Laying the foundations for space exploration -- World War II paves the way for space exploration -- Making space exploration real -- The Space Age dawns -- The race to the moon -- New nations, new missions -- Space planes and orbital stations -- The lure of the Red Planet -- Beyond Mars -- Transterrestrial expectations

Space historian Roger D. Launius examines the thousands of years that humans have endeavored to understand the universe, including the pioneering work undertaken by the ancients of Greece, Rome, and China; the great astronomical discoveries of Renaissance thinkers such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler; and the technological and mechanical breakthroughs that have enabled the human race to explore far beyond our own planet in recent decades. He also reveals the future of space exploration, speculating on forthcoming space travel and humans' possible future as an extraterrestrial species