Nonfiction

The Space Shuttle: NASA's Space Transportation System: 40th Anniversary

The Space Shuttle: NASA's Space Transportation System: 40th Anniversary

  • Downloads：5755
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-23 08:51:13
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Piers Bizony
  • ISBN：0760370044
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Written and curated by recognized historians of space exploration， The Space Shuttle: 40 Years is the authoritative photo history of the iconic space program on the occasion of its 40th anniversary。

Officially known as the Space Transportation System （STS）， the Space Shuttle program operated from 1981 to 2011。 During that time， five Shuttle systems took part in 135 missions under the operation of NASA。 This approach—namely reusable spacecraft—revolutionized space exploration。 The Space Shuttle: 40 Years takes a thematic approach to the STS’s 30-year operational history。 Essays by former NASA chief historian Roger Launius are accompanied by a collection of incredible Shuttle photography and artworks mined from the depths of NASA’s archives by aerospace historian Piers Bizony—all of it presented in large-format color。

Readers will witness the pre-1981 evolution， the missions， astronauts， ground personnel and infrastructure， and amazing accomplishments of the Shuttle program and its spacecraft: Columbia ， Challenger ， Discovery ， Atlantis ， and Endeavour 。 From the launch site at Cape Kennedy， Florida， to mission control in Houston， Texas， to the landing site at Edwards Air Force Base， all aspects of Shuttle operation are covered， including key roles in efforts such as the Hubble Telescope and International Space Station， as well as the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia disasters。

Every carefully chosen image in The Space Shuttle: 40 Years tells an aspect of the Shuttle story。 The resulting book is not only a unique view of a key chapter of NASA history—it’s a compelling collection of stunning NASA photography and illustrations。

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Reviews

Jay Gabler ，

NASA Space Shuttle is a fascinating time capsule and a reminder of a strange， wonderful， and ultimately finite period in the history of space exploration。 While one might quibble about the layout — it’s hard to imagine photo captions detracted so much from the visual impact of the book’s pages that they absolutely had to be inconveniently removed to the end of each chapter — NASA Space Shuttle will be a gratifying read for any space buff， a presentation that’s more concise than you might imagine NASA Space Shuttle is a fascinating time capsule and a reminder of a strange， wonderful， and ultimately finite period in the history of space exploration。 While one might quibble about the layout — it’s hard to imagine photo captions detracted so much from the visual impact of the book’s pages that they absolutely had to be inconveniently removed to the end of each chapter — NASA Space Shuttle will be a gratifying read for any space buff， a presentation that’s more concise than you might imagine but no less effective for that fact。I reviewed this 40th anniversary volume for The Tangential。 。。。more

Richard ，

A re-released classic to mark the 40th anniversary of NASA space shuttle。 Updated， but still packed with a range of photographs which detail and record the adventure of space travel when it was at the cusp of exploration and the re-usable spacecraft was growing from design to development。For someone who has lived through these times and remembers with a little boy’s joy， the wonder of Apollo missions and landing on the moon， space is amazing。It was therefore good to not just see the pictures rel A re-released classic to mark the 40th anniversary of NASA space shuttle。 Updated， but still packed with a range of photographs which detail and record the adventure of space travel when it was at the cusp of exploration and the re-usable spacecraft was growing from design to development。For someone who has lived through these times and remembers with a little boy’s joy， the wonder of Apollo missions and landing on the moon， space is amazing。It was therefore good to not just see the pictures relating to space shuttles but also the accompanying text which revealed some of the dreams that were never quite realised。With the Mars rover doing its thing and exploration of the red planet hitting the headlines while I was reading this title it is quite remarkable how far we have come， let alone travelled in outer space。I am a sucker for shots of our planet from an orbiting spacecraft and this is one book to get to bring memories from pictures and facts from the illuminating text。 One to keep and refer to - humankind is not to be bound by this world while it has the ambition to discover and explore。 However， the fundamental feeling of those looking down on planet Earth from space is the fragility of our world and the necessity to use as much effort to save ourselves from destroying our home。 I couldn’t agree more。 。。。more

