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Last Launch: Discovery, Endeavour, Atlantis
Honorable Mention, Los Angeles Book Festival Book Award, Photography, 2013 Americans have been driven to explore beyond the horizon ever since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. In the twentieth century, that drive took us to the moon and inspired dreams of setting foot on other planets and voyaging among the stars. The vehicle we built to launch those far journeys was the space shuttle—Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. This fleet of reusable spacecraft was designed to be our taxi to earth orbit, where we would board spaceships heading for strange new worlds. While the shuttle program never accomplished that goal, its 135 missions sent more than 350 people on a courageous journey into the unknown. Last Launch is a stunning photographic tribute to America’s space shuttle program. Dan Winters was one of only a handful of photographers to whom NASA gave close-range access to photograph the last launches of Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Positioning automatically controlled cameras at strategic points around the launch pad—some as close as seven hundred feet—he recorded images of take-offs that capture the incredible power and transcendent beauty of the blast that sends the shuttle hurtling into space. Winters also takes us on a visual tour of the shuttle as a marvel of technology—from the crew spaces with their complex instrumentation, to the massive engines that propelled the shuttle, to the enormous vehicle assembly building where the shuttles were prepared for flight.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published June 20, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 1, 2014
2,5 Stars.
It was an ok book.
I was hoping for something more and truthfully something better.
Very nicely written but packed with some flaws in the layout.
The first three chapters were great. With good photos and a good text accompanied them.
But then It was like the author didn't want to finish his work and left it half, with only pics to follow, no text, not even a tiny caption to help us understand what are we looking at.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK
- Beautiful prologue.
- Some of the photos are borderline boring.
- Some of the photos are powerful because we know the story behind them.
- Great editing.
- The cover is spectacular.
- Too many blank pages, and i checked it wasn't my copy only but the hardcover also..
It was an ok book.
I was hoping for something more and truthfully something better.
Very nicely written but packed with some flaws in the layout.
The first three chapters were great. With good photos and a good text accompanied them.
But then It was like the author didn't want to finish his work and left it half, with only pics to follow, no text, not even a tiny caption to help us understand what are we looking at.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK
- Beautiful prologue.
- Some of the photos are borderline boring.
- Some of the photos are powerful because we know the story behind them.
- Great editing.
- The cover is spectacular.
- Too many blank pages, and i checked it wasn't my copy only but the hardcover also..
May 15, 2013
If you remember a time when you combed the library for every book they had on space, when you sat on the floor peering over detailed diagrams of the various spacecraft and wished with all your might that you could go into space too, this book is for you.
The author has chosen a scattering of perhaps a hundred photos, from the awesome (like inspiringly close launch shots), to the mundane (worn mittens detached from a spacesuit). Even the shots of old Orbiter engines in storage evoke powerful emotions, linked to the appreciation of the tens of thousands of engineers and scientists that made the Space Age of my youth so real.
I was going through the photos for the first time, when I came across a sequence of images from Challenger's final few seconds. I was flooded by the long-forgotten memories and emotions of a ten year old who had just realised an excited class of school kids half-way around the world just lost their schoolteacher. The iconic images you've seen a hundred times were taken by this photographer.
The author keeps editorial content to a minimum, leaving the reader with a few personal anecdotes and some old newspaper clippings. Most of the beautiful photos are left - without context - for the reader to digest on their own.
The author has chosen a scattering of perhaps a hundred photos, from the awesome (like inspiringly close launch shots), to the mundane (worn mittens detached from a spacesuit). Even the shots of old Orbiter engines in storage evoke powerful emotions, linked to the appreciation of the tens of thousands of engineers and scientists that made the Space Age of my youth so real.
I was going through the photos for the first time, when I came across a sequence of images from Challenger's final few seconds. I was flooded by the long-forgotten memories and emotions of a ten year old who had just realised an excited class of school kids half-way around the world just lost their schoolteacher. The iconic images you've seen a hundred times were taken by this photographer.
The author keeps editorial content to a minimum, leaving the reader with a few personal anecdotes and some old newspaper clippings. Most of the beautiful photos are left - without context - for the reader to digest on their own.
September 3, 2022
From its first image of an early Space Shuttle schematic, published back in July of 1972, to its final image of an empty launch pad under cloudy skies, Last Launch: Discovery, Endeavor, Atlantis Hardcover is a visually stunning tribute to the modern era of spaceflight.
