Author: Editors of Sports Illustrated
Publisher: Sports Illustrated
ISBN: 9781933405469
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 868
Book Description
America's No. 1 sports almanac since its introduction 16 years ago, the Sports Illustrated Almanac has got it all covered, from football to fencing, hockey to handball, and everything in between. Spanning 864 pages, the Sports Illustrated Almanac features essays by top Sports Illustrated writers, all-time stats and records, and ticketing and venue information for pro baseball, basketball, football and hockey.
Sports Illustrated: Almanac 2007
Author: Editors of Sports Illustrated
Publisher: Sports Illustrated
ISBN: 9781933405469
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 868
Book Description
America's No. 1 sports almanac since its introduction 16 years ago, the Sports Illustrated Almanac has got it all covered, from football to fencing, hockey to handball, and everything in between. Spanning 864 pages, the Sports Illustrated Almanac features essays by top Sports Illustrated writers, all-time stats and records, and ticketing and venue information for pro baseball, basketball, football and hockey.
Publisher: Sports Illustrated
ISBN: 9781933405469
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 868
Book Description
America's No. 1 sports almanac since its introduction 16 years ago, the Sports Illustrated Almanac has got it all covered, from football to fencing, hockey to handball, and everything in between. Spanning 864 pages, the Sports Illustrated Almanac features essays by top Sports Illustrated writers, all-time stats and records, and ticketing and venue information for pro baseball, basketball, football and hockey.
Interview Magazine
Author: Bob Colacello
Publisher: Assouline
ISBN: 9781614288558
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
In 1969, Andy Warhol launched Interview, an underground film journal that quickly transformed into an iconic symbol of New York City culture and style. The monthly's expansive conversations and irreverent approach opened doors to the intimate circles of society and became a launchpad for creative talents such as André Leon Talley and Fran Lebowitz. With a vibrant mix of rising celebrities including Madonna and Leonardo DiCaprio, alongside the legendary presence of Elizabeth Taylor and Steven Spielberg, the magazine became known as "The Crystal Ball of Pop." Now, fifty years since its inception, dive into the extraordinary archives of Interview and rediscover the columns, photography and voices that collectively tell the history of American culture decade by decade.
Publisher: Assouline
ISBN: 9781614288558
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
In 1969, Andy Warhol launched Interview, an underground film journal that quickly transformed into an iconic symbol of New York City culture and style. The monthly's expansive conversations and irreverent approach opened doors to the intimate circles of society and became a launchpad for creative talents such as André Leon Talley and Fran Lebowitz. With a vibrant mix of rising celebrities including Madonna and Leonardo DiCaprio, alongside the legendary presence of Elizabeth Taylor and Steven Spielberg, the magazine became known as "The Crystal Ball of Pop." Now, fifty years since its inception, dive into the extraordinary archives of Interview and rediscover the columns, photography and voices that collectively tell the history of American culture decade by decade.
Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable
Author: The Editors of New York Magazine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501166859
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
New York, the city. New York, the magazine. A celebration. The great story of New York City in the past half-century has been its near collapse and miraculous rebirth. A battered town left for dead, one that almost a million people abandoned and where those who remained had to live behind triple deadbolt locks, was reinvigorated by the twinned energies of starving artists and financial white knights. Over the next generation, the city was utterly transformed. It again became the capital of wealth and innovation, an engine of cultural vibrancy, a magnet for immigrants, and a city of endless possibility. It was the place to be—if you could afford it. Since its founding in 1968, New York Magazine has told the story of that city’s constant morphing, week after week. Covering culture high and low, the drama and scandal of politics and finance, through jubilant moments and immense tragedies, the magazine has hit readers where they live, with a sensibility as fast and funny and urbane as New York itself. From its early days publishing writers like Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Gloria Steinem to its modern incarnation as a laboratory of inventive magazine-making, New York has had an extraordinary knack for catching the Zeitgeist and getting it on the page. It was among the originators of the New Journalism, publishing legendary stories whose authors infiltrated a Black Panther party in Leonard Bernstein’s apartment, introduced us to the mother-daughter hermits living in the dilapidated estate known as Grey Gardens, launched Ms. Magazine, branded a group of up-and-coming teen stars “the Brat Pack,” and effectively ended the career of Roger Ailes. Again and again, it introduced new words into the conversation—from “foodie” to “normcore”—and spotted fresh talent before just about anyone. Along the way, those writers and their colleagues revealed what was most interesting at the forward edge of American culture—from the old Brooklyn of Saturday Night Fever