America's Leap Into Space

After the shock of watching Russia's Sputnik become the world's first artificial satellite, America's infant space program hurried to launch one of their own. In just 90 days, Dr. Henry Richter and his colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed and launched the nation's response. Through innovation, teamwork, and tenacity, these pioneering scientists and engineers began America's exploration of space that continues to determine our place in the cosmos. JPL and the First Explorer Satellites tracks the development of the Russian, Germany, and American rocketry programs through the World Wars and into the arms race of the Cold War. Dr. Richter's memories and extensive research shed a light into the earliest days of the space age. It is a fascinating story that is equal parts memoir and insider history of one of the world's most dynamic and revolutionary periods.