About the Book Prepare to embark on a journey through space and time with The NASA Archives, a visual celebration of humankinds unstoppable urge to travel away from Earth to worlds beyond. Featuring hundreds of historic photographs and concept renderings, this collection guides us through NASAs 60-year history. Book Synopsis On October 1, 1958, the worlds first civilian space agency opened for business as an emergency response to the Soviet Unions launch of Sputnik a year earlier. Within a decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, universally known as NASA, had evolved from modest research teams experimenting with small converted rockets into one of the greatest technological and managerial enterprises ever known , capable of sending people to the Moon aboard gigantic rockets and of dispatching robot explorers to Venus, Mars, and worlds far beyond. In spite of occasional, tragic setbacks in NASAs history, the Apollo lunar landing project remains a byword for American ingenuity ; the winged space shuttles spearheaded the International Space Station and a dazzling array of astronomical satellites and robotic landers, and Earth observation programs have transformed our understanding of the cosmos and our home worlds fragile place within it . Throughout NASAs 60-year history, images have played a central role. Who today is not familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope s mesmerizing views of the universe or the pin-sharp panoramas of Mars from NASAs surface rovers? And who could forget the photographs of the first men walking on the Moon? This compact edition is derived from our XL edition, which was researched in collaboration with NASA, and gathers hundreds of historic photographs and rare concept renderings , scanned and remastered using the latest technology. Texts by science and technology journalist Piers Bizony , former NASA chief historian Roger Launius , and best-selling Apollo historian Andrew Chaikin round out this comprehensive exploration of NASA , from its earliest days to its current development of new space systems for the future . The NASA Archives is more than just a fascinating pictorial history of the U.S. space program. It is also a profound meditation on why we choose to explore space and how we will carry on this grandest of all adventures in the years to come . Review Quotes Even dedicated space enthusiasts may be startled by what they see on these pages... The documentary photography on display here is tangible, gorgeous, startling, almost overwhelming. It simply leaves no room for disbelief.-- American Scientist This beautiful book will inspire the astronaut in all of us.-- Los Angeles Times We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth.-- Bill Anders, Apollo 8 astronaut