Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew (New Series in NASA History) - Hardcover

Cooper Jr., Henry S.F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801835240 ISBN 13: 9780801835247

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987

Synopsis

Winner of the Eugene Emme Astronautical Literature Prize from the American Astronautical Society

For eight days in October 1984, seven men and women orbitied the Earth on Space Shuttle Mission 41-G. The mission has begun a year earlier; however, with the select of its crew. Before Lift-off is the extraordinary day-to-day story of these astronauts' training and flight-and is as close as most of us will ever come to flying on the space shuttle.

New Yorker writer Henry Cooper obtained unprecedented permission from NASA to follow the 41-G crew from its formation through the completion of its mission. He was even given access to the heart of the training program: the crew's sessions in the shuttle mision simulators.

More than a chronical of different phases in the astronauts' learning process, Before Lift-off tells the story of the bonding of these men and women. It would be Captain Robert Crippen's fourth space flight, his second command in six months, and Sally Ride's second shuttle voyage. For rookies Davida Leestra, Jon McBride, and Kathy Sullivan, and for two payload specialists, the experience would mark an initiation into the most elite groups-those people who have ventured into space.

About this title

About the Author

Henry S. F. Cooper is the author of seven other books about NASA and space exploration, including Before Liftoff, available from Johns Hopkins.

From the Back Cover

More than a chronicle of different phases in the astronauts' learning process, Before Lift-Off tells the story of the bonding of these men and women.

Reviews

Cooper, who covers the space program for the New Yorker , offers an engaging account of crew training for a 1984 Space Shuttle launching. The book illuminates the world of "sims"the endless computerized simulations that crews endure to learn their complex task. Writing with wit, sensitivity, and intelligence, Cooper conveys the bond that develops among the crew members and between crew and instructors. His vivid account is poignant in the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger explosion, but it captures the exuberance that existed before that disaster. Highly recommended. Thomas J. Freiling, Bainbridge Coll. Lib. , Ga.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801835240
• ISBN 13: 9780801835247
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288