Beyond Horizons: A Half Century of Air Force Space Leadership

by Spires, David N.


Overview: Beyond Horizons is the most comprehensive history of the US Air Force in space published to date. Commissioned in the mid-nineties by Air Force Space Command to tell the Air Force space story after the space community gained exposure during the 1991 Gulf War, Dr. Spires develops a holistic narrative of space in the Air Force from 1947 to 1997. The book covers the Air Force’s first forays into space, to the hype and hope of the Cold War space race, through the operationalization of military space after Apollo, and ending with the first major theater integration of space effects onto the battlefield during the Gulf War and the efforts to incorporate lessons learned to form the vision that would move the Air Force into the 21st century.