In this fascinating and well-written text Peter Bond describes the development and evolution of space stations. Particular emphasis is placed on the International Space Station, beginning with the revolution that began in 1970, when Salyut 1, the world's first space station was sent into orbit by the Soviet Union. Defeated in the race to the Moon, the Soviets redirected their efforts towards the conquest of near-Earth space. In the next three decades, their increasingly large and sophisticated structures rewrote the history books as cosmonauts continued to push back all space endurance...

In this fascinating narrative, Peter Bond provides an overview of key twentieth century unmanned missions to nearly every corner of our solar system, telling the story of the mission planners and engineers who made possible these unprecedented achievements in scientific exploration.