to the new Brooklyn of artisanal food trucks, from the Wall Street crashes to the hedge-fund spoils, from The Godfather to Girls—in ways that were knowing, witty, sometimes weird, occasionally vulgar, and often unforgettable. On “The Approval Matrix,” the magazine’s beloved back-page feature, New York itself would fall at the crossroads of highbrow and lowbrow, and more brilliant than despicable. (Most of the time.) Marking the magazine’s fiftieth birthday, Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: 50 Years of New York draws from all that coverage to present an enormous, sweeping, idiosyncratic picture of a half-century at the center of the world. Through stories and images of power and money, movies and food, crises and family life, it constitutes an unparalleled history of that city’s transformation, and of a New York City institution as well. It is packed with behind-the-scenes stories from New York’s writers, editors, designers, and journalistic subjects—and frequently overflows its own pages onto spectacular foldouts. It’s a big book for a big town.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501166859
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
New York, the city. New York, the magazine. A celebration. The great story of New York City in the past half-century has been its near collapse and miraculous rebirth. A battered town left for dead, one that almost a million people abandoned and where those who remained had to live behind triple deadbolt locks, was reinvigorated by the twinned energies of starving artists and financial white knights. Over the next generation, the city was utterly transformed. It again became the capital of wealth and innovation, an engine of cultural vibrancy, a magnet for immigrants, and a city of endless possibility. It was the place to be—if you could afford it. Since its founding in 1968, New York Magazine has told the story of that city’s constant morphing, week after week. Covering culture high and low, the drama and scandal of politics and finance, through jubilant moments and immense tragedies, the magazine has hit readers where they live, with a sensibility as fast and funny and urbane as New York itself. From its early days publishing writers like Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Gloria Steinem to its modern incarnation as a laboratory of inventive magazine-making, New York has had an extraordinary knack for catching the Zeitgeist and getting it on the page. It was among the originators of the New Journalism, publishing legendary stories whose authors infiltrated a Black Panther party in Leonard Bernstein’s apartment, introduced us to the mother-daughter hermits living in the dilapidated estate known as Grey Gardens, launched Ms. Magazine, branded a group of up-and-coming teen stars “the Brat Pack,” and effectively ended the career of Roger Ailes. Again and again, it introduced new words into the conversation—from “foodie” to “normcore”—and spotted fresh talent before just about anyone. Along the way, those writers and their colleagues revealed what was most interesting at the forward edge of American culture—from the old Brooklyn of Saturday Night Fever to the new Brooklyn of artisanal food trucks, from the Wall Street crashes to the hedge-fund spoils, from The Godfather to Girls—in ways that were knowing, witty, sometimes weird, occasionally vulgar, and often unforgettable. On “The Approval Matrix,” the magazine’s beloved back-page feature, New York itself would fall at the crossroads of highbrow and lowbrow, and more brilliant than despicable. (Most of the time.) Marking the magazine’s fiftieth birthday, Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: 50 Years of New York draws from all that coverage to present an enormous, sweeping, idiosyncratic picture of a half-century at the center of the world. Through stories and images of power and money, movies and food, crises and family life, it constitutes an unparalleled history of that city’s transformation, and of a New York City institution as well. It is packed with behind-the-scenes stories from New York’s writers, editors, designers, and journalistic subjects—and frequently overflows its own pages onto spectacular foldouts. It’s a big book for a big town.
LIFE 50 Years of James Bond
Author: The Editors of LIFE Books
Publisher: Liberty Street
ISBN: 9781618930316
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Fifty years (and five billion dollars in ticket sales) ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery declared suavely that he was "Bond, James Bond." Thus began a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when we put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, we helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book. Ian Fleming, a high-ranking officer in British Naval Intelligence of World War II, dreamt up his MI6 spy, code number 007, in 1953, and a decade later, with Dr. No, From Russia With Love and then the smash Goldfinger, saw his creation take on a life entirely his own. All the fun of Bond is here: The movies; the reminiscences by the stars; the LIFE photo shoots; the knockoffs and spoofs ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E.;" "Get Smart;" "I Spy;" the first Casino Royale); the artifacts (a model of Bond's Aston Martin DB5 was one of the best-selling toy of 1965); the trivia and inside information on M, Q and Moneypenny-anything a Bond fan would want, packed into one book and then shaken, not stirred. James Bond was, back in the day, one of those cultural phenomena tailor-made for LIFE: It was bright and colorful and vibrant. Today, it still is. Happy birthday, and welcome back, Commander Bond.
