The book opens with a small discussion of the early space pioneers such as Wernher von Braun, Sergei Korolev and Robert Goddard, and their efforts to develop workable rockets. The book then moves into the dawn of the space age and the race between Russia and the United States to achieve various "firsts." For example, the first satellite, the first probe to the moon or another planet and of course the first country to put a man into space. Discuses the Mercury, Gemini, Vostok, Voskhod and early Apollo programs, NASA's exploration of the moon with many full page photographs (to further emphasis the grandeur of these missions of exploration, there are several two page foldouts), the early robotic exploration of the solar system, up to and including the Viking and Voyager missions, examines the space shuttle era, the current robotic exploration of the solar system, some really excellent photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.