Description: What an amazing career. Tom Stafford attained the highest speed ever reached by a test pilot (28,547 mph), carried a cosmonaut's coffin with Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, led the team that designed the sequence of missions leading to the original lunar landing, and drafted the original specifications for the B-2 stealth bomber on a piece of hotel stationery. But his crowning achievement was surely his role as America's unofficial space ambassador to the Soviet Union during the darkest days of the Cold War. In this lively memoir written with Michael Cassutt, Stafford begins by recounting his early successes as a test pilot, Gemini and Apollo astronaut, and USAF general. As President Nixon's stand-in at the 1971 Soviet funeral for three cosmonauts, he opened the door to the possibility of cooperation in space between Russians and Americans. Stafford's Apollo-Soyuz team was the first group of Americans to work at the cosmonaut training center, and also the first to visit Baikonur, the top-secret Soviet launch center, in 1974. His 17 July 1975 "handshake in space” with Soviet commander Alexei Leonov (who became a lifelong friend) proved to the world that the two opposing countries could indeed work successfully together. Stafford has continued in this leadership role right up to the present, participating in designing and evaluating the Space Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station. He is truly an American hero who personifies the broadest spirit of exploration and cooperation. Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford (Ret.) has been awarded many honors, including two Distinguished Service Medals and two Exceptional Service Medals from NASA, and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. He lives in Florida. Michael Cassutt has written many books, including DEKE! US Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle (with Donald K. "Deke” Slayton). He lives in Studio City, California.
Price: 16.38 USD
Location: East Hanover, New Jersey
End Time: 2025-01-02T13:42:38.000Z
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Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
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EAN: 9781588341013
UPC: 9781588341013
ISBN: 9781588341013
MPN: N/A
Book Title: We Have Capture : Tom Stafford and the Space Race
Number of Pages: 302 Pages
Language: English
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press
Topic: United States / 20th Century, Personal Memoirs, Military / Aviation, Aeronautics & Astronautics, Science & Technology
Publication Year: 2004
Item Height: 0.8 in
Illustrator: Yes
Genre: Technology & Engineering, Biography & Autobiography, History
Item Weight: 15.6 Oz
Item Length: 9 in
Author: Thomas P. Stafford, Michael Cassutt
Item Width: 5.9 in
Format: Perfect