Breaking the Chains of Gravity Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

Bloomsbury presents Breaking the Chains of Gravity written and read by Amy Shira Teitel

The incredible story of spaceflight before the establishment of NASA

NASAs history is a familiar story one that typically peaks with Neil Armstrong taking his small step on the Moon in 1969 But Americas space agency wasnt created in a vacuum It was assembled from preexisting parts drawing together some of the best minds the nonSoviet world had to offer

In the 1930s rockets were all the rage in Germany the focus both of scientists hoping to fly into space and of the German armed forces looking to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles One of the key figures in this period was Wernher von Braun an engineer who designed the rockets that became the devastating V2 As the war came to its chaotic conclusion von Braun escaped from the ruins of Nazi Germany and was taken to America where he began developing missiles for the US Army Meanwhile the US Air Force was looking ahead to a time when men would fly in space and test pilots like Neil Armstrong were flying cuttingedge rocketpowered aircraft in the thin upper atmosphere

Breaking the Chains of Gravity tells the story of Americas nascent space program its scientific advances its personalities and the rivalries it caused between the various arms of the US military At this point getting a man in space became a national imperative leading to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration otherwise known as NASA