Fountaindale Public Library

Test gods, Virgin Galactic and the making of a modern astronaut, Nicholas Schmidle

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-316) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Test gods

bibliography

1224042317

Nicholas Schmidle

Virgin Galactic and the making of a modern astronaut

"Based on exclusive inside reporting, New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle tells the remarkable story of the test pilots, engineers, and visionaries behind Virgin Galactic's campaign to build a space tourism company. Schmidle follows a handful of characters-Mark Stucky, Virgin's lead test pilot ; Richard Branson, the eccentric billionaire funding the venture ; Mike Moses, the grounded, unflappable president ; Mike Alsbury, the test pilot who lost his life ; and others-through personal and professional dramas, in pursuit of their collective goal : to make space tourism a reality. Along the way, Schmidle weaves his relationship with his father-a former fighter pilot and decorated war hero-into the tragedies and triumphs that Branson's team encounters out in the Mojave Desert as they design, build, and test-fly their private rocketship. Gripping and novelistic, Test Gods leads us, through human drama, into a previously unseen world-and beyond"--, provided by publisher

Prologue: Blue Zebra -- Part One : Brothers -- Born to fly -- Forger --A beautiful ball -- God is here --Foggles -- The rebel billionaire -- Hidden tigers -- Evil air -- The party -- Angel's wings --The gamma turn -- They're gone -- Wreckage --The red balloon - Part Two : Fathers -- A resemblance -- Jousting -- Whale lines -- Blank pages -- Starman -- Jitters -- The walnut -- Gradatim ferociter -- Artifacts -- Full duration - Part Three : Sons -- Slipping the surly bonds -- Million-dollar view -- Defining space -- Dagobah -- Fortune cookies -- Thoroughbred -- The space mirror -- Wings -- Epilogue: Magic

adult

Virgin Galactic and the making of a modern astronaut