Amazing Stories of the Space Age: True Tales of Nazis in Orbit, Soldiers on the Moon, Orphaned Martian Robots, and Other Fascinating Accounts from the Annals of Spaceflight

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• "An enjoyable exploration of spacecraft from a    

   reliably knowledgeable guide." – Kirkus Reviews

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• "This is a must-have book for space fans." – BBC's Sky at Night

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• “Whether you are a die-hard space fanatic or a casual reader, you’ll    find this book is full of fascinating space stories you never knew  

   existed. Rod Pyle is our space super sleuth!” – Andrew Chaikin,  

    author of A Man on the Moon

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• "Pyle skillfully guides us through both major moments and forgotten    corners of spaceflight triumphs and tragedies with a sense of    

   entertaining drama..." – Francis French, author of "In the Shadow of  

    the Moon" and "Apollo Pilot"

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•  January Book of the Month – BBC's Sky at Night

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•  "Pyle’s ability to capture forget-me-not facts is truly amazing. This is a  

    must- read for today’s space fan, while looking at the rearview mirror of

    times past.” – Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider columnist and

    author of National Geographic's companion book to their TV miniseries

    "Mars"

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• "100% recommend this to anyone." – Nick Howes, Astronomer,      

    Consultant and Science Writer - Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society

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• “I’m a huge fan of amazing stories, and these stories are so  

   compelling I could not put the book down until I finished reading  

   every one. And what’s most mind-boggling is that all these stories  

   are true!” – Peter Z. Orton, story editor, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing

   Stories NBC television series

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• "Long after you've finished the book, you'll remember how much fun

   you had reading it." – Susan Holden Martin, the Mars Society. Inc.

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• “I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in space

   exploration... His ability to keep mind-boggling facts and fanciful yet true

   proposals in perspective makes this an engaging book that is gripping,

   yet easy to read." – Melanie Melton Knocke, director of CPS

   Planetarium, ambassador of the NASA Airborne Astronomy, and    

   author

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•  "Pyle has created an eminently readable, high-energy journey through  

    the adventures, and frequent mis-adventures, of the space age. If you

    enjoyed Mary Roach's 'Packing for Mars,' you will love this book."  – 

    Kenneth Kramer, former Director of Public Relations, County of Los

    Angeles Public Library

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Award-winning science writer and documentarian Rod Pyle presents an insider's perspective on the most unusual and bizarre space missions ever devised inside and outside of NASA. The incredible projects described here were not merely flights of fancy dreamed up by space enthusiasts, but actual missions planned by leading aeronautical engineers. Some were designed but not built; others were built but not flown; and a few were flown to failure but little reported:

A giant rocket that would use atomic bombs as propulsion (never mind the fallout), military bases on the moon that could target enemies on earth with nuclear weapons, a scheme to spray-paint the lenses of Soviet spy satellites in space, the rushed Soyuz 1 spacecraft that ended with the death of its pilot, the near-disaster of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the mysterious Russian space shuttle that flew only once and was then scrapped--these are just some of the unbelievable tales that Pyle has found in once top-secret documents as well as accounts that were simply lost for many decades.

These stories, complimented by many rarely-seen photos and illustrations, tell of a time when nothing was too off-the-wall to be taken seriously, and the race to the moon and the threat from the Soviet Union trumped all other considerations. Readers will be fascinated, amused, and sometimes chilled.