Les Archives de la NASA. 40th Ed.

Description

On October 1, 1958, the world's first civilian space agency opened for business as an emergency response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik a year earlier. Within a decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, universally known as NASA, had evolved from modest research teams experimenting with small converted rockets into one of the greatest technological and managerial enterprises ever known, capable of sending people to the Moon aboard gigantic rockets and of dispatching robot explorers to Venus, Mars, and worlds far beyond. In spite of occasional, tragic setbacks in NASA's history, the Apollo lunar landing project remains a byword for American ingenuity; the winged space shuttles spearheaded the International Space Station and a dazzling array of astronomical satellites and robotic landers, and Earth observation programs have transformed our understanding of the cosmos and our home world's fragile place within it. Throughout NASA's 60-year history, images have played a central role. Who today is not familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope's mesmerizing views of the universe or the pin-sharp panoramas of Mars from NASA's surface rovers? And who could forget the photographs of the first men walking on the Moon? This compact edition is derived from our XL edition, which was researched in collaboration with NASA, and gathers hundreds of historic photographs and rare concept renderings, scanned and remastered using the latest technology. Texts by science and technology journalist Piers Bizony, former NASA chief historian Roger Launius, and best-selling Apollo historian Andrew Chaikin round out this comprehensive exploration of NASA, from its earliest days to its current development of new space systems for the future. The NASA Archives is more than just a fascinating pictorial history of the U.S. space program. It is also a profound meditation on why we choose to explore space and how we will carry on this grandest of all adventures in the years to come. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production. Le 1er octobre 1958, la premiere agence spatiale civile mondiale est fondee pour riposter en urgence contre le lancement de Spoutnik par l'Union sovietique un an plus tot. En 10 ans, la National Aeronautics and Space Administration, universellement connue sous l'acronyme NASA, est passee d'un modeste groupe de chercheurs, menant des experiences avec de petites fusees converties, a l'une des plus importantes entreprises technologiques et manageriales jamais creee, capable d'envoyer des humains sur la Lune a bord d'enormes fusees et de disperser des robots explorateurs sur Venus, Mars et plus loin encore. Malgre les quelques revers tragiques qui ont jalonne l'histoire de la NASA, le projet d'alunissage Apollo demeure emblematique de l'ingeniosite americaine; ses navettes spatiales ailees ont ete le fer de lance de la station spatiale internationale et son stupefiant arsenal de satellites astronomiques, d'atterrisseurs robotiques et de programmes d'observation de la Terre ont transforme notre comprehension du cosmos, et de la place qu'y occupe la planete fragile que nous habitons. Au fil des 60 annees d'existence de la NASA, les images ont joue un role crucial. Qui, aujourd'hui, n'a jamais ete fascine par les prises de vues de l'univers realisees par le telescope spatial Hubble, ou les panoramas de Mars, d'une nettete extraordinaire, collectes par les rovers de surface de la NASA? Qui a oublie les cliches des hommes marchant sur la Lune? Ce volume compact est derive de notre edition format XXL, qui a ete realisee en collaboration avec la NASA, et reunit des centaines de photos historiques et des schemas de conception, scannes et remasterises grace aux techniques les plus perfectionnees. Les textes signes du journaliste scientifique Piers Bizony, de l'ancien historien en chef de la NASA Roger Launius et de l'auteur a succes et specialiste d'Apollo Andrew Chaikin, accompagnes d'une liste detaillee des principales missions spatiales humaines et robotiques, completent cette exploration exhaustive de la NASA, de ses premieres heures aux nouveaux systemes spatiaux qu'elle elabore aujourd'hui pour l'avenir. Les Archives de la NASA est bien plus qu'une captivante histoire illustree du programme spatial americain. C'est aussi une meditation profonde sur les raisons pour lesquelles nous explorons l'espace et la direction que nous donnerons a cette aventure sans egal dans les annees a venir. A propos de la collection TASCHEN fete ses 40 ans?! Depuis ses debuts en 1980 comme denicheur de tresors culturels, TASCHEN a toujours ete synonyme d'editeur accessible permettant aux devoreurs de livres du monde entier d'imaginer leur propre bibliotheque dediee a l'art, a l'anthropologie et a l'erotisme pour un prix imbattable. Nous fetons aujourd'hui 40 ans de livres incroyables en restant fideles au credo de la maison. La collection 40th Anniversary Edition presente de nouvelles editions de quelques-unes des stars de notre catalogue: plus compacte, a petit prix, mais toujours realisee avec la meme garantie d'une qualite irreprochable.

Piers Bizony is a science and technology writer. His publications include Atom, The Man Who Ran the Moon, Starman, and The Making of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The contributing authors: Andrew Chaikin is the author of the best-selling book A Man on the Moon, a detailed account of the Apollo lunar missions based on firsthand testimony. This work formed the basis for the triple Emmy award-winning HBO series From the Earth to the Moon. Dr. Roger Launius served as Chief Historian at NASA from 1990 until 2002, after which he was appointed senior curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C. He was also a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003.

We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth. * Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders *