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

by Pat Duggins

The Space Shuttle was once the cornerstone of the U.S. space program. However, each new flight brings us one step closer to the retirement of the shuttle in 2010. 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 the Orion Crew Exploration Capsule. Journalist Pat Duggins, National Public Radio's resident "space expert," 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. As a rookie reporter visiting the Kennedy Space Center hangar to view the Challenger wreckage, Duggins was in a unique position to offer a poignant eyewitness account of NASA's first shuttle disaster. In Final Countdown, he recounts the agency's struggle to rebound after the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, and explores how politics, scientific entrepreneurship, and the human drive for exploration have impacted the program in sometimes unexpected ways. 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. Young's crewmate, astronaut Bob Crippen, reveals the frustration and loss he felt when his first opportunity to go into space on the first planned space station was taken away. As the shuttle program winds down, more astronauts may face similar disappointments. Final Countdown is a story of lost dreams, new hopes, and the ongoing conquest of space.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, Science, History

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book that makes a nice break from reading extremely long books. I have been a fan of the space program since it started. I try to read as much about NASA as I can, thus I grabbed this book to read. Duggins provides us with the reasons for the end of the shuttle program. As well, it covers major milestones for the program. It is neither a concise history nor a program review. Rather, Duggins book takes the reader on a human perspective. It is, the social issues come more to the fro than those of a technical nature.

The author’s fondness for the space industry comes through in the book. Duggins acknowledges the shuttles shortcomings, he also lauds it successes. Duggins discusses the dramatic influences of politics up on the space shuttle program. The author does not cover the effect of closing the shuttle program on the key areas such as Florida’s Space Coast, The Johnson Space Center or California space area or about the thousands of workers who will lose their jobs.

Pat Duggins is a senior news analyst at WMFE in Central Florida. He has covered more than 85 shuttle launches. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Pat Duggins does his own narration.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a scant few books about the space program which is comewhat surprising because of my love for history as well as science fiction. Anyway I found this book at the local library after hearing the author talk on C-SPAN's Book TV.

The book covers the history of the space shuttle program which was so much more dangerous then any of us were aware of. The book which is written in a fast paced manner concludes with some information regarding NASA's future plans with the Orion project to go back to the moon and onward to Mars.

[Francisco Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great detailed look on the space shuttle program. Never would I have imagined how good the author explains the program, with interviews with NASA executives and astronauts, and detailed accounts on the imperfect program. This is a completely necessary read if you're into the past, and even future of space exploration.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough if sometimes uneven account of the shuttle program post Challenger. Book at its best when the author gets access to key NASA officials for an unvarnished take on some of the challenges they faced.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one is interested in the general history of the space shuttle, without getting too deep into engineering and other tedious details, this is the book to read.

[Chad Kohalyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pat Duggins is an NPR correspondent and does an excellent job of narrating this audiobook. However, since he is used to delivering short, information-dense radio pieces, the book seems like a flood. I found myself rewinding a few times to catch up.

The content is an excellent overview of NASA's shuttle program, filled with anecdotes and stories from the astronauts and other crew members themselves. There is an excellent discussion about the committee-driven design of the mission, and its bureaucratic over-management that makes me even more supportive of commercial space flight. The shuttle program did do some amazing things, but in the end was strangled by a the political yoke around its neck.

This is an entertaining read and good reference material. I am sure I will come back to it, and have been inspired to pick up Duggins's next book Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap.

[Keishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you can see from the cover, this book is about space shuttles and the history of NASA/Kennedy Space Center. If you are a NASA fan, this book should be interesting. For students like me, reading this may take a long time because it gets confusing. However, this book still worths reading, so give it a try. This book describes how NASA was formed and how this administration evolved overtime. In addition to the history of NASA, this book also describes the basic facts about the parts of space shuttle like the engine. I thought this book was amazing because I love space shuttles. Next, I want to read A HIstory of Kennedy Space Center. Even though this book is 500 page long, I am sure this book is interesting, just like this book.

[Tammy Powley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book while doing research on Kennedy Space Center and found it really helpful. As someone who was "there" during much of the story covered by Duggins, I found his information to be accurate and enlightening. It was also a lot less dry than most of the other related books I was reading on this topic. In particular, I was impressed by his candid narrative. Many of the books I reviewed on KSC and NASA seemed to gloss over issues that may have put the agencies in a bad light, but Duggins was able to tell the truth about what happened using an unbiased voice.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duggins delivers more than the title promises, actually providing an overall history of the Shuttle, from conception to retirement. In addition to descriptions of key missions, he provides a careful study of design, creation, and functioning of the entire program, emphasizing the human elements both in orbit and on the ground. Overall, he concludes that the Shuttle was a vehicle in search of a mission, until construction of the International Space Station began, at which point the Shuttle was nearing the end of its useful life.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned of this book while watching a speech by the author on C-SPAN. It is an interesting account of the space shuttle program in its final years, however, for a more thorough examination of the space shuttle read "The Space Shuttle Operator's Manual" by Kerry Mark Joels.

[Kate Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on NASA's history and where the agency is going. Highly recommend!