To Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth


Book Description

With small colonies established on the moon and on Mars, the Prometheus Group struggles to increase the number of people living off Earth before widespread breakdown of civilization occurs in the Western world and catastrophic numbers try to escape, leading inevitably to overcrowding and conflict, which would likely see the colonies fail. A major war on Earth would mean the loss of the ability to resupply space colonies, so establishing independence is a priority. There is a continued search for children with extraordinary abilities to help with the space project. Some of the earliest of these children, now adults, realize unwillingly that space alone is not yet an option, and they will almost certainly have to fight a bloody rearguard action to retain, for a while, freedom in the free world to buy more time for the colonies. A major conflict on Earth is inevitable, and clearly, it will begin in Europe. The only question is, What will be the catalyst, and will it remain local or spread to involve the whole world? The Prometheus Group believes that America is likely to remain a bastion of freedom, so it will be necessary to relocate from a dying Europe. The presidency of the US becomes of crucial importance for long-term survival. They feel it is crucial that the US stay out of the coming European civil war.




To Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth


Book Description

The West continues its precipitous decline. The ancient, magnificent, awe inspiring Christian Churches which had taken centuries to build, are burning all over Europe, and that tragedy and violence on the streets are becoming so commonplace that it barely is mentioned by the media. Even the most egregious terrorist outbreaks are passed over by politicians as something which occurs in big cities and the indigenous population should simply get used to it. Policing in most of the West has sunk to an all-time low. Rape of women and children has reached unprecedented levels. Crimes against property and person are largely ignored. Break and Entry now no longer even merits a police inspection. Horrifying acid attacks, where acid is thrown on a young woman, destroying her face, never before seen in Europe, are barely mentioned. Any vestige of ‘Free Speech’ has become a thing of the past and there is a return to the Thought Police of the Communist era. The Prometheus Group, a disparate collection of people who fear for the future of civilization, especially the unlikely Enlightenment concept of intrinsic individual human worth, have established small colonies on Mars and the moon. They continue to fly under the radar of public attention, as much as they can, while quickly expanding these colonies. The economic collapse of countries such as Greece had long been anticipated. Unsurprisingly, the economic situation in Canada suddenly deteriorates and the US President is forced to step in to prevent complete anarchy, which would threaten the undefended US northern border. Unwilling to involve the United States government directly, she asks the Prometheus Group for personnel to help oversee and assist the economic rescue of Canada, which the group agrees to with exceeding reluctance. More of the exceptional children continue to be sought by the Prometheus Group, and continue to be found in the most unlikely places. As before, they are mainly seeking girls whose genius would otherwise be missed. These children are enlisted into the effort to produce the science which will get as many people as possible into space, and speed the terraforming of Mars, before the cataclysm of civil war, which is now inevitable in Europe, and will likely spread to involve the world. Any extension of war outside Europe will inevitably result in a nuclear exchange with unimaginable destruction, as a single nuclear airburst could produce such an electromagnetic pulse as to wipe out all computers within the blast area. This disaster, multiplied many times over, and almost certainly aided by biological warfare, would produce a possible reversion to primitivism, tribalism and savagery or the establishment of a dystopian rigid unchangeable medieval philosophy.




To Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth


Book Description

The development of fusion power in the small colony established on Mars leads to an explosive outward emigration from Earth to the moons of the solar system. On Earth, increasing civil unrest in Europe has led to the election to positions of authority of three strong women: Leda in Germany, Madeleine in France, and La Marquesa in Spain. With the assistance of others—including Tomiko from Japan and Hinchcliffe, with her paramilitary organization, the Legion—order is restored, at least temporarily. The lives, loves, and deaths of these women are set against a world of conflict, hope, and despair, as they struggle to maintain civilization and allow further immigration to the high frontier in the face of malevolent opposition forces.




Spacewalker


Book Description

The majority of this book is an insider's account of the US Space Shuttle program, including the unforgettable experience of launch, the delights of weightless living, and the challenges of constructing the International Space Station. Ross is a uniquely qualified narrator. During seven spaceflights, he spent 1,393 hours in space, including 58 hours and 18 minutes on nine space walks. Life on the ground is also described, including the devastating experiences of the Challenger and Columbia disasters. --




The Aviators


Book Description

"The Aviators is the true story of Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy doolittle, and Charles Lindberg - - three extraordinary Americans who betwee World War I and World War II pushed the limits of flights and redefined heroism through their genius, daring, and uncommon courage. Winston Groom's rich narrative tells their intertwined stories - - from broken homes to Medals of Honor (all three would receive them) ; barnstorming to the greatest raid of World War II; front-page triumph to anguished tragedy ; and near death to ultimate survival - - as all took to the sky, time and again, to become exemplars of the spirit of the "greatest generation."--Back cover.




Boys' Books, Boys' Dreams, and the Mystique of Flight


Book Description

Setting the stage : technology and the series book -- Birdmen and boys, 1905-1915 -- Aces and combat : World War I and after, 1915-1935 -- Interlude : Charles A. Lindbergh and Atlantic flight, 1927-1929 -- The golden age, I : the Lindbergh progeny, 1927-1939 -- The golden age, II : the air-minded society, 1930-1939 -- World War II and modern aviation, 1939-1945 -- Aftermath : a-bombs, rockets, and space flight, 1945-1950.




The MATS Flyer


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The MAC Flyer


Book Description




Performing Flight


Book Description

Performing Flight sheds new light on moments in the history of US aviation and spaceflight through the lens of performance studies. From pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman to the emerging industry of space tourism, performance has consistently shaped public perception of the enterprise of flight and has guaranteed its success as a mode of entertainment, travel, research, and warfare. The book reveals fundamental connections between performance and human aviation and space travel over the past 100 years, beginning with the early aerial entertainers known as barnstormers (named after itinerant 19th century theater troupes) to the performative history of the Enola Gay and its pilot Paul Tibbets, who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, thus ushering in the atomic age. The book also explores the phenomenon of “the pilot voice”; the creation of the American Astronaut, on whose performative success the Cold War, the Space Race, and funding of the US Space Program all depended; and the performative strategies employed to cement notions of space tourism as both manifest destiny and an escape route from a failed planet. A final chapter addresses the four hijacked flights of 9/11 and their representations in discourse and in memorials. Performing Flight effectively and imaginatively demonstrates the ways in which performance and flight in the United States have been inextricably linked for more than a century.




Vietnam Voices


Book Description

Arranged chronologically and in counterpoint, this unique book samples all conceivable forms of oral and written documentation to illuminate the United States' involvement in its longest and most divisive war. From foot soldiers to generals, politicians to protesters, hawks and doves, their attitudes and experiences are graphically revealed.