Laika’s tragic fate notwithstanding, a generally triumphant tally of liftoffs, landings, and scientific insights.
Two Canadian authors take an unusual angle on an international history of space travel.
What may stick with readers south of the border—aside from a jaundiced view of two Cold War powers “racing to get the first soldiers into space” and using animals in “sacrificial” roles to advance that agenda—is the sheer variety of animal astronauts. Following nods to the Montgolfier brothers and other pioneers, the authors go on in one- or two-page entries to chronicle purposes, courses, and outcomes for 50 missions, mostly from the space programs’ earlier days, in which monkeys and chimps flew for the U.S., Laika and other dogs for the USSR, cats (inexplicably) for France, and later on a great range of birds, bugs, fish, spiders, “ant-stronauts,” mice, and more…with and without human accompaniment. Most actually survived their journeys, even a pair of steppe tortoises looped around the moon and Enos (a chimp who, no doubt to the envy of many fellow astronauts, got away with throwing feces at a visiting politician because “he was a hotshot and good at his job”), whose 1961 Mercury capsule suffered multiple failures in orbit. Each visually crowded entry squeezes in a boxed mission profile and one or, usually, more period photos. Resource lists at the end supplement frequent leads throughout to online research reports or videos. Human figures are, with rare exceptions, white.
Laika’s tragic fate notwithstanding, a generally triumphant tally of liftoffs, landings, and scientific insights. (glossary, websites) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4595-0602-2
Page Count: 90
Publisher: Formac
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
Thousands of years ago, the Komodo dragon may have inspired dragon legends in China and beyond. In more recent times, researchers from all over the world have traveled to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia to study the Komodo dragon. This lively if somewhat haphazardly organized account focuses on the efforts of contemporary researchers, presents some of their cooler findings (female dragons can reproduce through parthenogenesis; their saliva is laced with deadly bacteria) and profiles a few captive specimens. Mostly color photographs from a variety of sources adorn almost every page, and captions add to the information. Learning about the Komodo dragon is not for the faint of heart, and the photos show the wild beasts in all their gory glory. The extensive backmatter includes brief facts about Indonesia, more information on the Komodo dragon life cycle and its use of smell and conservation information. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Komodo Survival Program. (bibliography, further reading, glossary, websites, index, author’s note) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-757-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
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