Patrick Baudry tells the story of LAIKA,
the first living being sent into space!
How a little stray dog became a cosmonaut in 1957.
Alongside Yuri Gagarin, she is today regarded
as a pioneer of space exploration.

Hachette Enfants published September 6, 2017

ISBN-13 : 978-2013977685

Here, I try to raise the real questions about today’s lack of future for space exploration.
Why are we not on the Moon ?
Why does Mars, despite all our robots, still seem so distant ?
Why, above all, do we continue to circle endlessly around the Earth ?

Tired of a space future deprived of breath and imagination, I rise up and offer you here, along with a clear vision of all these issues, a candid yet truthful “state of affairs.”

ELYTIS Edition published March 05-25-2012

ISBN : 978-2-35639-091-2 Diffusion harmonia mundi

As a pretext for knowledge or re-discovery of what we now know about space exploration, I revisited the stages of my mission, day by day, to help those who never had this extraordinary chance experience the wondrous moments of a seven day journey between Heaven and Earth, suspended in time and in the discovery of our astonishing planet, seen from the outside.

This book, a true logbook of a flight truly “unlike any other,” is, in my view, one that should be in everyone’s hands, especially those of the younger generation, who can relive with me this marvelous adventure that, today, is no longer the stuff of imagination.

ELYTIS Editions – Preface by Ladislas KIJNO, Painter and Friend – Completed in Lacanau on September 27, 2007, and published in 2007

ISBN : 978-2-91-465993-2

October 4, 1957: Sputnik 1 emits its eternal beeping, coming from… Space.

October 4, 2007: an opportunity to take stock of what—unfortunately—has not been undertaken, due to a lack of courage and ambition, in this space exploration that is an integral part of the history of our planet, for everyone.

Alongside our three brief biographies and a fairly concise chronology of Space Exploration, and after a text I share with you as a reflection, from me to you, you will be able to enter a genuine conversation I had with my two comrades. The sole purpose of this conversation was to reveal, as closely as possible to reality and truth, what the race to the stars truly is today, and how the three of us—and many others, fortunately—feel, in our own ways, as citizens of Space.

ELYTIS Publishing – Witness of the Universal Collection – Completed in Lacanau on July 17, 2007, and published in 2007.

ISBN : 978-2-91-465982-6

I have repeatedly expressed my regret and protested, whenever I could, against our lack of ambition in advancing space exploration.

And so, quite naturally, I wanted to write this book at a time when the shuttle was more than dangerous and when we had long been merely orbiting our Earth, with no scientific gain or real drive for discovery—a true snapshot of the state of space exploration at the time, as much as a denunciation.

Proposing a genuine European—and why not, French—space policy, I tried, to the best of my limited ability, to convey—as I often do—that conquering space, when you are French, is not synonymous with impossible. This was already in 2003, but believe me, these words remain just as relevant today !

Michel LAFON Edition – Completed in Lacanau on May 7, 2003, and published in 2003

ISBN : 978-2-84098-965-3

Some say it is a poetic book, others find it philosophical. Still others believe it touches on metaphysics. All of that is probably true.

For I have always tried to express, as faithfully as possible both to myself and to my readers, what I felt up there and what I learned down here. But this book goes beyond that. The photographs, each carefully chosen, are breathtakingly beautiful. The structure of the book — with each chapter built around a key word, a central theme of the space adventure — reveals what life, in its most extraordinary and advanced form — a space voyage — has that is most beautiful, most true, and most universal.

Welcome to this journey, in images and in words, that will take you among the stars and beyond !
A voyage from which you will emerge neither quite the same nor entirely different, but one that will surely transform — if only a little — your vision of the world, and perhaps even of yourself.

Published by Éditions du Chêne – Preface by Ladislas Kijno, painter and friend –
Completed in Lacanau on July 17, 2002, and published in 2002.

ISBN : 978-2-70285-861-5

I have tried to retrace for you the footsteps of this extraordinary man, and I also wished to honor the memory of all those legendary figures Tsiolkovsky, Korolev, and many others who made it possible for us, the men who fly, to venture into the conquest of space, and who, even today in 2009, continue to inspire and enable us.

I also revisited, by painting an explicit picture, the later stages of the space conquest. Incisive when necessary, at times nostalgic, and of course ever-conquering, I mainly sought to inspire my contemporaries to rediscover that passion for exploration that never left my heroes : Gagarin, Glenn, Titov, and others like Armstrong, all of whom you will encounter again in this work, whether directly or through their legacy. This book, written in 2001, was a heartfelt reflection on my own space odyssey of 1985.

Taillandier Editions – Raconter l’histoire Collection – Preface by Yves Coppens, paleoanthropologist – Foreword by Vladimir Soloviev, Director of Russian Space Flights – Completed in Blagnac on February 12, 2001, and published in 2001.

