How to make a spaceship: a band of renegades, an epic race, and the birth of private space flight

In 2004, the aerospace world was abuzz when a private company, Scaled Composites, launched a person into space for a few suborbital minutes. Sponsors hailed the success as the beginning of commercial space tourism, though that hasn't yet happened. Nevertheless, the company perseveres with backing from business mogul Richard Branson, who provides an upbeat introduction to Guthrie's (The Billionaire and the Mechanic, 2013) account, which features the life story of the project's instigator, Peter Diamandis. In college, he designed spacecraft gadgets and organized spaceflight clubs. In business, he created four companies, whose fickle fortunes Guthrie describes, before hitting upon his golden entrepreneurial idea, replicating for the space age the inducement that launched Charles Lindbergh: a monetary prize for flying the Atlantic. Diamandis offered the XPRIZE for a successful non-NASA space mission. Even though he did not initially have the announced $10 million for the prize, his persuasiveness filled the coffers, attracted contestants, and, most importantly, secured support from the likes of Branson and Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. Guthrie well captures the high-risk, buccaneering spirit of privately financed spaceflight.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2016 Booklist

In this sympathetic retelling of the establishment of the Ansari X Prize, for the first launch of a private reusable manned spacecraft twice within two weeks, and the race to win it, journalist and author Guthrie (The Billionaire and the Mechanic) chronicles the struggles, triumphs, and everything it took to kick-start private spaceflight. She starts with the explosives-filled childhood of entrepreneur Peter Diamandis and works in the backgrounds of several other major players, including designer and entrepreneur Burt Rutan and aviator Erik Lindbergh (grandson of Charles), illustrating how they developed the skills, connections, and passion needed to pull everything off. As she follows them and teams from different countries through triumphs, setbacks, joys, and tragedy, the stakes become very real and even financial struggles feel suspenseful and compelling. Rutan's SpaceShipOne becomes the actual star of the relatable and easy reading narrative, and the flights are written to make readers feel like they're experiencing them in real time, nerves and all. Unfortunately, as Guthrie details this technological achievement, she fails to address very real criticisms of privatized spaceflight (commercialization and access, privatization of military contracts, lack of transparency, etc.). Her willingness to gloss over the Randian ideology of some figures may also raise red flags for some readers. But if readers are looking for scientific discussions, humorous anecdotes, and intense action, Guthrie covers those bases. Agent: Joseph Veltre, Gersh Agency. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Guthrie (The Billionaire and the Mechanic; The Grace of Everyday Saints) shares the story behind the story of creating a privately built manned spacecraft that could break the sound barrier, once the federal government announced that it was getting out of that business. Enter the Ansari X Prize, the brainchild of engineer, physician, and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, who was in love with space travel from boyhood. Diamandis found the money for the $100,000 cash award and, with the help of astronauts, engineers, and other experts, devised the rules for the prize and got the competition airborne. The book also features behind-the-scenes peeks at the international team participants, as well as Tier One Project's ultimate victorious bullet-shaped spaceplane, dubbed "SpaceShipOne." The challenge has led to other similar efforts, and the visionaries behind these achievements are recognized here. Prolific audiobook narrator Rob Shapiro's masterly, steady-paced reading will maintain listener interest in the dramatic, suspenseful stories of the competitors. VERDICT Guthrie's fascinating book will appeal to fans of Walter Isaacson's The Innovators and Richard Rhodes's The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Guthrie's work will also interest erudite listeners eager to maintain awareness of the ongoing work since the prize was won. ["Many will find this offering appealing.[with its] nail-biting climax": LJ 9/1/16 review of the Penguin hc.]-Dale Farris, Groves, TX © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Engaging account of the race to get a rocket up to the Karman line without getting NASA involved.In her last book, The Billionaire and the Mechanicnbsp;(2013), former San Francisco Chronicle journalist Guthrie recounted Oracle CEO Larry Ellisons quest to win the Americas Cup. Here, she recounts entrepreneur Peter Diamandis libertarian dream of taking space exploration out of the hands of government and putting it into the hands of private citizens. Of course, theres a reason government handles most space flight: it costs staggering amounts of money. Diamandis was not always wealthy, writes Guthrie, but he had been single-minded about his pursuit, blending studies in engineering and medicine while sublimating some of his other interests. There were times when Peter longed for a girlfriend, writes the author, and other times when he realized love would have to wait. Big-picture thinker thus secured, Guthries tale turns to the foot soldiers of the piece, chief among them 63-year-old test pilot Mike Melvill and his team of desert-rat mechanics, who pinned all their hopes on winning the $10 million purse that Diamandis offered for a spacecraft that could get beyond Earths atmosphere. As Virgin Group founder Richard Branson writes in the foreword, because of Diamandis and his XPRIZE, billions of dollars have been invested in commercializing space. Guthries book isnt quite up to the literary heights of Tom Wolfes The Right Stuff (1979), but its very good. The author treats matters of scientific and technical weight with a light hand, as when she writes of how a test flight is put togetherwith a lot of data analysis and braking at first, then with a few passes in the thin cushion of air inches above the runway, and then, finally, in the wild blue yonder. Just the thing for aspiring astronauts and rocketeers. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In 2004, the aerospace world was abuzz when a private company, Scaled Composites, launched a person into space for a few suborbital minutes. Sponsors hailed the success as the beginning of commercial space tourism, though that hasn't yet happened. Nevertheless, the company perseveres with backing from business mogul Richard Branson, who provides an upbeat introduction to Guthrie's (The Billionaire and the Mechanic, 2013) account, which features the life story of the project's instigator, Peter Diamandis. In college, he designed spacecraft gadgets and organized spaceflight clubs. In business, he created four companies, whose fickle fortunes Guthrie describes, before hitting upon his golden entrepreneurial idea, replicating for the space age the inducement that launched Charles Lindbergh: a monetary prize for flying the Atlantic. Diamandis offered the XPRIZE for a successful non-NASA space mission. Even though he did not initially have the announced $10 million for the prize, his persuasiveness filled the coffers, attracted contestants, and, most importantly, secured support from the likes of Branson and Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. Guthrie well captures the high-risk, buccaneering spirit of privately financed spaceflight. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Reminiscent of the author's previous title, The Billionaire and the Mechanic: How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up To Win Sailing's Greatest Race, the America's Cup, Twice, this latest from Guthrie, who worked for 20 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, is a story of technological achievement and ingenuity in the service of competition. Here, that is the XPRIZE, $10 million for the first privately funded manned vehicle to travel to space and return safely. Guthrie begins with a bit of a hagiography of entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, detailing his education and upbringing, his dream of becoming an astronaut, and his disappointment at the cautiousness of NASA's manned space program. Once he conceives of the XPRIZE, the narrative shifts to the travails of finding a sponsor and describes the international teams who set their sights on winning. The final portion of the book evolves from corporate biography into a nail-biting climax. VERDICT Many will find this offering appealing, including any who remember the awe of the moon landing or tragedies of Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, fans of "impossible dream" biographies, and tech heads and tinkerers who are building drones from kits to experience flight on their own.—Wade M. Lee, Univ. of Toledo Lib.. Copyright 2016 Library Journal.

