posted September 21, 2009 09:30 PM               

Not only was he gracious enough to sit for repeat interviews, but in the Iowa archives I unearthed his original handwritten journals from the Explorer period. It was a complete accident that I came across them. I held the first one up, realized what it was, and said something like, "Holy ****!" - and then realized I was in a library and had best keep it down. How wonderful it was to page through such historical documents. His penmanship wasn't half-bad, either.

Thankfully I found the journals before speaking with Ludwig, as he never mentioned them until I brought up the subject. I wouldn't have known to ask otherwise, and now a standard interview question is, "Did you ever keep a journal?"

posted September 24, 2009 05:43 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
My purchase of "Ambassadors" reminds me of deep space probes in a way.... my purchase request to Amazon was "launched" on 20th September, but the book won't reach its destination until early October...

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posted October 12, 2009 10:00 PM               

Unmanned space exploration certainly has an image problem, and I knew it might be a tough sell. Where's the excitement in a little robot space ship, right? But these early reviews seem to reinforce the idea that many, many wonderful stories are to be found within the people who do this kind of work. I feel that they are also adventurers, every bit as much as someone in a pressure suit.

posted October 19, 2009 08:47 PM               

The upper half of the ad displays a color photo of the cover of "Ambassadors from Earth," a quote from Louis Friedman ("An exciting engrossing tale of the early days of space flight"), and ordering information (list price $34.95, Canada $48.95, UK 26.99 pound
sterling).

The lower half of the ad shows in color the covers for the four other books already out in the series.

Jay and the other authors should be aware of this promotion by the publisher-- especially in times of recession when publishers are cutting back on such advertising.

posted October 29, 2009 09:57 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
...on our wedding anniversary

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quote:

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Originally posted by Philip:
Ambassadors from Earth will also be featured in the December issue of Spaceflight in Book reviews.

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posted November 12, 2009 04:50 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Jay Gallentine:
I swear, these people are not my relatives.

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As Einstein showed, when it comes to space and time, everything is relative...

posted November 24, 2009 03:41 PM               

Many years back, when I was seeking out a suitable author for this book, Jay sent me a copy of an article he'd written on speesdster Craig Breedlove and I knew from the moment I read it that he was the right person to write this book. It could, I know, have been a dry old chronology of unmanned exploration, but to my way of thinking Jay has done for unmanned exploration what Tom Wolfe did for early astronautics.

posted November 25, 2009 03:54 PM               

This is why there is such a reliance on quality reviews and word-of-mouth endorsements. In this regard, I share with all of the series authors an appreciation for the thoughtful, grassroots support and efforts of many collectSPACE people, who not only buy and recommend books in the series, but take the time to place quality reviews on high-profile sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, send the book link to friends and colleagues, and through other efforts help to spread the word and promote these books, which have been researched and written by their spaceflight peers.

posted January 03, 2010 08:55 PM               

Please come if you are able!

posted April 15, 2010 04:15 PM               

I gave the first talk, explaining how University of Iowa students and faculty became the cornerstone of America's first satellite missions. I tried to appraise Van Allen's strengths and strategies, pointing out that his collaborative spirit, positive attitude, and common sense definitely helped get Iowa into space.

Then Abigail took a turn, leading us through Van Allen's life and highlights of his work. She presented a number of remarkably rare pictures of the late scientist. Abigail knows his history top to bottom and gave the audience a great feel of his lasting impact on space exploration.

Craig was the final presenter, talking up the fact that we still don't know everything about the topic which originally got Van Allen into the space business - cosmic rays. Craig is one of the people carrying Van Allen's work into the next generations with his own space experiments on cosmic radiation and other topics. He is a torch-bearer.

To be in the company of these two individuals was humbling. Abigail spent many years working closely with Van Allen on his biography, which unfortunately the great physicist did not live to see published. She was an endless fountain of warm stories about the man and his ways. Craig is the classic scientist: always in high gear, engaging, downright hilarious, and incredibly smart. He's also a musician.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy was very kind to roll out some original flight hardware - including a rockoon and a sounding rocket payload which predated and closely resembled what eventually flew in space as Explorer I. This stuff is more than fifty years old.

The attendance wasn't bad - maybe thirty people or so - and a lively Q&A followed the talks. Afterward, Abigail and I retreated to Iowa Book just a few blocks away. There the discussions continued and we signed copies of our books.

I was privileged to meet a couple individuals from the Iowa machine shop, who handbuilt many fittings and enclosures for Iowa's instruments. Their handiwork flew to the outer planets and beyond.