Spaceship Handbook (2nd Printing)

Spaceship Handbook's subject is the historical development of the Spaceship during the 20th Century. Arranged in three Sections, "The Theoreticians," "The Entertainers," and "The Real Stuff," it presents an amazing collection of 75 designs and their stories - from Tsiolkovsky and Oberth's engineering papers, through the golden age of movie science fiction, up to the present day's Lockheed "VentureStar" and Rotary Rocket "Roton."

Spaceflight historian Hagerty delves into the background story behind each design, examining the motivations of the designers in the context of the times in which they lived. The book's selection of these historically important Spaceships has a twist; none of these Spacecraft ever flew! However, from the information presented, we can see their importance to the development of Spaceships that did fly, and also on the world we live in.