Hard to tell exactly how the book feels in the hand based on a PDF, but it looks like a perfect primer on early NASA exploration and the excellent artists who brought it to life. Perfect for the budding space engineer in the family.

This was a pretty cool book that shows the rare and unique history of nasa. Great for children that are interested in space! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

This book provides a non-photographic visual history of NASA and Space Exploration and so much more as mankind still today looks to live and thrive beyond the Earth. Anyone with an interest in Space, the history, current events and the future will find something to enjoy in the artwork presented.

Although largely a book of images, the authors provide abundant text that gives context and explanations. The book begins with history, World War Two including pre and post war Science Fiction imagery. As well as illustrations, there are technical diagrams, imagined scenes, and a plethora of various artworks displayed. Many are official, from the archives of NASA and the commercial companies that work in collaboration. Other images are from private collections of individuals and companies, infrequently seen by the public. Of great interest are the early designs and prototypes of later successful concepts. Fascinating unsuccessful concepts are also shown and discussed.

All the major events of NASA are depicted in chronological order, from early developments of rockets to the current and future missions being planned. Political and cultural context is provided to the technical aspects of the men, women and machines depicted. As well as near-earth events, deep space unmanned exploration is also covered. Many missions and space exploration projects that were once well known to the public, but today are perhaps fading from memory. Gemini, Apollo, Viking, , Hubble and so forth. All these missions and events are covered with published and internal images, from the staff and contractors of NASA.

This is a wonderful summary of everything NASA (and partners) have done over the decades since the Second World War. There is magnificent imagery from designers, engineers and artists, many well known, some unknown today. The political, cultural and global events that were the background to Space Exploration are also captured in sufficient, albeit brief, detail. Anyone with an interest in the history of Space exploration and the future activity beyond the Earth will enjoy this book.

The Art of NASA is a beautiful collection of over 200 illustrations and art pieces. This is a large, coffee-table sized volume containing the unique works of art and stories that NASA used to sell the idea of space exploration in its early days.

I’ve seen some similar books and displays but nothing to this extent. Many of the illustrations were new to me. I particularly enjoy the atomic age/mid-century style art in spite of its non-realistic form.

This newer edition of The Art of NASA would be a great gift for any NASA or space exploration enthusiasts.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Motorbooks!

With thanks to Netgalley, publishers and author for allowing me to review this book.

The art of NASA is a book for both space fans and 'normal people'

The photos are amazing, very informative too.

Would make a brilliant gift for any NASA fan/space geek

This is a really fascinating book showcasing the artwork created by Nasa to portray its space missions for a general non-technical audience. The full-colour pictures wonderfully capture spacecraft, astronauts, and the sheer scale of Nasa's efforts. Ranging from intricate cross-sectional drawings of space shuttle modules to panoramic views of moon landings, the images in this collection take the viewer on a breathtaking journey through space and time. Browsing through this collection, one may get sci-fi vibes at first, only to realise that no, this is not fiction -- mankind has indeed come so far in space exploration and technological advances!

The accompanying text and captions (my only complaint is that the font is a bit too small, especially for young students or elderly readers) contain a wealth of background information on the drawings, providing valuable context and insights into the history of developments that have enabled space exploration. This is certainly a book I would recommend to anyone, young or old, who has an interest in space exploration and/or loves artwork based on science and technology.

Do you love space? Or even just have a mild interest in it? Well, The Art of NASA is not just for the avid space fanatic.

The Art of NASA is separated into 5 different chapters. This New Ocean, One Giant Leap, Islands In The Sky, Brave New Worlds, and The Expanse. Each one chronologically explores space travel, with historic artwork from each era just fascinating to look at. From diagram of how the Mercury space capsule work to future idea of how we one day may build spaceship to ship off humans to distant planets; a plethora of art has been curated.

Each artwork has a brief description of the artist and what it is about, so that you are never completely lost as to what you are looking at. These artworks have only one way to describe them in my opinion. They are stunning. I am amazed that I have never seen some of the early artwork around the Apollo era as they have set up modern space exploration. It is extremely unfortunate that back in the initial days of space exploration, keeping records of these artworks was not a priority so many will have been lost if not for a handful of enthusiast who have collected some over the years.

A worth-while coffee table book that most home would benefit from having.

This book contains historical drawings of NASA- inspired projects, diagrams, and art. Perfect for space and history lovers.

Thanks to the Author and Netgalley for the free review copy, all words are my own

This book details the concept work that went into convincing the movers and shakers of the time that it would be a good idea to go beyond the bonds of earth and travel into the stars. The images that are on these pages show everything from the reasonably accurate to wildly optimistic, and share something of what it must have been to dream of such things one day becoming possible.

In the late 1950's, ideas for huge ships that could house dozens, if not hundreds of people, reusable ships that we're not close to making even now, beautiful sleek ships that have no function in space, but fire the imagination that you could one day be in one of them, soaring the solar winds.

Ships the size of the Empire State Building, propelled by atomic blasts, standing on the edge of the Noctis Labyrinthus Canyon system like climbers might stand upon a mountain, and the inevitable commercialisation of space just like all things.

This held particular reverence for me, as it was a reminder of all the things from my youth, when artwork by legends such as Chris Foss gave us the dreams to look beyond earth and wonder what might one day be. The images in this book must have given similar thoughts to those who were in a position to do something with those dreams, and while they are not possible yet, such things will continue to inspire.

Can't recommend this book enough.

Need to get the printed copy to fully appreciate it 🌕

I didn't really know what to expect from this book. It turns out when they said art, they really meant it!

Stunning artworks of everything from astronauts, shuttles, and space stations to the moon, planets and exploration.

