All of Richard Branson Books

Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)

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Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S) Description

Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S):

Nearly forty years passed between the Apollo moon landings, the grandest accomplishment of a government-run space program, and the Ansari X PRIZE-winning flights of SpaceShipOne, the greatest achievement of a private space program. Now, as we hover on the threshold of commercial spaceflight, authors Chris Dubbs and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom look back at how we got to this point.

Their book traces the lives of the individuals who shared the dream that private individuals and private enterprise belong in space. Realizing Tomorrow provides a behind-the-scenes look at the visionaries, the crackpots, the financial schemes, the legal wrangling, the turf battles, and—underpinning the entire drama—the overwhelming desire of ordinary people to visit outer space.

A compelling story of the pioneers of commercial spaceflight—both American and Soviet/Russian—and their efforts to open the final frontier to everyone, this book traces the path to private spaceflight even as it offers an instructive, entertaining, and cautionary note about its future.

(20110508)

Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)

Richard is good-looking and really sensible, that is attractive to begin with. He also makes a billion bucks before breakfast—and still knows a way to commemorate. Few people in contemporary business are as colorful, shrewd, and irreverent, and possibly no one’s nearly the maximum amount fun to be around. . . . Branson embodies America’s cherished mythology of the iconoclastic, swashbuckling entrepreneur. Branson wears his fame and cash exceedingly well: no necktie, no chauffeur, no snooty clubs. . . . What continues to set Branson apart is that the unique -- and, to some, baffling -- nature of his ambition. . . . He isn’t curious about power within the usual sense of influencing other people. . . . Boiled all the way down to its singular essence, Richard Branson simply needs to possess fun. Richard Branson . . . is dressed to the nines: in a $10,000 white silk bridal robe with a standard veil and train and acres of lace. . . . Branson is anticipated to do the surprising, even the bizarre -- anything to publicize his latest venture. . . . the fact is, Branson’s widely reported stunts appear nearly staid compared to the unconventional method he manages his burgeoning empire.