Dan Winters bookends his introduction with a pair of father-son photographic memories, beginning with his father taking a picture of the television to capture the launch of Apollo 11, and ending with his own son assisting him in photographing the launch of Discovery STS-133. In just two short pages he reminds us of how far we've come in the past forty years.
Al Reinart follows that with a fascinating history of how and why the American space program reached for the stars, complete with the "hubris and muddle" that was designed into the Space Shuttle. He takes us from the launch of Columbia in 1981, through the Challenger disaster of 1986, and the return to flight with Discovery in 1988; from the initial multinational docking with the space station Mir in 1995, to the multinational construction of the ISS in 1998; and through the loss of Columbia in 2004, to the return to flight in 2006, and the retirement of the Space Shuttle six years later.
Really, though, this book is a visual tribute to the power, the majesty, and the spectacle of the Space Shuttle program. Winters shoots his subjects from near and afar, providing us with glimpses of not only sheer size and scale, but also of the minute details. On one page you're staring at the pillar of smoke left behind by a successful launch, and on the next you're scrutinizing the very texture of the Shuttle's skin. He also takes us deep behind the scenes, offering up snapshots of suits and gloves, of bags of candy, and cockpit seats. For anybody who never had the chance to make it to a launch, this is a goldmine of material that's sure to rekindle those early dreams.
Wisely, Winters allows the photos to speak for themselves, presenting them in all their glossy glory, without encumbering them with text. There is a thumbnail gallery at the end, explaining each photo, but I recommend leaving that for last. Take your time enjoying the photos, running your fingers over the seams and rivets, and allowing memories to rise to the surface. It's the good times that are captured here, the evidence of human imagination and ingenuity. That's not to gloss over the sacrifices made by those who are no longer with us, but this is celebration, not a memorial - and it's nice to come away from it with that childlike sense of wonder alive and well.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Dan Winters bookends his introduction with a pair of father-son photographic memories, beginning with his father taking a picture of the television to capture the launch of Apollo 11, and ending with his own son assisting him in photographing the launch of Discovery STS-133. In just two short pages he reminds us of how far we've come in the past forty years.
Al Reinart follows that with a fascinating history of how and why the American space program reached for the stars, complete with the "hubris and muddle" that was designed into the Space Shuttle. He takes us from the launch of Columbia in 1981, through the Challenger disaster of 1986, and the return to flight with Discovery in 1988; from the initial multinational docking with the space station Mir in 1995, to the multinational construction of the ISS in 1998; and through the loss of Columbia in 2004, to the return to flight in 2006, and the retirement of the Space Shuttle six years later.
Really, though, this book is a visual tribute to the power, the majesty, and the spectacle of the Space Shuttle program. Winters shoots his subjects from near and afar, providing us with glimpses of not only sheer size and scale, but also of the minute details. On one page you're staring at the pillar of smoke left behind by a successful launch, and on the next you're scrutinizing the very texture of the Shuttle's skin. He also takes us deep behind the scenes, offering up snapshots of suits and gloves, of bags of candy, and cockpit seats. For anybody who never had the chance to make it to a launch, this is a goldmine of material that's sure to rekindle those early dreams.
Wisely, Winters allows the photos to speak for themselves, presenting them in all their glossy glory, without encumbering them with text. There is a thumbnail gallery at the end, explaining each photo, but I recommend leaving that for last. Take your time enjoying the photos, running your fingers over the seams and rivets, and allowing memories to rise to the surface. It's the good times that are captured here, the evidence of human imagination and ingenuity. That's not to gloss over the sacrifices made by those who are no longer with us, but this is celebration, not a memorial - and it's nice to come away from it with that childlike sense of wonder alive and well.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
September 20, 2013
(nb: I received a Review Copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley)
Dan Winters's "Last Launch: Discovery, Endeavour, Atlantis" is a wonderful book, a photographic record of NASA's final three Space Shuttle launches.
I do not deny that I've always been a space nerd. Growing up on Florida's West Coast, I remember going out in the front yard, watching night-time Apollo launches. The same was true for the shuttles. There was a delay, of course. When they were televised, we could watch the actual lift off from Cape Canaveral, then walk outside and look to the east-northeast, and soon enough, there was the bright orange flame as another space mission commenced.
Dan Winters relates his own story of watching the Apollo 11 launch on TV. Something struck the same chord in both of us: there was something sacrosanct in strapping astronauts into a giant, controlled bomb, then flinging them into space.
