Gr 3-6‘The once-revolutionary nonfiction series ventures beyond our atmosphere for the first time in a survey that touches on an array of space-exploration topics, from the early history of rocketry to animals in orbit, space stations, astronaut underwear, and probes to the outer planets. The familiar blizzard of cutout color illustrations includes sharp photos of actual spacecraft, scale models, toys, commemorative bric-a-brac, new and worn-out parts, plus portraits of people and selected heavenly bodies, all with detailed captions. The focus is, eye-openingly, international, with European Space Agency technology and astronauts from small countries sharing equal time with the personnel and programs of the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. What with recent events on Mars and Mir, the information is already dated, but the book's broad scope and surefire popularity make it a useful lead-in to more systematic treatments of the subjects.‘John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Employing the densely illustrated and captioned design of this series, this title is devoted primarily to examining the rockets, landers, and shuttles that have made space exploration possible. The comprehensive account of multinational space agency contributions provides unique information to readers who may only be familiar with NASA space programs. Ind. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.