The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA's First Space Plane - Tapa dura

This superbly designed and lavishly illustrated book marks a special moment in history: the final mission of the space shuttle. Noted space and science author, Piers Bizony, has put together a retrospective that covers all 134 space shuttle missions, including the final flight of the shuttle, which is scheduled for September 2010. In addition to covering every space shuttle mission, the book also covers the development and design of the space shuttle, as well as the technical specifications of the vehicle and details of its major assemblies and subassemblies. A full double-gatefold provides a large-scale technical drawing of the space shuttle.

From the beginning, the Space Shuttle was a bold idea: a space plane launched as a rocket only to drop out of orbit deadstick, unpowered, with one chance to glide safely back to Earth. Like any space program, it had its tragedies and triumphs . . . and reached its end. After thirty years of service, the shuttles have come back to Earth for good, destined for new homes in museums across the United States. As this chapter of the American space program closes, author Piers Bizony chronicles three decades of shuttling astronauts, satellites, telescopes, space station parts, and science experiments in this lavishly illustrated celebration of the world’s first operational space plane. With over five hundred color photos covering day-to-day operations before, during, and after liftoff and touchdown, charting the breakthroughs and the setbacks, Space Shuttle is a fitting tribute to NASA’s longest-running space program.