posted 06-25-2017 03:25 PM               

I was half-thinking of putting myself forward for this project but the more I think about it, I really wouldn't want to invest time writing about what were really just "joy rides" for the super rich.

Most of the flights were historically insignificant (besides giving the Russians much needed cash when they were broke) and are now slightly obscene when you look at the messy world we live in right now.

posted 06-25-2017 03:52 PM               

• Children in Iran*, South Africa and in inner cities in the United States were given new role models and a reason to become engaged in science (*in particular, young Iranian women).

• More protein growth science was accomplished on the space station during one spaceflight participant's mission than in the history of the space station.

• A new Earth observation mapping software was introduced by one spaceflight participant that has now been adopted as the software used by all astronauts and cosmonauts when planning Earth observation science and photography.

• A worldwide telecast was held to raise awareness for the need for clean water in many areas around the globe.

• The first second generation American flew in space, adding to the human spaceflight experience.

• The living quarters for NASA astronauts and international crew members (as well as prime crew cosmonauts) in Star City were upgraded with modern appliances and telecommunications (at the initiative and expense of one of the spaceflight participants).

• Two types of cameras were certified for the first time for spaceflight, adding to the ability of astronauts and cosmonauts to document and share the spaceflight experience with those on the ground.

• The introduction of commercial activities on the space station led NASA to reconsider its position on commercial partners, leading in part to commercial activities as part of the U.S. National Laboratory.

• Two countries began human spaceflight programs.

• A new training regiment was developed, allowing among other things a NASA astronaut to be certified for a long duration flight on the space station in less than six months.

posted 06-25-2017 04:43 PM               

Many spacefarers have gone to extraordinary lengths to go into space. One can only admire their tenacity. Achieving great wealth to do so is worthy of a book itself.

Another aspect to consider is that after the US returns to flight on a regular basis the Russians may well have to court more paying participants and new countries wishing to fly their first citizens into space to survive. I don't think anyone wants to see the end of the majestic manned Soyuz launches.

posted 06-26-2017 08:41 PM            

I would be more interested in reading a candid view of those missions in the context of how the space flight community viewed them, rather than simply reading a mini-bio about each person and their flight.

posted 06-26-2017 09:47 PM               

Personally, such a book would be of far greater interest to me if it did not restrict its coverage to ISS spaceflight participants (implied in Colin's post as I read it), but also covered the early Shuttle "passenger programs," e.g. the Teacher-in-Space initiative, Sens. Garn and Nelson, Prince Al-Saud, etc.

posted 06-26-2017 10:17 PM               

Folks such as Garn, Nelson, and so forth are actually the subject of a new co-authored series book on the payload specialists (including some MOL guys), as opposed to a detailed history of the spaceflight participants, and the manuscript for this new book - which is an amazing read - is nearing submission.

posted 06-28-2017 06:48 AM               

Folks, the offer to research and write this book in the Outward Odyssey series is still out there. Obviously some writing experience would be preferred, but if you are interested this can be discussed upon application.

posted 06-28-2017 01:13 PM               

The project would require an immense amount of travel to interviews, probably the use of interpreters, and the usual huge chunks of time. Unless there are huge advances available that are quite unusual from university presses in my experience, you are asking for a rather wealthy person. Even if there were funds available to cover travel and linguistic assistance, you would still need a person with a very flexible (or non-existent) employment schedule and a pretty unique skill set.

posted 06-28-2017 07:34 PM               

Current and past series authors have produced amazing results without the need for any advance (which I agree is not forthcoming from a university press) and any financial outlays for travel and such have been at their own discretion. None have ever complained that the research and writing has in any way impacted on their working lives, and in fact all of them have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

It has also given them a whole new aura of accomplishment, with most wanting to continue writing books on space topics and other subjects. These are the new breed of space authors, and I am proud of each and every one of them and what they have accomplished.

posted 06-29-2017 08:58 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
...the manuscript for this new book - which is an amazing read - is nearing submission.

---

posted 06-29-2017 06:36 PM               

As to the pending books in the series, there have been a couple of recent additions, and I now have two proposals for further books that have yet to go before the Nebraska Press's editorial board for consideration and hopeful approval. As well, Jay Chladek's series book on the history of space stations, "Outposts on the Frontier," has just been released and is now available.

However those now under contract and in various stages of readiness are:

• Payload Specialists: Flying the First Non-NASA Astronauts, by Melvin Croft and John Youskauskas
  
• Eight Million Miles of Work: Flying Three Space Shuttle Missions, by Charles Walker
  
• A Man Who Could See Around Corners: The George M. Low Story, by Richard Jurek
  
• Born to Explore: At the Solar System's Distant Horizons, by Jay Gallentine
  
• Shattered Dreams: The Lost and Cancelled Space Missions, by Colin Burgess

posted 06-30-2017 04:36 AM               

For a project like this, personally I think it needs either a single voice or few voices. Reason being is past collaborative projects such as "Footprints in the Dust" could be done from several perspectives, given a generation "lived" the Apollo program and it was a good retrospective on the past from many different points of view.

Space tourism by comparison is essentially current events. It needs a somewhat cohesive narrative to help put it all into perspective in my humble opinion. The story needs to be told and Outward Odyssey is a perfect vehicle to tell it. Not all titles have to cover the world changing grand events.

posted 07-01-2017 07:08 PM               

We worked together previously as part of the earlier series book "Footprints in the Dust." As others have indicated, it has been a fascinating, frustrating, fun, and extremely rewarding thing to be involved in.

We have had tremendous cooperation from so many of the payload specialists and some of the astronauts who flew with them. Mel accomplished fantastic research at NASA's archives in Houston on early documents relating to the program, and has done a fine job with the Spacelab series of missions.

I drew the short straw and got the DoD missions, fully expecting this to be the lightest part of the book. The exact opposite turned out to be the case. We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with many of the Manned Spaceflight Engineers, including both Gary Payton and Bill Pailes. There are some wonderful untold stories to be found in this part of the book from them and other MSE's who never got to fly. Frank Casserino, Brett Watterson, and especially Eric Sundberg were most helpful and interesting.

I made two trips to introduce the project to Rodolfo Neri-Vela and Bob Cenker, both of which yielded great interviews and insightful perspectives.

Mel caught up with many of the PS flight crewmembers at several of the ASF events and got some good material. We made one more "research trip" to Washington D.C. to see actual hardware and do some in-person collaborative work.

Colin has been indispensable in reviewing our work and providing guidance. The UNP folks are very good to work with and no-pressure when it comes to timeframes. Our challenge now is pairing down our narrative for word count. As others have shared in the past, its easy to "overwrite" when you're in the heat of it, and this story is so all-encompassing that you don't realize how big it gets until you're finished.

One thing I will say is that sometimes, an initial reaction to a subject can often be wrong. On the surface, Colin's proposal may seem daunting, somewhat nebulous, even a curious choice. But the writer who undertakes this will likely find it to be far more interesting and rewarding than one could ever expect.

posted 07-01-2017 08:55 PM               

To answer the query about "Shattered Dreams," this is a newly-contracted book I have wanted to put together for some time. In some ways it is a similar theme to that of "Fallen Astronauts," and in twelve individual chapters tells the stories of a number of people who were selected to fly into space but were never able to achieve that dream due to a number of different circumstances.

I have already had wonderful cooperation from the subjects themselves or family members, who are keen to see these stories told. The subjects of these chapters include Stephen Thorne, Patty Hilliard Robertson, Doc Graveline, Phil Chapman, Pratiwi Sudarmono, Marina Popovich, Bob Stevenson and Frank Caldeiro.