''Out of the Cradle: Exploring the Frontiers beyond Earth'' is a 1984 book written and illustrated by planetary scientist
William K. Hartmann
William Kenneth Hartmann (born June 6, 1939) is a noted planetary scientist, artist, author, and writer. He was the first to convince the scientific mainstream that the Earth had once been hit by a planet sized body (Theia), creating both the ...
,
Ron Miller and Pamela Lee. ''Cradle'' describes potential manned space missions to the planets, moons and asteroids of the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
. The approximately 100
space art
"Space art" (also "astronomical art") is the term for a genre of modern artistic expression that strives to show the wonders of the Universe. Like other genres, space art has many facets and encompasses realism, impressionism, hardware art, scu ...
illustrations were in large part based on photographs from the unmanned space probes ''
Pioneer 11
''Pioneer 11'' (also known as ''Pioneer G'') is a robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays. It was the first probe to encounter ...
'', ''
Voyager 1
''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin ''Voyager 2'', ''Voya ...
'', and the
Viking Lander
The ''Viking'' program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, ''Viking 1'' and ''Viking 2'', which landed on Mars in 1976. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts: an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars f ...
, available at the time of publication, with scientific extrapolation of the likely appearance of various planetary surfaces. The title is derived from a quote from
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, included in the preface: "Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle forever."
The book is notable for introducing (on p. 182) Hartmann's 'golden rule' of space exploration:
''Space exploration must be carried out in a way so as to reduce, not aggravate, tensions in human society''.
Contents
*Preface by William K. Hartmann
*Prologue: The Solar System as Our Backyard
*The Beginning
*Alternatives: A Future Without Space?
*From Shuttles to Space Cities
*Robot Astronauts
*Return to the Moon
*Asteroids and Comets: Our First Landfalls Beyond the Moon
*Martians - In Myth and Reality
*
Phobos and Deimos: Depots on the Road to Mars
*Into the Realm of Ice and Fire
*The Search for Life
*Epilogue: The Golden Rule of Space Explorations
Reception
''Cradle'' has received positive critical academic reviews, including from the ''
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada''.
It has been recommended as a teaching aid for science classes.
References
*''Out of the Cradle: Exploring the Frontiers beyond Earth'', William K. Hartmann, Ron Miller and Pamela Lee. New York: Workman Publishing (1984)
External links
''Out of the Cradle'' at WorldCat*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Out Of The Cradle (Book)
American non-fiction books
Popular science books
1984 non-fiction books
Spaceflight books
Workman Publishing Company books