – the perfect gift, in fact, for anyone interested in space exploration.



The series comprises 12 titles that break down as follows:



1 Dawn of the space age

Space pioneers and visionaries of the 19th century; the Nazi's V-2 – the first space rocket; Cold War ballistic missile development


2 Sputnik launches

The story of the world's first artificial satellite; America responds to Sputnik; preparing for manned spaceflight



3 First man in space

Training for spaceflight; Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 orbits the Earth; the later Vostoks and Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space



4 America plays catch-up

Development of the Mercury spacecraft; early Mercury flights; John Glenn reaches orbit; Mercury bows out



5 Fly Me to the Moon

The genesis of Project Apollo – U.S. Army plans for a base on the Moon; development of the Saturn rocket; President Kennedy's promise to land a man on the Moon; the expansion of Cape Canaveral



6 Stepping into the void

The story of the Soviet Voskhod spacecraft; NASA's interim Gemini spacecraft; Alexei Leonov’s first spacewalk



7 Gemini paves the way

Manned Gemini flights begin; the USSR joins the race to the Moon; Gemini crews find their feet in orbit and Ed White walks in space



8 A step further

NASA's post-Apollo plans for a lunar base; the mid-Gemini flights practice rendezvous and docking; the later Gemini flights perfect the art of spacewalking and adjusting orbital height



9 Baptisms of fire

The Apollo 1 and Soyuz 1 disasters; Saturn V test flights get underway, the Apollo spacecraft is redesigned



10 Apollo draws closer

Apollo goes “live”; the U.S. and USSR send probes to Venus and Mars; the Soviet unmanned Zond spacecraft loops around the Moon; Apollo 8 orbits the Moon



11 Almost there

Training for the Moon; the Soviet lunar landing program; Apollo 9 proves itself in Earth orbit; Apollo 10 completes a dress rehearsal for a lunar landing.



12 “The Eagle has landed”

The complete story of Apollo 11's historic lunar landing in July 1969 and its aftermath