Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight) - Softcover

Hitt, David; Smith, Heather R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1496229401 ISBN 13: 9781496229403

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 2021

Synopsis

After the Apollo program put twelve men on the moon and safely brought them home, anything seemed possible. In this spirit, the team at NASA set about developing the Space Shuttle, arguably the most complex piece of machinery ever created. The world’s first reusable spacecraft, it launched like a rocket, landed like a glider, and carried out complicated missions in between.

 

Bold They Rise tells the story of the Space Shuttle through the personal experiences of the astronauts, engineers, and scientists who made it happen—in space and on the ground, from the days of research and design through the heroic accomplishments of the program to the tragic last minutes of the Challenger disaster. In the participants’ own voices, we learn what so few are privy to: what it was like to create a new form of spacecraft, to risk one’s life testing that craft, to float freely in the vacuum of space as a one-man satellite, to witness a friend’s death. A “guided tour” of the shuttle—in historical, scientific, and personal terms—this book provides a fascinating, richly informed, and deeply personal view of a feat without parallel in the human story.

About this title

About the Author

David Hitt is the coauthor of Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story (Nebraska, 2008). Heather R. Smith has worked as an education writer for NASA. Bob Crippen is a NASA astronaut who piloted the first Space Shuttle flight.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1496229401
• ISBN 13: 9781496229403
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 356