Feu vert pour l'espace

Published six months after Yuri Gagarin's flight (April 1961), Feu vert pour l'espace (Green Light for Space) offers a panoramic survey of the nascent Space Age for a young readership. Robert Lechêne traces the origins of astronautics from Cyrano de Bergerac and Jules Verne through the Sputnik shock and the first Soviet and American crewed flights. The book explains orbital mechanics, the physiological challenges of spaceflight (gravity, radiation, weightlessness), the design of the Vostok capsule, and projects the reader toward future orbital stations and interplanetary travel. Richly illustrated with colour and black-and-white photographs and diagrams, it belongs to the "Savoir et Connaître" (Know and Understand) series published by Éditions La Farandole.