By Piers Bizony
192 pages, hardcover, $50 
Published by Motorbooks 
quartoknows.com

“Space, the final frontier. ... To boldly go where no man has gone before.” “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Whether in real life, science fiction novels, television or film, space exploration has had a hold on the imagination of Americans since its beginnings. The Art of NASA offers a historical overview of NASA’s incredible achievements by capturing the bold, colorful illustrations that brought to life the complex scientific marvels that took humans to the moon and back. The quality and intricacy of the illustrations grew with the technological advances of the space missions, helping to sell the enormous investment necessary to propel America forward in the space race. While the Soviet space program was shrouded in mystery, the American public thrilled to every detail of their country’s burgeoning space program through these compelling images. In a more trusting era, NASA invited selected artists to tour its facilities, and the resulting works by Paul Calle, Lamar Dodd, Mitchell Jamieson, Pamela Lee, Robert McCall and James Wyeth, among others, introduced a variety of styles and approaches that brought a human and artistic aspect to technical illustrations. Unfortunately, many of the thousands of original hardware drawings and color paintings have long been lost. Citizen space archivists were helpful to the author, Piers Bizony, in assembling the works shown in this book. It’s disappointing that the agency itself has not conserved its own history better, but The Art of NASA is an excellent start. —Anne Telford