The Story of the Space Shuttle

by David M. Harland

In spite of the Challenger and Columbia disasters, the US Space Shuttle, which entered service in 1981, remains the most successful spacecraft ever developed. Conceived and designed as a reusable spacecraft to provide cheap access to low Earth orbit, and to supersede expendable launch vehicles, serving as the National Space Transportation System, it now coexists with a new range of commercial rockets. David Harland’s definitive work on the Space Shuttle explains the scientific contribution the Space Shuttle has made to the international space programme, detailing missions to Mir, Hubble and more recently its role in the assembly of the International Space Station. This substantial revision to existing chapters and extension of ‘The Space Shuttle’, following the loss of Columbia, will include a comprehensive account of the run-up to resumption of operations and conclude with a chapter beyond the Shuttle, looking at possible future concepts for a partly or totally reusable space vehicle which are being considered to replace the Shuttle.

Genres: Space

Paperback

First published June 17, 2004

Reviews

[Erik Owomoyela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably next to impossible to write so detailed an account of the Space Shuttle's history without drowning it in acronyms and minutiae, and the book doesn't even try. It's strongest at the beginning and the end, when it's using relatively broad strokes to describe the Shuttle's development and a mid-2000s vision of its future and legacy, and in the sections that deal with the losses of Challenger and Columbia. Calling the bulk of the book in between these sections "dense" would be an understatement, and without the 13-page list of acronyms at the end much of it would be almost incomprehensible.

On the other hand, the step-by-step walkthrough of every mission prior to the post-Columbia return to flight gives a terrific set of insights into the challenges of performing even simple tasks in space and the obstacles to routinizing even simple activities beyond the Earth. Where it doesn't provide an easy or entertaining read, it makes a valuable reference tool for someone wishing to understand the ambition, the challenges, the accomplishments and the limitations of history's most versatile spaceship.