Publisher: Liberty Street
ISBN: 9781618930316
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Fifty years (and five billion dollars in ticket sales) ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery declared suavely that he was "Bond, James Bond." Thus began a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when we put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, we helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book. Ian Fleming, a high-ranking officer in British Naval Intelligence of World War II, dreamt up his MI6 spy, code number 007, in 1953, and a decade later, with Dr. No, From Russia With Love and then the smash Goldfinger, saw his creation take on a life entirely his own. All the fun of Bond is here: The movies; the reminiscences by the stars; the LIFE photo shoots; the knockoffs and spoofs ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E.;" "Get Smart;" "I Spy;" the first Casino Royale); the artifacts (a model of Bond's Aston Martin DB5 was one of the best-selling toy of 1965); the trivia and inside information on M, Q and Moneypenny-anything a Bond fan would want, packed into one book and then shaken, not stirred. James Bond was, back in the day, one of those cultural phenomena tailor-made for LIFE: It was bright and colorful and vibrant. Today, it still is. Happy birthday, and welcome back, Commander Bond.
A Portrait of Walt Disney World
Author: Kevin Kern
Publisher: Disney Editions
ISBN: 9781368052849
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
This expansive, must-have coffee table book paints a robust portrait of the Walt Disney World Resort, across half a century, through diverse and vibrant voices and mostly unseen Disney theme park concept art and photographs. Walt Disney's vision for the Florida Project begins with Disneyland and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. After an imaginative and expansive design, a unique land acquisition process, and an innovative construction period, the Walt Disney World Resort celebrated its Grand Opening in October 1971. It featured a theme park dubbed the Magic Kingdom and three recreational resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Village, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. As Walt Disney World consistently grew and further evolved through the five decades that followed, certain themes reverberated: an appreciation for nostalgia, a joy for fantasy, a hunger for discovery, and an unending hope for a better tomorrow. Inspirational and memorable theme parks, water parks, sports arenas, recreational water sports, world-class golf courses, vast shopping villages, and a transportation network unlike any other in the world resulted in fun, festive, and familiar characters, traditions, spectacles, merchandise, and so much more. The resort has come to represent the pulse of American leisure and has served as a backdrop for life's milestones both big and small, public and private. Walt Disney World: A Portrait of the First Half Century serves as a treasure trove for vacationers, students of hospitality, artists, and all Disney collectors. Searching for that perfect gift for the Disney theme park fan in your life? Explore more archival-quality books from Disney Editions: Holiday Magic at the Disney Parks The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky Walt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks One Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks Yesterday's Tomorrow: Disney's Magical Mid-Century Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food Maps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic Poster Art of the Disney Parks
Publisher: Disney Editions
ISBN: 9781368052849
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
This expansive, must-have coffee table book paints a robust portrait of the Walt Disney World Resort, across half a century, through diverse and vibrant voices and mostly unseen Disney theme park concept art and photographs. Walt Disney's vision for the Florida Project begins with Disneyland and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. After an imaginative and expansive design, a unique land acquisition process, and an innovative construction period, the Walt Disney World Resort celebrated its Grand Opening in October 1971. It featured a theme park dubbed the Magic Kingdom and three recreational resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Village, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. As Walt Disney World consistently grew and further evolved through the five decades that followed, certain themes reverberated: an appreciation for nostalgia, a joy for fantasy, a hunger for discovery, and an unending hope for a better tomorrow. Inspirational and memorable theme parks, water parks, sports arenas, recreational water sports, world-class golf courses, vast shopping villages, and a transportation network unlike any other in the world resulted in fun, festive, and familiar characters, traditions, spectacles, merchandise, and so much more. The resort has come to represent the pulse of American leisure and has served as a backdrop for life's milestones both big and small, public and private. Walt Disney World: A Portrait of the First Half Century serves as a treasure trove for vacationers, students of hospitality, artists, and all Disney collectors. Searching for that perfect gift for the Disney theme park fan in your life? Explore more archival-quality books from Disney Editions: Holiday Magic at the Disney Parks The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky Walt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks One Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks Yesterday's Tomorrow: Disney's Magical Mid-Century Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food Maps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic Poster Art of the Disney Parks
A Cause for Our Times
Author: Maggie Black
Publisher: Oxfam
ISBN: 0855981733
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Maggie Black gives a wide-ranging, sometimes critical, account of Oxfam's first 50 years. In doing so, she projects Oxfam's own development against a backcloth of changing ideas in international affairs and charitable giving, of which its growth is both an inspiration and an expression.
Publisher: Oxfam
ISBN: 0855981733
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Maggie Black gives a wide-ranging, sometimes critical, account of Oxfam's first 50 years. In doing so, she projects Oxfam's own development against a backcloth of changing ideas in international affairs and charitable giving, of which its growth is both an inspiration and an expression.
