Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years -- The Astronauts' Experiences in Their Own Words - Hardcover

DK Publishing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0789484250 ISBN 13: 9780789484253

Publisher: DK, 2002

Synopsis

An unprecedented look at the Space Shuttle experience, as told by the astronauts themselves. The editors of Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine wrote all of the people who have flown on the Space Shuttle since 1981 with a simple request: Tell us your best stories. The astronauts' fascinating and candid responses reveal the drama of the Shuttle experience, from launch to landing, like no other book has to date. More than 300 stunning pictures selected from deep in the NASA archives, most have never been published. Personal anecdotes drawn from written submissions or original interviews with 77 Shuttle astronauts. Historical section highlights in words and pictures the greatest accomplishments of the Shuttle's first two decades. Complete with brief descriptions of all 103 flights from April 1981 to April 2001, Space Shuttle includes a foreword written by astronaut Jim Lovell, who was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the film Apollo 13.

About this title

About the Author

Air & Space / Smithsonian Magazine is published in association with the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., the world's most visited museum. The magazine brings the excitement of aviation and space exploration to a non-technical readership, and is known for its vivid, true-to-life portraits of pilots and astronauts at work. James A. Lovell was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1962, and flew in space four times, on Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13. As the command module pilot and navigator for Apollo 8, he made humanity's first voyage beyond Earth orbit.

Reviews

This amazing book documents the history of the space shuttle program by collecting anecdotes and reminiscences from the astronauts and some remarkable pictures of the shuttle and Earth from space. Compiled by the editors of Air&Space/Smithsonian magazine, the 77 well-edited, first-person accounts are honest and compelling. The astronauts tell funny stories, describe their first experiences in zero gravity, and reveal their fear of failing in their missions. Many complain that the busy schedule during flights left no time to gaze out the window at Earth. Selected from the NASA archives, the numerous color photographs some previously unpublished complement the astronauts' recollections and show amazing views of Earth and the astronauts working in and outside the shuttles. Because this work provides firsthand accounts of the shuttle program, it will be valuable to historians of manned space flight. But casual readers will also be captivated by the astronauts' unique descriptions of the flights, especially the personal details that are usually omitted from books about the shuttle, such as Dennis R. Jenkins's more technology-focused Space Shuttle. Highly recommended. Jeffrey Beall, Univ. of Colorado Lib., Denver
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: DK
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0789484250
• ISBN 13: 9780789484253
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320