
Into the Void
Adventures of the Spacewalkers
by John Youskauskas; Melvin Croft
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Pub Date May 01 2025 | Archive Date Apr 30 2025
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Description
Though few understood the tremendous risks White was taking in his twenty-two-minute space walk, Americans watched with immense pride and patriotism as White, tethered to Gemini 4, propelled himself around the spacecraft with a pressurized oxygen-fueled zip gun. But White’s struggle to fit his space-suited body back inside the claustrophobic Gemini spacecraft and close the hatch confirmed what NASA should have known: spacewalking wasn’t easy.
More than fifty years and hundreds of space walks later, the art of EVA has evolved. The first space walks, preparation for walking on the moon, intended to prove that humans could function in raw space inside their own miniature spacecraft—a space suit. After the end of the lunar program, both the Americans and Soviets turned their focus to long-duration flights on space stations in low Earth orbit, and space walks were crucial to the success of these missions. The construction of the International Space Station—the most sophisticated spacecraft to date—required hundreds of hours of work by spacewalkers from many countries.
In Into the Void John Youskauskas and Melvin Croft tell the unique story of those who have ventured outside the spacecraft into the unforgiving vacuum of space as we set our sights on the moon, Mars, and beyond.
Advance Praise
“Working in a space suit in hard vacuum is likely the most demanding test of an astronaut’s physical skills and mental concentration. Into the Void reveals in fascinating detail how spacewalkers, flight controllers, and suit engineers mastered this difficult art to explore the moon, recover crippled spacecraft, and build an expansive space station on the high frontier. Lock your helmet ring, open chapter 1, and float outside!”—Tom Jones, veteran spacewalker and astronaut and author of Space Shuttle Stories
“Into the Void helps us experience the high-stakes, awe-inspiring, and pressure-laden realm of space walks, where intrepid humans dare to leave behind the safety of their spacecraft for critical work that can only be accomplished in the unforgiving void.”—Jonathan H. Ward, coauthor of Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars and Bringing Columbia Home
“Into the Void presents a detailed background of extravehicular activity training and how Murphy’s Law must always be accounted for. The reader will come to understand how the first and only three-person space walk during STS-49, my second spaceflight, was conceived and accomplished.”—Bruce Melnick, mission specialist for space shuttle missions STS-41 and STS-49
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9781496224125 |
PRICE | $39.95 (USD) |
PAGES | 392 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

I admit it was movies and TV that first got me interested in space, but it was matching the all the shuttle launches in the 80s that really captivated me. Unlike the movies, those shuttle missions featured real people going to space, doing things that so few would ever have the opportunity to do. And while only a small number of people have gone into space, an even smaller number have ever done the unthinkable…headed outside of their spacecraft with only a spacesuit between them and the deadly vacuum of space. In Into the Void, John Youskauskas and Melvin Croft chronicle the history of space walks (EVAs). There are truly amazing and heroic stories in here that are sure to fascinate and delight any space enthusiast. I like to thank University of Nebraska Press and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC of Into the Void.