Reading Reindeer 2021 On Proxima Centauri ，

Space is exciting！ Science is exciting！ History is exciting！ Combine all three， and enjoy this pictorial and well-researched account of how and why the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle came into being and its first 40 years of existence！

Evelina | AvalinahsBooks ，

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through EdelweissThe book details how the Shuttle was planned and approved， later the problems that were solved on the way and roughly how they were solved。 I have to say though， it's rather dry。 It mostly focuses on the way it was built （although I felt like I didn't learn anything much in particular either） and glances upon some of the history， but mostly only the positive sides。 For example， the Challenger disaster was mentioned for literally three pa How I read this: Free ebook copy received through EdelweissThe book details how the Shuttle was planned and approved， later the problems that were solved on the way and roughly how they were solved。 I have to say though， it's rather dry。 It mostly focuses on the way it was built （although I felt like I didn't learn anything much in particular either） and glances upon some of the history， but mostly only the positive sides。 For example， the Challenger disaster was mentioned for literally three pages。 I was sad that the photos of the astronauts who died weren't included。 You have to commemorate such things， every reader could pause and give them a minute of silence。 But it was quickly glossed over。 Perhaps the story is supposed to only reflect the success， rather than the painful moments。 Yes， there were some photos later in the spread， but only several， not of everyone， and they come pages after the tragedy was talking about， so you're "not feeling it" anymore， if you know what I mean。 It was even worse with the last tragedy of the Shuttle， because that was only one paragraph， and not even a few pages。 I hoped the disasters and the astronauts had more recognizition。 But I guess the book is about the Shuttle， not the astronauts， so I suppose that's why it wasn't stressed more。The book contains a lot of photos and drawings， but I wasn't a great fan of the formatting。 I feel like it could have been laid out in a more stylish manner （yes， books about engineering can and should be visually attractive as well。） There were also some strange decisions regarding the captions - many photos in the middle of the book were unexplained， with the captions following all together at the end of the "photos spread"， and I felt like it wasn't even captions for all photos， but only some of them （I could be wrong， but that's what it feels like when the captions are pages away from the photo。） I found this arrangement of spreads and captions a little annoying because why not include the text on the page page of the photo （especially if you left in that ugly， empty and huge footer anyway？） I can understand that in old books photo spreads were all together in one spot because of color printing and cost conservation， when it comes to how the pages are layered into the book。 But that's not an issue now， because production has changed， and anyway - nearly all these pages are in color anyway， so why are you putting the spread in one place and not even including the captions， when no reader ever has ever wanted to see random photos without explanation？ Perhaps that will change in the final version of the book， but that's what my review copy looked like。Still， even without the captions， some of the photos were self-explanatory and quite breathtaking， so maybe it's a question of preference。I found the book fairly hard to get into， despite me being always excited about reading about space exploration。 I've read many books about NASA-related stuff （from stories about the missions to technical books and photo books）， and this one was drier than a lot of what I've read。 But， I have to admit， so far this is the first one I've encountered about the Shuttle history， so it's definitely cool that this info is out there。I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review。 This has not affected my opinion。Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter 。。。more

Zuzana ，

This book sums up the Space Shuttle program 30-year-long history in 4 chapters: Building the Bird （Origins of the Space Shuttle）， Loss and Recovery （Learning from Lethal Mistakes）， Inhabiting Orbit （Shuttles， Telescopes， and Stations） and Honor and Legacy （The Shuttle Story in Perspective）。 The book is relatively light on text， but still manages to deliver to-the-point overview of successes and failures of the program that run from 1981 to 2011。 Where it shines and why you should consider buying This book sums up the Space Shuttle program 30-year-long history in 4 chapters: Building the Bird （Origins of the Space Shuttle）， Loss and Recovery （Learning from Lethal Mistakes）， Inhabiting Orbit （Shuttles， Telescopes， and Stations） and Honor and Legacy （The Shuttle Story in Perspective）。 The book is relatively light on text， but still manages to deliver to-the-point overview of successes and failures of the program that run from 1981 to 2011。 Where it shines and why you should consider buying this book is the first rate quality photodocumentation from NASA's archives - stunning photographs taken both on land and in space convey the sense of wonder and accomplishment better than any text could。 Highly recommended。Disclaimer: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Brandi ，

