Final Countdown; NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program

xv, [1], 249, [7] pages. Illustrations (photographs and diagrams). Notes. Suggested Reading. Index. Front cover creased. Minor corner bend at back cover. Pat Duggins is news director for Alabama Public Radio. If his name or voice is familiar, it could be his twenty five years covering the U.S. space program, including fourteen years on NPR. Pat's NASA experience began with the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, and includes 103 missions. Many NPR listeners recall Pat's commentary during Weekend Edition Saturday on February 1, 2003 when Shuttle Columbia broke apart and burned up during re-entry. His expertise was utilized during three hours of live and unscripted coverage with NPR's Scott Simon. Pat later wrote two books about NASA, Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program and Trailblazing Mars. Pat has also lectured about the future of the space program at Harvard, and writes about international space efforts for "Modern Weekly" magazine. "Final Countdown" is the riveting history of NASA's Space Shuttle program, its missions, and its impending demise. It also examines the plans and early development of the space agency's next major effort: the Orion Crew Exploration Capsule. Journalist Pat Duggins chronicles the planning stages of the shuttle program in the early 1970s, the thrills of the first flight in 1981, construction of the International Space Station in the 1990s, and the decision in the early 2000s to shut it down. In "Final Countdown, "he recounts the agency's struggle to rebound after the "Challenger" and "Columbia "tragedies. Duggins has covered eighty-six shuttle missions, and his twenty-year working relationship with NASA has given him unprecedented access to personnel. Many spoke openly and frankly with him, including veteran astronaut John Young, who discusses the travails to get the shuttle program off the ground. "Final Countdown" is a story of lost dreams, new hopes, and the ongoing conquest of space.…