ISBN : 978-2-23502-301-6

13400 kilometers, more than ten stopovers, and a good sixty hours of flight aboard a single aircraft: The Princess of the Stars, an amphibious seaplane from the 1930s. From legendary stopovers to night flights, they relive the great moments of the fabulous adventure of the pioneers of airmail.

Each stage gives Patrick Baudry the opportunity to share his impressions and highlight the powerful symbols of this flight.

A worthy heir to the pilots of the Aéropostale, this man of the cosmos looks toward the challenges of the next millennium. For him, they are of the same spirit as those faced by the early pioneers of the skies. Attentive witness, Cyril Le Tourneur d’Ison keeps the logbook. From Toulouse to Santiago, Chile, the remnants of the moving epic of which Mermoz, Guillaumet, and Saint-Exupéry were the heroes still remain. Memories, archival images, and lived emotions blend here in a bold juxtaposition.

Edition Taillandier – Historia – published in 1999

ISBN : 978-2-235022-383-5

I have flown these aircraft, and each one proved to be a wonderful companion, offering me my most remarkable missions and the most thrilling sensations. It was a wonderful opportunity to revisit them and bring them to life again for other enthusiasts, whom I know today, from numerous testimonies, were many!

At the time, I captioned the collection as follows: “The books in this collection allow me to present to you stunning photos of the most advanced aircraft, worthy of the world’s best combat pilots.”

Atlas Editions – Pilots of… Collection, directed by Wim Dannau, aviation and space journalist – 46 volumes published from 1990 onward.

Today, he notes, ever since a certain Mikhail Gorbachev opened the eyes of the Soviet people, nothing surprises anyone anymore. Thus, when Yuri Marchuk of Glavkosmos proposed to NASA leaders to use the giant Energia rocket to launch the Freedom space station, they were no longer even surprised.

This book reveals the Soviet manned space program through text and images like never before. Glasnost and Perestroika allow us to learn more about Gagarin, Vostok, the tragic accidents involving Voskhod and Soyuz cosmonauts, the epic of the Salyut and Mir space stations, and finally, the arrival of the super-rocket Energia and the Buran space shuttle, which astonished Western observers in 1988.

Editions Atlas – published in 1990

ISBN : 978-2731208580

Editions Atlas – Published in 1989

ISBN : 978-2731216004

This work provides an overview of the shuttles and spaceplanes from the successful missions of Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis, as well as the projects and programs of the Soviet Union, Europe, and Japan: X-30, Sänger, and Orient-Express.

The authors designed this book as a striking photographic report, enriched with a powerful text drawn from the experience they lived in this realm of dream and technological adventure that is the exploration of the cosmos.

Who better than Patrick Baudry, the only French astronaut to have flown a mission aboard the American shuttle after a year of training at NASA centers, could bring to this book a unique touch—the imprint of those who were actually there?

Editions Atlas – Published in 1988

ISBN : 978-2731207422

A long line of men, scientists and engineers, first working in isolation and then united by an ideal capable of rallying the nations of the old continent through patience and persistence—achieved this feat. Today…

And tomorrow? “Tomorrow is just around the corner,” continues Patrick Baudry, who, together with Alain Souchier, is already working to send Europeans into space. While the engineer contributes to the development of Ariane 5, which will launch the spaceplane Hermès, the cosmonaut brings all his experience to this manned vehicle program.

Ariane 5, Hermès, and, at the end of the trajectory, our first orbital station: yes, these two men, with the support of thousands of others, are preparing the Europe of tomorrow…

Editions Flammarion – Collection L’Odyssée – published in 1985

ISBN : 978-2082004558

Some of my colleagues, Russian or American, had the immense luck to fly several times. It is true that their nations, unlike ours, have the means to do so !

So how could I not want, for a moment, to pause on my own life, to look back and, through the power of writing, see how I got here? This book, assisted by a journalist friend from that time, had the mission of retracing the path that led me to my flight, whose 25th anniversary I will celebrate next year. It was also an opportunity for me to capture, forever, in the immediacy of fleeting memory, the most beautiful and faithful images of the most fantastic experience of my life.

The writing may be a bit dated, it’s true, but you will find intact and enduring my most beautiful emotions and my most thrilling sensations. So, to you as well—have a good flight!

Carrere / Michel Lafon Editions – Completed at La Bergerie, Mistre – Le Val Gallerand in 1985 – Published in 1985

ASIN : B000XI947O

These are some of the questions addressed in this book, born from the meetings and hours of discussion between Jean-Loup Chrétien and Patrick Baudry, the two spationauts, and Bernard Chabbert. Beyond the questions, one discovers that the key to future civilizations lies in Houston and Star City, and one wonders whether Europe must resign itself to remaining in second place in space or, on the contrary, take up the challenge of human conquest of this sixth infinite continent.

Editions Plon – Published in 1982

ISBN : 978-2259009270