Like so many other kids， I dreamed of being an astronaut and swimming in the sea of space。 I was captivated by the shuttle that carried brave men and women there。 When a launch was planned， I was front and center in front of the TV or reading the print coverage， word for word。 This book is a tribute to those with the same spirit of space adventures。 Stunning historical photos bring poignant moments to life and remind us all of the journey of space exploration。 Allow yourself to live vicariously Like so many other kids， I dreamed of being an astronaut and swimming in the sea of space。 I was captivated by the shuttle that carried brave men and women there。 When a launch was planned， I was front and center in front of the TV or reading the print coverage， word for word。 This book is a tribute to those with the same spirit of space adventures。 Stunning historical photos bring poignant moments to life and remind us all of the journey of space exploration。 Allow yourself to live vicariously through these images and keep dreaming of what is yet to come。 I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own， freely given。 。。。more

Nicola ，

This book was a fab celebration of 40 years of exploration into the stars via the amazing feats of engineering and science that are the Space Shuttles。 The layout of this book makes for very fun and easy reading， with the most beautiful photos， pictures and accompanying text。 From its origins， to the space race， engineering involved and history of this type of space flight， this short little informative book packs in plenty of information for the reader to learn about these revolutionary space m This book was a fab celebration of 40 years of exploration into the stars via the amazing feats of engineering and science that are the Space Shuttles。 The layout of this book makes for very fun and easy reading， with the most beautiful photos， pictures and accompanying text。 From its origins， to the space race， engineering involved and history of this type of space flight， this short little informative book packs in plenty of information for the reader to learn about these revolutionary space missions。 From the successes to the failures， this book was a great little guide to all things space shuttle and was a pleasant small read which could happily be read in one sitting （exactly what I did！）。 I was lucky enough to read this with thanks to the author and publishers via NetGalley in return for my thoughts and honest review。 。。。more

Theediscerning ，

I think I expected more of this volume， although it will have a lot of appeal to many。 Certainly it is a lot less forensic and encyclopaedic than the last Shuttle book I read （https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。）。 What we get is four chapters of text， and the issue here is that they get shorter and shorter， meaning the story here is top-loaded in favour of what built up to the Shuttle， and we get much less about what she took up， how she fared and what became of her corporeal relics。 While I think I expected more of this volume， although it will have a lot of appeal to many。 Certainly it is a lot less forensic and encyclopaedic than the last Shuttle book I read （https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。）。 What we get is four chapters of text， and the issue here is that they get shorter and shorter， meaning the story here is top-loaded in favour of what built up to the Shuttle， and we get much less about what she took up， how she fared and what became of her corporeal relics。 While the pages of these chapters are fully illustrated， we then also have galleries of images to separate them， and the problem here is that while a lot of the time the images here deserve the full-spread， captionless presentation， a lot of the time the photo editor has still jumbled up multiple images per spread， and not really justified the black background and intended de luxe layout （which is anything but）。 And in keeping with the text having its illustrations a couple of pages too early or too late for the right connections to be made， so here we have， say， 40pp of images and then the captions to them all dumped on us at once。On the whole， then， this most certainly does not have the official NASA feel， even if a retired expert on their history wrote the bulk of the text。 I think the shorter three chapters beyond the development one could have been amalgamated， I think a few things that kind of make this feel like a haphazard jumble at times needed ironing out， and while the text gives hearty praise to the birds， all who flew in them， and what they gave us， I don't think this serves as a great tribute， 40th birthday or no。 The image quality at its best will still make this a good browse， however。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Space Shuttle: NASA's Space Transportation System: 40th Anniversary

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Space Shuttle: NASA's Space Transportation System: 40th Anniversary&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Space Shuttle: NASA's Space Transportation System: 40th Anniversary&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0