Famous Firsts in Space

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-- A spotty history of spaceflight, concentrating on U. S. manned missions to such an extent that only at the end of a four-page description of Edward White's Gemini 4 space walk does Dolan admit that a Russian had made the first space walk three months earlier. In an attempt to generate excitement, Dolan reports many minor problems that various space flights experienced, generally with no explanation of what the problem really was or why later flights did not suffer the same problems. His omissions are especially apparent in his discussion of major disasters. He does not report the change from pure oxygen to ordinary air in the cockpit after the Apollo fire in 1967, nor that Apollo 13 had to use the moon's gravity to turn around and the lunar module's supplies to survive long enough to make it home, nor does he explain very well the difference between the Challenger's liquid and solid fuels. The scattering of black-and-white photos cannot redeem this dismal book. It is in no way to be confused with Gary Shenfeld's Famous Firsts in Space (Putnam, 1972; o.p.), which ended with the moon landing, but up to that point delivered what his title promised, giving a double-page spread including a photo to each of 32 firsts, whether Russian or American, manned or unmanned. For a more complete history of space flight that notes many firsts as they occurred, try Newton's U.S. and Soviet Space Programs: a Comparison (Watts, 1988). --Margaret Chatham, formerly at Smithtown Library, NY