Slice of SciFi is giving away 3 copies of Rod Pyle’s new book, Amazing Stories of the Space Age, courtesy of Prometheus Books!
All you need to do is leave a comment below sharing your favorite memory from the space age, early days or current, or share via Twitter, and you’ll be entered!
Winners will be randomly selected, contest deadline is Wednesday Feb 1, midnight Pacific. You can enter once per day, and be creative!
Don’t miss our fascinating interview with Rod, or the review of Amazing Stories of the Space Age!
I remember being a small kid and watching in the school auditorium on a black and white TV the landing of Apollo 11 and the first steps on the moon.
The first memory I have of being absolutely fascinated with the space race and NASA was when the news covered Ed White and the first space walks. Watching him floating around the Gemini craft was amazing.
I wasn’t quite born when the first Arab and Muslim astronaut Prince Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud went to space in the STS-G51 “Discovery” space shuttle,
But he was quite a childhood hero and inspiration and still!
He went to space when he was only 29. I am now 29. He’s now 60. 30 years exact between his first voyage to space and this moment, and I hope one day, too, that I make mine to space.
I’m really looking forward to getting this’s book! ???
I hope you do too! There’s still time, and space is opening up to citizens in a way most of us never imagined. Stay the course and with some patience and preparation, you may well reach your goal.
I sometimes find it difficult to believe that when I was a young man, in that magical time between late 1968 and 1972, incredible missions of exploration were departing for the moon every 8-10 weeks. Just astounding. Yet by the time Apollo 14 was halfway through their first moonwalk, the networks were already cutting away to “Days of Our Lives” and other soaps–nobody would be dying in space today; the drama of Apollo 13 would not recur. I found this frustrating as hell, even as a pre-teen, and this is at least part of the reason that I am compelled to write books like “Amazing Stories of the Space Age”–partly to share these wild stories with a new generation, partly to share with my peers, and partly–admittedly–because it’s just so damn much fun. I truly hope you enjoy the book if you choose to read it.
It’s really quite inspiring to read about the space race/age!
When I first knew and found about the ISS in 2011, I was jaw-dropped. I started to dig deep in the space exploration history, found a whole lot more to be astonished and fascinated about. All I almost knew before the ISS was the moon landing, the Apollo program, our 1st Arab, Muslim (and Saudi) astronaut.
I was thrilled to come across all those missions which took place in the 50s and continued gloriously in the 70s.. The Voyagers themselves and other satellites, orbiters, and robots that were sent to nearby planets in our solar system. Inspired by that, I started organizing World Space Week events locally in my city. Event management itself put me through a lot of search and digging that I found myself thrilled at last to share my excitement and all the information I find with ppl, well, lots of people. Ever since that time, I decided to communicate what I find in my social media accounts, and continue organizing those events for continuous 5 years now. Media really seldom pays attention to such achievements and their history, say our Middle Eastern media in particular. People attending our events become amazed by the bravery of acheivments made in the space history so far, how science is really advanced in some countries that there are missions now aiming for Mars, Alpha Centauris, maybe beyond!
Reading your comment now I do really understand your anger regarding why attnention is paid to other TV shows and less on sciencc, technology, and the history of Human and Robotic Space Exploration. Same I underwent and still in my surrounding and country. Many ppl lived during that era you mentioned, maybe had less or more exposure to such events and news, but only very few of them talk about it. I really salute you for the mere attempt of writing such books on the space theme. I myself was thinking about writing a book on the topic, also thought about translating some into Arabic. Our era truly needs it. Thank you for your reply, thoughtful comments, and time! ^^
I was always fascinated that the USSR went on to launch the first dog into space (Laika in Sputnik II) with the first man into space (Yuri Gargarin). It seems fitting that man’s best friend would venture as far as space with us.
I will never forget that watershed moment of watching Neil and Buzz walk on the Moon. I was 11 years old, and watching a small, grainy, black and white tv, in the family room. Everyone else was already in bed, so I was alone.
But as I watched, I felt that I was watching with the rest of the entire planet.
In July 1969, I was six years old. Due to time differences, the Apollo 11 landing took place on Monday 21 July in Australia. If your parents picked you up, you got the day off school to watch the landing at home. Dad and I watched the landing. He explained everything to me in great detail and answered all of my questions. On going to bed that night, I looked at the Moon and was very annoyed that I couldn’t see Neil or Buzz. I trace the beginning of my love affair with spaceflight to that cold July day…
I will never forget where I was when I learned that the space shuttle “Challenger” blew up. Obviously a major malfunction was what they said. Until then everyone had grown accustomed to space travel. Everyone had forgotten how unforgiving it can be.
Watching a night shuttle launch… STS84. Glorious….