Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN

As we debate anew the issue of sending people into space, this book weighs in with harrowing, yet inspiring stories from the Soviet and Russian space station program. First, Zimmerman describes the competition between the U.S. and Soviet space programs in the 1960s. He then delves into the history of Soviet space stations Salyut and Mir. Granted unprecedented access to Soviet and Russian documents, Zimmerman charts the risky pursuits of the cosmonauts who have manned these stations. The research conducted on these galactic outposts, as well as the trials and tribulations of the people sustaing them, comes to light. In telling this story, the author explains how the Soviet and U.S. citizens switched places--how Soviet technology caught up to NASA's and how NASA became bogged down in bureaucracy. Joseph Henry Pr, 2003, 528 p., hardcover, $27.95.