Countdown to Space War Book Review

The great space race between the Soviet Union and the United States is remembered by most as being the first time man touched down on the moon. It is, however, so much more than that, and in Jasani and Lee's book, Countdown to Space war, the two author's explore why the space race began and it's impact on human history, the many different types of space crafts launched, and the tension between the Soviet Union and America. Author's Jasani and Lee dive deep into the on goings of space craft production in the mid 1900s and reveal the plethora of strict military based satellites such as the ASAT satellite that was heavily involved with reconnaissance and relaying information to base commanders. Along with military satellites, there were also satellites detailed in the book that were used for exploring, such as the first man made object in space, the Soviet's Sputnik 1. Then there were more earth friendly satellites such as the Tiros 1 satellite which was built to survey meteorological happenings on earth so to better help meteorologists understand earth's ever changing weather patterns. The two authors seem also to criticize the United States for following erratically behind the Soviet Union during the early beginnings of the space race because, while the Soviet Union had, though quite abruptly, started putting Sputnik craft's into space, NASA was encountering failure after failure, to put this more into perspective,“The Americans were ready for lift off into the marathon space race between the two superpowers. But it was a false start. The Vanguard launch vehicle lost its thrust after just two seconds and the spacecraft failed to go into orbit” (6). Jasani and Lee's book, Countdown to Space War, follows an interesting and unique narrative path. Say, for example, that the author's are talking about the Soviet's Cosmos series of

De la Houssaye-2 spacecraft's and begin