In this sympathetic retelling of the establishment of the Ansari X Prize, for the first launch of a private reusable manned spacecraft twice within two weeks, and the race to win it, journalist and author Guthrie (The Billionaire and the Mechanic) chronicles the struggles, triumphs, and everything it took to kick-start private spaceflight. She starts with the explosives-filled childhood of entrepreneur Peter Diamandis and works in the backgrounds of several other major players, including designer and entrepreneur Burt Rutan and aviator Erik Lindbergh (grandson of Charles), illustrating how they developed the skills, connections, and passion needed to pull everything off. As she follows them and teams from different countries through triumphs, setbacks, joys, and tragedy, the stakes become very real and even financial struggles feel suspenseful and compelling. Rutan's SpaceShipOne becomes the actual star of the relatable and easy reading narrative, and the flights are written to make readers feel like they're experiencing them in real time, nerves and all. Unfortunately, as Guthrie details this technological achievement, she fails to address very real criticisms of privatized spaceflight (commercialization and access, privatization of military contracts, lack of transparency, etc.). Her willingness to gloss over the Randian ideology of some figures may also raise red flags for some readers. But if readers are looking for scientific discussions, humorous anecdotes, and intense action, Guthrie covers those bases. Agent: Joseph Veltre, Gersh Agency. (Oct.)