Southern Living 50 Years
Author: The Editors of Southern Living
Publisher: Southern Living
ISBN: 9780848744144
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
For the last 50 years, Southern Living magazine has reported on and photographed what makes the South so very unique and how it has evolved; it's distinct regions, its music, its homes, its gardens, its food, and most importantly, its people. Now, to mark its Golden Anniversary, Southern Living presents a gorgeous gift book that tells the true story of the South as only Southerners and Southern Living can tell it. Filled with evocative images, fascinating stories, revealing explorations, and time-honored recipes, Southern Living 50 Years is about how Southerners live, what they value, how they cook, how they welcome people into their homes. The book is divided into three sections: Journey South: A visual road trip through the South accompanied by thoughtful essays Welcome Home: A celebration of the Southern home including gardens, architecture, design, and indoor and outdoor living. The Southern Table: The South is famous for nothing if not its food. The book includes an exploration of the evolution of regional cuisine and includes 40 favorite recipes from Southern Living magazine with many additional recipes from renowned Southern chefs. Southern Living 50 Years reminds Southerners what makes their region and their lifestyle so special. And for non-Southerners, it serves as a fascinating guidebook and provides an authentic view of the distinctive culture of the South.
Publisher: Southern Living
ISBN: 9780848744144
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
For the last 50 years, Southern Living magazine has reported on and photographed what makes the South so very unique and how it has evolved; it's distinct regions, its music, its homes, its gardens, its food, and most importantly, its people. Now, to mark its Golden Anniversary, Southern Living presents a gorgeous gift book that tells the true story of the South as only Southerners and Southern Living can tell it. Filled with evocative images, fascinating stories, revealing explorations, and time-honored recipes, Southern Living 50 Years is about how Southerners live, what they value, how they cook, how they welcome people into their homes. The book is divided into three sections: Journey South: A visual road trip through the South accompanied by thoughtful essays Welcome Home: A celebration of the Southern home including gardens, architecture, design, and indoor and outdoor living. The Southern Table: The South is famous for nothing if not its food. The book includes an exploration of the evolution of regional cuisine and includes 40 favorite recipes from Southern Living magazine with many additional recipes from renowned Southern chefs. Southern Living 50 Years reminds Southerners what makes their region and their lifestyle so special. And for non-Southerners, it serves as a fascinating guidebook and provides an authentic view of the distinctive culture of the South.
Pontiac Firebird
Author: David Newhardt
Publisher: Motorbooks International
ISBN: 0760350426
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Pontiac Firebird: 50 Years chronicles the Firebird's rich history, from its inception in 1960 to its continued popularity today.
Publisher: Motorbooks International
ISBN: 0760350426
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Pontiac Firebird: 50 Years chronicles the Firebird's rich history, from its inception in 1960 to its continued popularity today.
Days of Our Lives 50 Years
Author: Greg Meng
Publisher: Sourcebooks
ISBN: 9781492629856
Category : Days of our lives (Television program)
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
'Days of our Lives 50 Years' is an in-depth photographic journey of the longest-running scripted program in NBC's history. Beginning with rare black-and-white historical photos and including a wealth of full-color photos, this journey highlights iconic characters and beloved stories of Salem over 50 years.
Publisher: Sourcebooks
ISBN: 9781492629856
Category : Days of our lives (Television program)
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
'Days of our Lives 50 Years' is an in-depth photographic journey of the longest-running scripted program in NBC's history. Beginning with rare black-and-white historical photos and including a wealth of full-color photos, this journey highlights iconic characters and beloved stories of Salem over 50 years.
