Gemini - Steps to the Moon - by Shayler David (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Gemini program was a breakthrough in technology with the first spacecraft dockings and rendezvous. This book describes those events in detail from the perspective of the engineers, flight controllers and astronauts.

Book Synopsis

In Gemini - Steps to the Moon, author David Shayler unfolds the story of the origin and development of the programme and the spacecraft from the perspective of the engineers, flight controllers and astronauts involved. It includes chapters on flight tests, Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) and rendezvous and docking.

Review Quotes

From the reviews:

"David J. Shayler has written a fascinating book which tells, with a fresh perspective from the end of the twentieth century, the achievements of Project Gemini. His book, which is based on extensive research of NASA archives and interviews with some of the Gemini astronauts, relives the pioneering years of American manned spaceflight." (John O'Donoghue, Astronomy & Space, July, 2002)

"David Shayler has an easy style of writing and an excellent way of putting over what could have been a difficult subject. ... With plenty of line drawings and black and white images, this book does the subject proud. It should appeal to anyone with an interest in spaceflight and to those wishing to understand how the US got to the Moon in under a decade from the first crewed spaceflight. ... I expect it to become the bible on Gemini for spaceflight enthusiasts everywhere." (Paul Money, Astronomy Now, September, 2002)

"David Shayler is well qualified to write a book about Gemini, and he has succeeded admirably. He deals with the project in all its aspects; the initial steps, the design and planning, the astronauts themselves, the flights ... . It is clear that a tremendous amount of research has been involved; the text is well-written, accurate, and very detailed. ... serious students and scientific historians will find it invaluable as a reference work, and it should certainly have a place in every scientific library." (Patrick Moore, The Observatory, Vol. 122 (1168), 2002)

"David Shayler brilliantly wrote the essential history of Gemini with his newest book ... . a highly entertaining and readable account of a unique program ... . The author has ensured the book contains an extensive study of these goals and the flights on which they were carried out. Often the information was completely new to me. ... Gemini: Steps to the Moon is a book that I can highly recommend to anyone interested in a little known era in the history ofspaceflight." (Kate Doohan, CRCSS Space Industry News, Issue 93, March, 2002)

"David Shayler's superb history of the Gemini Project is subtitled 'Steps to the Moon' ... . An up to date biographical index of all astronauts involved in Gemini and its potential USAF developments is incorporated as an appendix. Shayler has obviously researched widely. His history is full of fascinating details that were previously unknown to this reviewer. ... With Shayler's history you need never research Gemini again for it's all here!" (John O'Dwyer, News Bulletin of the Astronautical Society of Western Australia, Vol. 27 (4), 2002)