THE GREAT ADVENTURE IN SPACE

THE GREAT ADVENTURE IN SPACE

From Icarus to the Space Colonies

Series: "Secrets of the Universe"

The OXY publications, are very pleased to present one of their most important books for 2021 entitled: "The Great Adventure in Space", by the astrophysicist and honorary director of the Eugenide Planetarium, Dionysis Simopoulos.
The first book in the new series "Secrets of the Universe" is a fascinating exploration, through all the missions and steps of the human species, of the vast "sea" of space.

"All men are naturally hungry" - Aristotle

Starting with two myths, that of Daedalus and Icarus, but also that of the mandarin Wan Hu and the first -unsuccessful- attempt to fly into the unknown of space, Dionysis Simopoulos guides the reader through the paths of space exploration.

From the first macaque, Albert II and the famous dog Laika, to the creation of NASA, the Russian cosmonauts, Kennedy and the Apollo program, the meteoric first steps on the surface of the Moon, competition in the space race and political decisions , the struggle for survival, failures and modern astronauts. A virtual, exciting journey through all those emotions that the past century gave us, is carried out in a clear and explanatory way and through the rich illustrations of the book.

Dionysis Simopoulos gathers material of more than 50 years, through his personal responses to the press about space missions, his extensive articles and photographs and presents his magnum opus to the Greek public.

"The Great Adventure in Space" presents to the Greek public the missions and the first steps of the human species in the vast sea of space. It is an authentic and complete narrative because the author is a deep expert on the subject and beyond. His writing is simple and understandable, but also clear, poetic and philosophical at the same time, as another important contribution of Mr. Simopoulos to the reading public of the country. I enthusiastically recommend it.”
Stamatis Krimizis, Academician, Director Emeritus of the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University.

"In his new book, Dionysis Simopoulos takes us on a short but comprehensive journey through the history of man's attempt to escape Earth's gravity and "conquer" the interplanetary environment, a journey that goes from fantasy to reality, from history past to present looking to the future, from science fiction to interplanetary exploration and the first hesitant but solid steps of peaceful 'conquest' of our planetary system."
Manolis Pleionis, Professor of AUTH, President and General Director of the National Observatory of Athens.