How a historic race gave birth to private space flight.
Afterword by Professor Stephen Hawking
"Reads like a thriller - and reveals many secrets... one of the great entrepreneurial stories of our time" (Washington Post)
From the age of eight, when he watched Apollo 11 land on the Moon, Peter Diamandis's singular goal was to get to space. When he realized NASA was winding down manned space flight, he set out on one of the great entrepreneurial adventure stories of our time. If the government wouldn't send him to space, he would create a private space flight industry himself.
In the 1990s, this idea was the stuff of science fiction. Undaunted, Diamandis found inspiration in the golden age of aviation. He discovered that Charles Lindbergh made his transatlantic flight to win a $25,000 prize. The flight made Lindbergh the most famous man on earth and galvanized the airline industry. Why, Diamandis thought, couldn't the same be done for space flight?
The story of the bullet-shaped SpaceShipOne, and the other teams in the hunt for a $10 million prize is an extraordinary tale of making the impossible possible. In the end, as Diamandis dreamed, the result wasn't just a victory for one team; it was the foundation for a new industry.
How a historic race gave birth to private space flight.
Afterword by Professor Stephen Hawking
"Reads like a thriller - and reveals many secrets... one of the great entrepreneurial stories of our time" (Washington Post)
From the age of eight, when he watched Apollo 11 land on the Moon, Peter Diamandis's singular goal was to get to space. When he realized NASA was winding down manned space flight, he set out on one of the great entrepreneurial adventure stories of our time. If the government wouldn't send him to space, he would create a private space flight industry himself.
In the 1990s, this idea was the stuff of science fiction. Undaunted, Diamandis found inspiration in the golden age of aviation. He discovered that Charles Lindbergh made his transatlantic flight to win a $25,000 prize. The flight made Lindbergh the most famous man on earth and galvanized the airline industry. Why, Diamandis thought, couldn't the same be done for space flight?
The story of the bullet-shaped SpaceShipOne, and the other teams in the hunt for a $10 million prize is an extraordinary tale of making the impossible possible. In the end, as Diamandis dreamed, the result wasn't just a victory for one team; it was the foundation for a new industry.
How a historic race gave birth to private space flight.
Julian Guthrie (Author)
Julian Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who spent 20 years at
the San Francisco Chronicle and has been published by The Wall
Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and others. Her most recent
book is The Billionaire and the Mechanic, a bestselling 2014
account of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's pursuit of the Americas
Cup.
Sir Richard Branson (Foreword By)
Sir Richard Branson is a global entrepreneur, adventurer and
founder of the Virgin Group, one of the world's most recognised and
respected brands. He is the international bestselling author of
seven books, including the classic Losing My Virginity and the new
autobiography Finding My Virginity. He lives on Necker Island in
the British Virgin Islands, is married to Joan, father to Holly and
Sam and proud grand-dude to five grandchildren.
Hugely readable ... the story of how the prize was won is
astonishing
*Mail on Sunday*
Reads like a thriller - and reveals many secrets... one of the
great entrepreneurial stories of our time
*Washington Post*
If you admire those who aim really high, How to Make a Spaceship
belongs on your bookshelf... a rousing anthem to the urge to
explore.
*Wall Street Journal*
Includes enough death-defying stunts, madcap schemes, wild
coincidences, and rousing redemptive moments to fuel a dozen
Hollywood blockbusters.
*Wired.com*
Impressively ambitious... When the history of 21st-century space
efforts is written decades or centuries from now, this book will be
a valuable contemporary record of what it was like when humanity
was trying to break out of its home.
*San Francisco Chronicle*
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