The space colonies may have been my favourite! 🚀

Seeing is believing as the old adage goes. This is nowhere more evident than in Piers Bizony's masterfully done "The Art of Nasa", which portrays the history of American attempts at spaceflight, actual and imagined, in breathtaking illustrations. The majority of the included artwork was originally designed to promote the space program and illustrate the how spacecraft and space stations would look and function. Closely following from this original purpose is the book's key and distinguishing feature. The various illustrations do not, for the most part depict how the American space program developed in as much as the multiple often competing conceptions that were present as it developed.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher, Quarto Publishing Group – Motorbooks, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn't what I was expecting when I requested the title but it is absolutely beautiful. It has so different artwork of various designs and projects from NASA over the years. The paintings are extraordinary. The information that went along with the paintings was very interesting also. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is enthusiastic about space or is looking for a gift for their space obsessed friend.

This book is an excellent book for all ages.
My son is 16 and enjoyed it a lot, but he felt like it would be even better as a way to get younger kids interested in space exploration.

I found this to be a really informative pictorial history of NASA flights, and gave a great background and history of ideas that would shape final designs. The cutaway drawing helped realise the immense scale of the space craft, and how little space is reserved for crew comfort. I loved the layout and short simple explanations - compared with some other pictorial books which had pages of text followed by batches of images, the order of images and short paragraphs of descriptions made it simple to follow, and put down (although I just wanted to keep turning pages and delve further in to the book).

A wonderful book with photos and artwork from the history of NASA and space flight. I enjoyed getting to see some of the artwork from the 1950s and 1960s and how it compares to what was eventually designed and developed.

As the owner of almost every Astronaut autobiography and several other Nasa history books I was really keen to recieve this ARC through Netgalley.

I recently had the pleasure of reading a book that combined two of my passions: NASA and vintage artwork. The book is filled with stunning illustrations that capture the essence of NASA's history and achievements. But it's not just pretty pictures - the book also includes detailed historical information that adds depth and context to the artwork. As a NASA enthusiast, I found this book to be a delightful addition to my collection. It's informative, visually appealing, and just plain cool. I highly recommend it to anyone who shares my love for all things space-related.

The book that was reviewed is the advance review copy (ARC). Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Received the Art of Nasa as an advance reader’s copy through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion. The following is that unbiased opinion.

What an amazing collection of artwork associated with the US space program! As a long-time member of the space industrial community, I was thrust into yesteryear the moment I gazed upon the cover. Subsequently going through the pages was part nostalgic, part pure joy. For those of us old enough to recognize the artwork when it was originally used, this book becomes an outstanding gift through which we can easily recall our youth, our careers, our friendships. For those of us too young to have lived a pre-desktop computer age, this is a visual stroll through a neglected Garden of Eden ripe with images that will still tug at the imagination of students being exposed to STEM fields. In addition to the artwork, Piers provides succinct, easy to read narratives about NASA and the related art work. The following is an example of the meticulous narratives – “Tens of thousands of hand-inked hardware drawings adorned with rub0doiwn letters and dot-screening textures were prepped on stiff white paper sheets for camera-ready artwork, which would be turned into negative film sheets and sent off for printing as positive photo handouts. Then, the negative sheets were dispatched for acid etching onto metal plates for printing in technician’s instruction manuals. All too often, the original paper artworks were regarded as intermediate processes and most were discarded . . . “

These narratives not only add to a greater appreciation of the art, but in many cases illuminate the reader’s understanding of the time, the process . . . the work that went into creating the art of NASA. My only criticism of this book is my ARC was not an actual hardcopy. For anyone reading this - I would truly appreciate a copy of this book as a retirement gift when I do retire! This will be the book that graces not only the coffee table but serves as many a discussion starter. And, I’m already thinking about who is going to receive the hard cover as a gift this holiday season.

If you have any interest in the history of spaceflight or just like to look at beautiful art, “The Art of NASA” by Piers Bizony is a great way to spend a few hours looking at more than 200 wonderful illustrations that imagine what space travel would be like. My favorite image is Fred Takasumi’s 1961 painting of the Saturn V lifting off backlit by flames and smoke. Incredible!

There were interesting tidbits of information provided too.. For instance, I didn’t know that Project Orion was far enough along back in 1959 that companies like American Bosch Arma were trying to sell the concept of rockets powered by A-bombs

I thought it was a shame that the intro to the section on the Apollo Program doesn’t mention astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee, who died while running a pre-launch test of Apollo 1. And I’m surprised that SpaceX wasn’t mentioned since their Starship rockets bear more than a passing resemblance to the sleek ships envisioned by Chesley Bonestell. But those are minor complaints about an otherwise excellent book.

Highly recommended.

The book that was reviewed is the advance review copy (ARC) and was about 223 pages in length. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect coffee table book for a space lover. The book is a collection of art created for NASA to promote or illustrate the space program. The first section showa more hypothetical drawings or what working and living in space could look like. Then it moves forward through time to the more realistic drawings of rockets and space craft that truly go to the moon and beyond. The final section called The Expanse focuses on the exploration of space beyond Mars with satellites and probes. There is more written commentary than I was expecting and it is very informative. It isn’t just a description of the art work alone. Because it is for NASA the book is focused on the United States, although there is art of the international space station as well. This is a beautiful collection for a space enthusiast. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Motorbooks for the temporary ARC and I’m leaving a voluntary review.

This is a beautiful book encompassing hand drawn illustrations and later on, digital renders. The book is well laid out with big bright imagery and detailed captions. A lovely addition for any space & art fans out there!