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

by Piers Bizony

Overview

Get a full retrospective of all 134 flights, every mission, of the space shuttle program.

This superbly designed and lavishly illustrated reissue of the best-selling hardcover book marks a special moment in history: the final mission of the space shuttle. Noted space and science author Piers Bizony's retrospective covers the entire space shuttle program that began in 1981 and ended in 2011.

Every space shuttle mission is detailed, including all flights of the Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour spacecraft. The book also covers the development and design of the orbiter, 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.

If you never got to watch the countdown clock in person during a space shuttle launch, The Space Shuttle is your chance to relive the history of America's first low Earth orbital spacecraft.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760347812
Publisher:	Zenith Press
Publication date:	04/01/2015
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Piers Bizony is an experienced multimedia professional that has written about science and the history of technology for a wide variety of publishers worldwide, and has undertaken major projects for the media departments at NASA and ESA. He has also gained substantial experience within the film and television industries.

The author of Quarto’s Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years, One Giant Leap: Apollo 11 Remembered, and New Space Frontiers, Bizony spent the last three years working closely with the family of Stanley Kubrick, in conjunction with Warner Bros. and fine art publishers Taschen on a large-format book about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Universe Today.comFor those out there that consider themselves “shuttle huggers” this book is simply a must-have. It is perfect to take to autograph shows to be signed by astronauts (as every mission is detailed, it is a simple matter to have crew members sign on the pages that contain their missions). It is also a perfect gift for space aficionados this holiday season . . . a welcome addition to your home library.

Bookviews by Alan Caruba

"...a classic coffee table book, 10.5 x 11.25, 300 pages and filled with 900 color photos. In short, the perfect Christmas gift for someone who is an enthusiast for life and travel in outer space. In the 1980s, on assignment, I had the opportunity to visit the John F. Kennedy Space Center and tour the site where rockets and space shuttles were launched. I saw a shuttle up close and that is to say I saw a vehicle that was the size of a small building and marveled that it could be lifted beyond Earth’s gravity to circle the planet. One can only marvel at the courage of the crews that went aloft and the scientific and technological mastery that made it possible. This book is a keeper!"

 Alan Boyle (Cosmic Logic, MSBNC)

"Are you looking for this year's biggest, shiniest coffee-table book about NASA's recently departed space shuttle fleet? Bizony's book is chock-full of pictures from each of the fleet's 135 missions, although the last one is represented only by a picture of Atlantis and its team during preparations for July's final flight. The text reviews 30 years of highs and lows for the shuttle program."

Travel for Aircraft

"The photos and captions in Bizony’s book have wonderful variety which are marked by pleasant pace and spicy tempo. There are great scale panoramas for the introductory audience and there are environmental portraits, ones that show a moment in the life with the use of an intuitive angle, for the more sophisticated of readers or aerospace students. The Shuttles are explained in concise text and plentiful images from launch to recovery and readying for the next flight. An appendix is provided which is a roster of all the missions flown and their pertinent facts, including mission highlights — whether they are good ones or bad ones. A 3-D cross-section, rendered by Simon Atkinson and Lawrence Seward, is a special bonus. This book is one to get for many libraries (research, school or personal) as well as coffee tables. This one sits on our living room coffee table and will not collect dust."

Editorial Reviews

Alan Boyle (Cosmic Logic, MSBNC)

"Are you looking for this year's biggest, shiniest coffee-table book about NASA's recently departed space shuttle fleet? Bizony's book is chock-full of pictures from each of the fleet's 135 missions, although the last one is represented only by a picture of Atlantis and its team during preparations for July's final flight. The text reviews 30 years of highs and lows for the shuttle program."

Universe Today.com
For those out there that consider themselves “shuttle huggers” this book is simply a must-have. It is perfect to take to autograph shows to be signed by astronauts (as every mission is detailed, it is a simple matter to have crew members sign on the pages that contain their missions). It is also a perfect gift for space aficionados this holiday season . . . a welcome addition to your home library.

Bookviews by Alan Caruba

"...a classic coffee table book, 10.5 x 11.25, 300 pages and filled with 900 color photos. In short, the perfect Christmas gift for someone who is an enthusiast for life and travel in outer space. In the 1980s, on assignment, I had the opportunity to visit the John F. Kennedy Space Center and tour the site where rockets and space shuttles were launched. I saw a shuttle up close and that is to say I saw a vehicle that was the size of a small building and marveled that it could be lifted beyond Earth’s gravity to circle the planet. One can only marvel at the courage of the crews that went aloft and the scientific and technological mastery that made it possible. This book is a keeper!"

From the Publisher