{"product_id":"liftoff-elon-musk-and-the-desperate-early-days-that-launched-spacex-isbn-9780062979988","title":"Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A colorful page-turner.\" —Walter Isaacson, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"As important a book on space as has ever been written.\" —Homer Hickam, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eRocket Boys\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe dramatic inside story of the historic flights that launched SpaceX—and Elon Musk—from a shaky start-up into the world’s leading-edge rocket company.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit, a landmark moment in the history of private spaceflight. Half a century after the space race it is private companies, led by SpaceX, standing alongside NASA, pushing forward into the cosmos, and laying the foundation for our exploration of other worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling start-up, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eLiftoff\u003c\/i\u003e, Eric Berger, senior space editor at \u003ci\u003eArs Technica\u003c\/i\u003e, takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company’s first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. We travel from company headquarters in El Segundo, to the isolated Texas ranchland where they performed engine tests, to Kwajalein, the tiny atoll in the Pacific where SpaceX launched the Falcon 1. Berger has reported on SpaceX for more than a decade, enjoying unparalleled journalistic access to the company’s inner workings. \u003ci\u003eLiftoff \u003c\/i\u003eis the culmination of these efforts, drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book, with his daring vision for the future of space exploration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with never-before-told stories of SpaceX’s turbulent beginning, \u003ci\u003eLiftoff \u003c\/i\u003eis a tech startup saga of cosmic proportions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis definitive history of SpaceX’s origins takes you inside the rocket factory to reveal:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Definitive Tech Biography:\u003c\/b\u003e Go behind the scenes with Elon Musk and the core team of engineers who willed a rocket company into existence, based on dozens of exclusive interviews.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eHigh-Stakes Engineering:\u003c\/b\u003e Witness the immense technical and logistical challenges of the first four Falcon 1 launches, from a Texas test ranch to a tiny, remote Pacific atoll.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eStartup Against Goliaths:\u003c\/b\u003e Understand the incredible risks and razor-thin margins of a company with just $100 million in the bank trying to compete with aerospace titans like Boeing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Birth of an Aerospace Giant:\u003c\/b\u003e Discover the untold stories from the turbulent early days that laid the groundwork for SpaceX to pioneer reusable rockets and launch humans into orbit.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"The elegant brilliance of the engineering that allows today’s space rockets to land themselves back on earth—or at sea—right way up, and on target to the inch, is all the doing of the teams assembled by Elon Musk—and the story of how he did it, and how for sure he will get us to Mars whether we like it or not, is told in appropriately stellar fashion by Eric Berger in a book that held me captive, in earth orbit, from prologue to epilogue, countdown to splashdown.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSimon Winchester, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Perfectionists\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Eric Berger brings to life the passion and sacrifice of the early SpaceX team as they navigated through countless obstacles toward unlikely success. The skillfully described technical details, paired with a candid glimpse into individual personalities, makes \u003cem\u003eLiftoff\u003c\/em\u003e a must read for space enthusiasts and novices alike.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKAREN NYBERG, NASA Astronaut\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Eric Berger has followed the exploits of SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, from its very early days. In \u003cem\u003eLiftoff,\u003c\/em\u003e Eric relates the many personal accounts collected in one-on-one interviews with Musk and many of his key leaders and associates. He chronicles the frenetic pace of Falcon 1 development and the toll it took on many of the early employees. This is a book that will hold your rapt attention from start to finish.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCharles Bolden, Former NASA Administrator and Four-Time Astronaut\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Unprecedented access. ... [\u003cem\u003eLiftoff \u003c\/em\u003eis] a story about people and their faith in one man's compelling mission. ... What stands out most is the author's command of pacing. He depicts race-against-the-clock crises as fast-paced as a thriller, with moments reminiscent of \u003cem\u003eApollo 13\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003eThe Martian. ... \u003c\/em\u003e An exciting and insightful read for anyone interested in the story behind the early days of SpaceX.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This might be the best space book I've ever read. \u003cem\u003eLiftoff \u003c\/em\u003ewill prove to be a defining story not only for the commercial space industry, but for the Space Age writ large, and there's no one better than Eric Berger to tell it.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKELLIE GERARDI, author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLiftoff\u003c\/em\u003e reads like something out of the golden age of Science Fiction but this isn’t a novel by Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke. This is the true, astounding story of the men and women who spun those sci-fi dreams into reality.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHomer Hickam, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Rocket Boys\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A colorful page-turner.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWALTER ISAACSON, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A colorful page-turner that focuses on the downs and ups of the early years of SpaceX.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Page-turning. ... Eric Berger writes with the kind of hard-won insider authority that only comes through covering the nuts and bolts of the commercial space industry for the past twenty years.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForbes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Does a fine job of telling the white-knuckle story of how SpaceX was created in 2002 and came close to collapse several times.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Berger] depicts race-against-the-clock crises as fast-paced as a thriller, with moments reminiscent of \u003cem\u003eApollo 13 \u003c\/em\u003eor \u003cem\u003eThe Martian. ... \u003c\/em\u003e An exciting and insightful read.\"     - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Thrilling. ... There is a self-assured momentum about the narrative, even as it describes infuriating setbacks and strokes of incredible luck.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eReason\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Compelling. ... Great reading. ... An essential, unofficial reference test for what to do (and not do) as space flight goes commercial. ... Fascinating.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Scientist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889659572453,"sku":"NP9780062979988","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062979988.jpg?v=1730231695","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/liftoff-elon-musk-and-the-desperate-early-days-that-launched-spacex-isbn-9780062979988","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}