Outta this world

T - Minus: the race to the moon by Jim Ottaviani

This graphic novel presents a fictionalized account the race between the Soviet Union (Russia) and the United States. Over the course of almost ten years the Russians and Americans staged various battles in being the first to put a man on the moon. The Russians were leading this race for almost three quarters of it, with being the first to have space crafts put into the Earth's orbit, orbitting the Earth for the longest period of time, first to orbit the moon and the first to have a living creature from Earth go into orbit (Laika the dog). And then it was the Americans turn, after several failed attempts , they finally were getting men into orbit and of course were the first to put a man on the moon in June of 1969.

This book provided a very interesting time line to all of these varying firsts into space, and creates the tension that the engineers and scientist in both countries felt about how that race was to be won and at what expense. I learned a lot more about the space race than I could have imagined, and have a much greater respect for astronauts that continue to make milestones in space travel and at the international space station doing important research.

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