The High Frontier

Spaceflight History and Commentary

About Me

Can’t say when I became interested in space, I just don’t remember a time when I wasn’t.

I was born a bit late for the Space Race, but I’m old enough to remember when Apollo wasn’t a distant memory like it is today.

After reading countless books, watching documentaries and films, visiting museums etc. I decided I wanted to try and record some of the things I found most interesting on the subject, especially if they are aspects of spaceflight that don’t always get the spotlight.

Things tend to repeat in cycles and spaceflight is no exception. By learning as much as possible about past programmes we can see trends emerging – that’s my justification for indulging in some Space History anyway…

me

Chris

15 thoughts on “About Me”

Add Comment

  3. Your articles are real well analyzed and written, Chris. I always link them in special forums what I am leading on the social network club. Your blog belongs to the best I know in regards of aerospace.

    Like

    Reply

  4. Hello Chris,

    My bio is almost identical to yours and I love reading your reflections and analysis of spaceflight history.

    I am an avid Apollo-enthusiast and have been able to read a lot of books on early manned space programs of both the US and the Soviet Union, largely because the literature pertaining to manned spaceflight history is huge and growing.

    However, I couldn’t find any books (e-book or print) on early unmanned planetary science missions, in particular, of the Soviet Union. I would be grateful if you suggested some.

    Thanks,

    Suraj
    India

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Suraj,
      Thanks for your kind words.

      Regarding the early planetary missions I think Asif Sidiqqi covers some of this in his fantastic “Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race” which is a book I’d recommend anyway to anyone interested in the Soviet side of the Space Race. I suspect that the “Rockets & People” Series Siddiqi did with Boris Chertok would also cover the early probes – these are available to download from NASA. Try Volume 3: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol3_detail.html

      You might also want to try some of Brian Harvey’s books (although I don’t think these are available as eBooks). I have “Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration: Comparisons of the Soviet and American Lunar Quest” which is pretty good, but he’s also written “Russian Planetary Exploration: History, Development, Legacy and Prospects” which I imagine will also be a good guide. Both are on Springer/Praxis and available through Amazon. Finally, Anatoly Zak’s site (http://www.russianspaceweb.com) is a great source of info, as is his book “Russia in Space: The past explained, the future explored”

      For the US programmes, I often tend to look for programme histories on the NASA technical Reports Server (Just google NASA NTRS)

      Hope this helps!
      Chris

      Like

      Reply

  5. Hello there! I just came across your articles on SSTO/VTVL and found the three parts of them to be an excellent overview — if not a bit *more* than “merely” an overview. Kudos!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the kind words Tim. Each of the programmes mentioned there is probably worth a book in its own right. I hope to dig back into some of them in more detail at a later date – so much amazing stuff that often never got beyond the design stage

      Like

      Reply

    1. Tim,
      I re-read the section of ‘SSTO’ covering your contribution to the continuation of the DC-X programme. I have to say I’m really glad you were so active in rallying the necessary support! It’s always a pleasure and privilege to hear from people who were actually there ‘in the trenches’ when these events took place and I really appreciate you taking the time to contact me. I guess my blog isn’t the first ‘High Frontier’ you’ve seen!

      btw. do you have a shareable copy of the “The Space Frontier Foundation Answers Twenty Questions about the DC-X SSTO Project” one pager mentioned in the book? Would be fascinated to read that and see the type of questions/answers covered at that time!

      Regards
      Chris

      Like

      Reply

    1. And alas, *I* don’t have a copy of the 20 Questions document you’re after. I know that Rick Tumlinson wrote the original copy, and I edited it and put it into a graphic format that could then be handed out to people.

      Like

      Reply

  9. Chris, very much enjoyed looking over your site, and I read one of your articles on the N-1. I plan to begin reading your articles. Very much enjoyed the post on Quora about N-1 rockets. I wrote an article last year about how Apollo 4 put the US ahead in the Space Race which briefly discussed the problems with the N-1. You have a much greater depth of knowledge than me. Well done.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply