The American Astronautical Society recently announced the 2020 recipients for the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History, including the University of Nebraska Press for the Outward Odyssey series. The Ordway Award is named in memory of Frederick I. Ordway III (1927-2014), human spaceflight advocate and chronicler of the history of rocketry and space travel.  The award recognizes exceptional, sustained efforts to inform and educate on spaceflight and its history through one or more media, including (1) writing, editing, or publishing, (2) preparation and/or presentation of exhibits; or (3) production for distribution through film, television, art, or other non-print media. The award is managed by the AAS History Committee.

Congratulations to Bill Ingalls, Roger D. Launius, Ph.D., and the Viking Mars Missions Education and Preservation Project on receiving this wonderful recognition!

The Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight series provides a popular history of spaceflight from the rocket scientists of the 1930s to today, focusing on the lives of astronauts, cosmonauts, technicians, scientists, and their families. These books place equal emphasis on the Soviets and the Americans and give priority to people over technology and nationalism. The series brings to life experiences that shaped the lives of astronauts and cosmonauts and forever changed their world and ours.