Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space

by Craig Ryan

Book Overview

In the 1950s and early 1960s a small fraternity of daring, brilliant men made the first exploratory trips into the upper stratosphere, reaching the edge of outer space in tiny capsules suspended beneath plastic balloons. This book tells the story of these tenacious men as they labored on the cusp of a new age, seeing things that no one had ever seen and experiencing conditions no one was sure they could survive. Mostly U.S. Air Force and Navy officers,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591147484
• ISBN13: 9781591147480
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Joe W. Kittinger, Jr -- Biggest Balls Ever!

Craig Ryan's history of high-altitude manned ballooning is one of the most compelling books I have ever read. Taking place on the fledgling edge of the space age, this is the true story of men who, on an almost non-existent budget, originated the hitherto unknown fields of space medicine and safety. Dr. Stapp and the men and women who worked with him pioneered new technology and conducted valuable research that, in the end, was largely lost to history -- research and technology that might have saved lives in the Apollo 1 and Challenger disasters. This book is a tribute to their almost-unknown accomplishments and a reminder never to let something so valuable be lost or forgotten.And if you don't care for the science side of the story, just as incredible are the tales of personal courage. This book also tells the story of Joe Kittinger, who stepped out of an open balloon gondola in his pressure suit nearly 20 MILES above the surface of the Earth and parachuted safely to the ground after almost 5 minutes of freefall (a feat never since equalled or exceeded). Personally, Mr. Kittinger gets my vote for the biggest balls ever. You have to admire the man who was the first person ever to break the sound barrier... WITHOUT a vehicle!

A lasting tribute to the late, great Dr. Stapp

Craig Ryan's book, obviously diligently researched and brilliantly written, may ultimately serve as one of the most illuminating tributes to an amazing American, Dr. John Paul Stapp, who died this Fall (1999). Dr. Stapp is one of the major characters in the stories that Ryan weaves and should be recognized as a one-in-a-million renaissance man of the Twentieth Century.

Compelling and well-paced history of a vital program.

Mr. Ryan corrects a long-standing error in our history of the space program by chronicling the manned ballooning programs that occurred before NASA, and still continued to explore the limits of man's endurance while NASA was still finding its niche. While scientists debated the limits of man's endurances to high gravity stress, a group of underfunded doctors and test pilots in New Mexico were pushing these limits on their own. While forgotten to most Americans who have learned to revere Shepherd, Glenn, and Aldrin, the contributions of Stapp, Kittenger, and the others made the space program possible. While others were focusing on rockets, these people used the relatively cheap balloons to send men high enough to determine if manned space travel was even possible.Mr. Ryan's narration is brisk, but yet detailed enough to give you an appreciation for the risks these people took. The events are exciting and groundbreaking, and Mr. Ryan does them justice with his narrative style. As an Air Force member, I was stationed at Holloman AFB, NM (the site of most of these events) 15 years ago and had heard of these programs and what these scientists and pilots accomplished. I have been looking for a history of these programs ever since, and Mr. Ryan has provided it.Highly recommended.

Brilliantly written, a great story of Courage in the Unknown

Craig Ryan takes us on a thrill ride of great adventure, daring and courage of aerospace feats that most people on the face of this Earth never knew happened. Having grown up in the forties and fifties and having read about these balloon exploits firsthand in Life, Post, and Time, Mr. Ryan has allowed me, through vivid detail, excellent research and great writing, to re-live a part of my life as if it where happening all over again. This book is for anyone interested in the history of aerospace development, human courage and true-action adventure.

Wonderful, real-life adventure that rivals Into Thin Air

I was drawn to this book after seeing a photograph taken from the gondola of a baloon that shows the curvature of the earth and for all practicle purposes was taken from space. A little research lead me to Mr. Ryan's book of high-altitude ballooning, which is just perfectly written, and which I found as exciting as any of the adventure/naturalism books that are all in vogue presently. Yet, Ryan shows that these adventures into the stratosphere were no mere acts of hubris, but a great and necasary step in the advancement of aeronautics. Filled with many interesting facts, I have to this day a much greater appreciation for the thin atmosphere that sorrounds our planet. And the step from the gondola that Kittinger takes from 105,000 feet still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. You think braving a storm in the North Atlantic is frightful or find traffic jams on the face of everest titilating, try this puppy on for size!