Praxis Log of Manned Spaceflight 1961-2006 will open with a section entitled: Quest for Space, which will provide an explanation of the methods employed to get in and out of orbit and brief overviews of the different international space programmes. It will be a complete chronological log of all attempted orbital manned spaceflights, including the X-15 "astroflights" of the 1960s that only achieved an altitude of c. 50 miles and the two 1961 Mercury and Redstone missions which were non-orbital. There will be an image depicting each manned spaceflight, and data boxes containing brief biographies of all the space travellers and basic flight data. The main text will be a narrative of each mission, its highlights and accomplishments, including those strange facts and humorous stories that are connected to every mission.

By targeting publication in September 2006, the return to flight of the Shuttle, two more Soyuz TMA launches and, quite possibly, a second Chinese manned mission. The resulting book will be a handy reference to all manned spaceflights, the names astronauts and cosmonauts who flew on each mission, and their roles and accomplishments. Recent announcements of a return to the Moon and eventual manned flights to Mars, as new hardware and procedures are developed to support these long-range programs, emphasizes the case for future updates of this book.

Tim Furniss is a well known author of 35 popular space science books including the bestselling Janes Manned Spaceflight Log, published in 1983 and updated in 1987, which sold 16,000 plus copies, but is now out of print. Dave Shayler has authored and co-authored 7 successful Space Science Springer-Praxis books and has a further 3 under contract for publication in 2004. We therefore have the ideal team of authors for this flagship book.

From the contents:

The Profile of Manned Spaceflight.- Methods of Leaving Earth.- Methods of Spaceflight.- Methods of Returning to Earth.- 2. Manned Spaceflight Programmes.- X-15 Rocket Research Aircraft and the X-20 Dyna Soar.- Vostok and Voskhod.- Mercury.- Gemini and the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory.- Apollo and Skylab.- Soyuz and Zond.- Salyut and Almaz.- Mir.- Shuttle and Spacelab.- Buran And Hermes.- International Space Station.- 3. Quest for Space.- X-15 Astro Flights 1962-1968.- Mercury Sub Orbital Missions 1961 Mercury 3 and Mercury 4.- Apollo 1 Pad Fire In January 1967.- Launch Pad Aborts Including The 1983 Soyuz Pad Explosion and Various.- Shuttle Pad Aborts.- 4. Manned Spaceflight Log.- 1961 2006.- Appendix.- World Manned Space Missions 1961-2006.- World Space Explorers 1961-2006.- World Spaceflight Experience 1961-2006.- Bibliography and References.- Index.