Book Summary of The Space Barons
In the late 1950s, Russia beat the US into outer space with the launch of the Sputnik. This set off a panic given the strained political relationships at the time. NASA was formed in 1958, with the launch of America’s first capsule a year later. In 1961 the Saturn 1 rockets started testing for the Apollo missions. John Glen made the first orbital flight in 1962. Neil Armstrong made the first moon landing in 1969.
The American space program has been operational at this point for sixty years. Eventually, the little boys who watched the first moon landing in 1969 grew up. Many continued to be obsessed with space, and a few became wildly successful in the early days of the internet and dot coms. This book is about those little boys.
