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Space Oddities
- Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
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Publisher's summary
Nothing captivates the human imagination like the vast unknowns of space. Ancient petroglyphs present renderings of the heavens, proof that we have been gazing up at the stars with wonder for thousands of years. Since then, mankind has systematically expanded our cosmic possibilities. What were once flights of fancy and dreams of science fiction writers have become nearly routine—a continuous human presence orbiting the Earth, probes flying beyond our solar system, and men walking on the moon. NASA and the Russian space program make traveling to the stars look easy, but it has been far from that. Space travel is a sometimes heroic, sometimes humorous, and always dangerous journey fraught with perils around every corner that most of us have never heard of or have long since forgotten.
Space Oddities brings these unknown, offbeat, and obscure stories of space to life. From the showmanship and bravado of the earliest known space fatality, German Max Valier, to the first ever indictment under the Espionage Act on an Army officer who leaked secrets concerning the development of early U.S. rockets; and the story of a single loose bolt that defeated the Soviet Union’s attempt to beat America to the moon.
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In August 1968 NASA made a bold decision: In just 16 weeks, the United States would launch humankind's first flight to the moon. Only the year before, three astronauts had burned to death in their spacecraft, and since then the Apollo program had suffered one setback after another. Meanwhile, the Russians were winning the space race, the Cold War was getting hotter by the month, and President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade seemed sure to be broken.
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Great history of NASA and Apollo 8: a must listen
- By J on 11-17-17
By: Jeffrey Kluger
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Riding Rockets
- The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
- By: Mike Mullane
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts was introduced to the world - 29 men and six women who would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Among them was USAF Colonel Mike Mullane, who, in his memoir Riding Rockets, strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are - human.
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Not for the young...
- By Collecting Warehouse on 11-14-18
By: Mike Mullane
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Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
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Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11
By: Annie Jacobsen
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The Dream Machine
- The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey
- By: Richard Whittle
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Marines decided to buy a helicopter-airplane hybrid "tiltrotor" called the V-22 Osprey, they saw it as their dream machine. The tiltrotor was the aviation equivalent of finding the Northwest Passage: an aircraft able to take off, land, and hover with the agility of a helicopter yet fly as fast and as far as an airplane. Many predicted it would reshape civilian aviation. The Marines saw it as key to their very survival. Opponents called it one of the worst boondoggles in Pentagon history.
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Innovation runs into government
- By Cx30 on 09-25-10
By: Richard Whittle
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The Last Man On the Moon
- By: Eugene Cernan
- Narrated by: Eugene Cernan
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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This is the story of a unique American hero who came of age as an astronaut during the few dramatic years when man reached the moon. Cernan's career spanned the entire Apollo program, from the tragic fire that killed three of his comrades on Apollo 1, through the moment when he left man's last footprint on the moon as commander of Apollo 17.
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Yet Another Perspective
- By Shellbin on 12-28-12
By: Eugene Cernan
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In the Shadow of the Moon
- A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969
- By: Francis French, Colin Burgess
- Narrated by: Gary L. Willprecht
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure.
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Interesting book for space afficionados
- By Leslie F. on 04-21-16
By: Francis French, and others
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The Right Stuff
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis Quaid
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
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Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
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Rise of the Rocket Girls
- The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars
- By: Nathalia Holt
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1940s and '50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn't turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite group of young women who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American satellites, and made the exploration of the solar system possible.
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Struggles In Space Exploration
- By Sara on 06-11-16
By: Nathalia Holt
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The Mercury 13
- The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight
- By: Martha Ackmann
- Narrated by: Julie Eickhoff
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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For fans of The Astronaut Wives Club, The Mercury 13 reveals the little-known true story of the remarkable women who trained for NASA space flight. In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America’s first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys’ club at NASA and on Capitol Hill.
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Amazing story
- By Chilli Dog on 01-26-15
By: Martha Ackmann
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Apollo 11
- The Inside Story
- By: David Whitehouse
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint.
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Space Race Revivalism
- By Doug on 06-14-19
By: David Whitehouse
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Sally Ride
- America's First Woman in Space
- By: Lynn Sherr
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A member of the first astronaut class to include women, NASA chose her for the seventh shuttle mission, inspiring several generations of women. After a second flight, Ride served on the panels investigating the Challenger explosion and the Columbia disintegration that killed all aboard. In both instances, she faulted NASA's rush to meet mission deadlines and its organizational failures. She also cofounded a company promoting science and education for children, especially girls.
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Captivating
- By Jean on 06-12-14
By: Lynn Sherr
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American Moonshot
- John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
- By: Douglas Brinkley
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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As the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the award-winning historian and perennial New York Times best-selling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon.
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This narrator sounds like a frikkin robot! 👎👎👎
- By Timothy Anderson on 04-04-19
By: Douglas Brinkley
What listeners say about Space Oddities
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- golfer20011
- 10-05-22
Excellent! Breezed through it.
This will appeal to a wide audience. Narrator was great. More from this author please! Worth it.
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