NASA's First 50 Years Historical Perspectives
Author: Steven J. Dick
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781470024758
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 776
Book Description
Fifty years after the founding of NASA, from 28 to 29 October 2008, the NASA History Division convened a conference whose purpose was a scholarly analysis of NASA's first 50 years. Over two days at NASA Headquarters, historians and policy analysts discussed NASA's role in aeronautics, human spaceflight, exploration, space science, life science, and Earth science, as well as crosscutting themes ranging from space access to international relations in space and NASA's interaction with the public. The speakers were asked to keep in mind the following questions: What are the lessons learned from the first 50 years? What is NASA's role in American culture and in the history of exploration and discovery? What if there had never been a NASA? Based on the past, does NASA have a future? The results of those papers, elaborated and fully referenced, are found in this 50th anniversary volume. The reader will find here, instantiated in the complex institution that is NASA, echoes of perennial themes elaborated in an earlier volume, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight. The conference culminated a year of celebrations, beginning with an October 2007 conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Space Age and including a lecture series, future forums, publications, a large presence at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and numerous activities at NASA's 10 Centers and venues around the country. It took place as the Apollo 40th anniversaries began, ironically still the most famous of NASA's achievements, even in the era of the Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and spacecraft like the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) and the Hubble Space Telescope. And it took place as NASA found itself at a major crossroads, for the first time in three decades transitioning, under Administrator Michael Griffin, from the Space Shuttle to a new Ares launch vehicle and Orion crew vehicle capable of returning humans to the Moon and proceeding to Mars in a program known as Constellation. The Space Shuttle, NASA's launch system since 1981, was scheduled to wind down in 2010, freeing up funds for the new Ares launch vehicle. But the latter, even if it moved forward at all deliberate speed, would not be ready until 2015, leaving the unsettling possibility that for at least five years the United States would be forced to use the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle and spacecraft as the sole access to the ISS in which the United States was the major partner. The presidential elections a week after the conference presaged an imminent presidential transition, from the Republican administration of George W. Bush to (as it turned out) the Democratic presidency of Barack Obama, with all the uncertainties that such transitions imply for government programs. The uncertainties for NASA were even greater, as Michael Griffin departed with the outgoing administration and as the world found itself in an unprecedented global economic downturn, with the benefits of national space programs questioned more than ever before. There was no doubt that 50 years of the Space Age had altered humanity in numerous ways ranging from applications satellites to philosophical world views. Throughout its 50 years, NASA has been fortunate to have a strong sense of history and a robust, independent, and objective history program to document its achievements and analyze its activities. Among its flagship publications are Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, of which seven of eight projected volumes were completed at the time of the 50th anniversary. The reader can do no better than to turn to these volumes for an introduction to NASA history as seen through its primary documents. The list of NASA publications at the end of this volume is also a testimony to the tremendous amount of historical research that the NASA History Division has sponsored over the last 50 years, of which this is the latest volume.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781470024758
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 776
Book Description
Fifty years after the founding of NASA, from 28 to 29 October 2008, the NASA History Division convened a conference whose purpose was a scholarly analysis of NASA's first 50 years. Over two days at NASA Headquarters, historians and policy analysts discussed NASA's role in aeronautics, human spaceflight, exploration, space science, life science, and Earth science, as well as crosscutting themes ranging from space access to international relations in space and NASA's interaction with the public. The speakers were asked to keep in mind the following questions: What are the lessons learned from the first 50 years? What is NASA's role in American culture and in the history of exploration and discovery? What if there had never been a NASA? Based on the past, does NASA have a future? The results of those papers, elaborated and fully referenced, are found in this 50th anniversary volume. The reader will find here, instantiated in the complex institution that is NASA, echoes of perennial themes elaborated in an earlier volume, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight. The conference culminated a year of celebrations, beginning with an October 2007 conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Space Age and including a lecture series, future forums, publications, a large presence at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and numerous activities at NASA's 10 Centers and venues around the country. It took place as the Apollo 40th anniversaries began, ironically still the most famous of NASA's achievements, even in the era of the Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and spacecraft like the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) and the Hubble Space Telescope. And it took place as NASA found itself at a major crossroads, for the first time in three decades transitioning, under Administrator Michael Griffin, from the Space Shuttle to a new Ares launch vehicle and Orion crew vehicle capable of returning humans to the Moon and proceeding to Mars in a program known as Constellation. The Space Shuttle, NASA's launch system since 1981, was scheduled to wind down in 2010, freeing up funds for the new Ares launch vehicle. But the latter, even if it moved forward at all deliberate speed, would not be ready until 2015, leaving the unsettling possibility that for at least five years the United States would be forced to use the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle and spacecraft as the sole access to the ISS in which the United States was the major partner. The presidential elections a week after the conference presaged an imminent presidential transition, from the Republican administration of George W. Bush to (as it turned out) the Democratic presidency of Barack Obama, with all the uncertainties that such transitions imply for government programs. The uncertainties for NASA were even greater, as Michael Griffin departed with the outgoing administration and as the world found itself in an unprecedented global economic downturn, with the benefits of national space programs questioned more than ever before. There was no doubt that 50 years of the Space Age had altered humanity in numerous ways ranging from applications satellites to philosophical world views. Throughout its 50 years, NASA has been fortunate to have a strong sense of history and a robust, independent, and objective history program to document its achievements and analyze its activities. Among its flagship publications are Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, of which seven of eight projected volumes were completed at the time of the 50th anniversary. The reader can do no better than to turn to these volumes for an introduction to NASA history as seen through its primary documents. The list of NASA publications at the end of this volume is also a testimony to the tremendous amount of historical research that the NASA History Division has sponsored over the last 50 years, of which this is the latest volume.