The photos Winters shares are remarkable. Some of them amazed me with their stark clarity, the fine shadings of light on an external fuel tank, or the chiaroscuro of the shuttle's exhaust trail.
Especially intriguing is the method Winters used to capture multiple images from multiple angles. He set up cameras--up to nine of them on some shoots--and had them pre-focused and ready to go by launch time. They turned on shortly before launch. When the sound reached the camera, an ingenious sound-based trigger fired the cameras at five frames per second. Each of these cameras stood on a tripod, which was weighted and strapped down to hold it steady.
In addition to the beautiful launch pictures, Mr. Winters was allowed to take pictures inside the shuttle. The cockpit technology is daunting.
There is some good commentary here, too. Al Reinert's introduction gives a precis of the shuttle program, its successes and failures. Winters adds some writing as well.
If you're looking for a complete study of the Space Shuttle program, this would not be the book for you. "Last Launch" is not filled with recitations of facts, nor with charts and diagrams.
Rather, "Last Launch" is a loving tribute to the Space Shuttle program, spotlighting these ships that never quite measured-up to their expected use--initially, the idea was a flight every other month. There were growing pains, and we're left wondering whether the Shuttle would have been more successful if Congress had had more realistic expectations.
With the shuttle fleet grounded, there is no way to get additional pieces to the International Space Station. The Russians have some good rockets, but nothing that can handle a payload as big as the shuttles could.
I managed to see a Shuttle Launch from on Kennedy Space Center grounds, and it was an experience I'll never forget. Seeing those rockets fire, then a few seconds later, hearing that earth-quaking roar...these images will remain with me forever.
This is not a long book, but there is no wasted space--it's quality over quantity (much like the Shuttle program itself). With the holidays approaching, this would be an excellent choice for the space geek in your family.
Now, I'm off to check NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. (I hope it's the Sombrero Galaxy)
Recommended
Dan Winters's "Last Launch: Discovery, Endeavour, Atlantis" is a wonderful book, a photographic record of NASA's final three Space Shuttle launches.
I do not deny that I've always been a space nerd. Growing up on Florida's West Coast, I remember going out in the front yard, watching night-time Apollo launches. The same was true for the shuttles. There was a delay, of course. When they were televised, we could watch the actual lift off from Cape Canaveral, then walk outside and look to the east-northeast, and soon enough, there was the bright orange flame as another space mission commenced.
Dan Winters relates his own story of watching the Apollo 11 launch on TV. Something struck the same chord in both of us: there was something sacrosanct in strapping astronauts into a giant, controlled bomb, then flinging them into space.
The photos Winters shares are remarkable. Some of them amazed me with their stark clarity, the fine shadings of light on an external fuel tank, or the chiaroscuro of the shuttle's exhaust trail.
Especially intriguing is the method Winters used to capture multiple images from multiple angles. He set up cameras--up to nine of them on some shoots--and had them pre-focused and ready to go by launch time. They turned on shortly before launch. When the sound reached the camera, an ingenious sound-based trigger fired the cameras at five frames per second. Each of these cameras stood on a tripod, which was weighted and strapped down to hold it steady.
In addition to the beautiful launch pictures, Mr. Winters was allowed to take pictures inside the shuttle. The cockpit technology is daunting.
There is some good commentary here, too. Al Reinert's introduction gives a precis of the shuttle program, its successes and failures. Winters adds some writing as well.
If you're looking for a complete study of the Space Shuttle program, this would not be the book for you. "Last Launch" is not filled with recitations of facts, nor with charts and diagrams.
Rather, "Last Launch" is a loving tribute to the Space Shuttle program, spotlighting these ships that never quite measured-up to their expected use--initially, the idea was a flight every other month. There were growing pains, and we're left wondering whether the Shuttle would have been more successful if Congress had had more realistic expectations.
With the shuttle fleet grounded, there is no way to get additional pieces to the International Space Station. The Russians have some good rockets, but nothing that can handle a payload as big as the shuttles could.
I managed to see a Shuttle Launch from on Kennedy Space Center grounds, and it was an experience I'll never forget. Seeing those rockets fire, then a few seconds later, hearing that earth-quaking roar...these images will remain with me forever.
This is not a long book, but there is no wasted space--it's quality over quantity (much like the Shuttle program itself). With the holidays approaching, this would be an excellent choice for the space geek in your family.
Now, I'm off to check NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. (I hope it's the Sombrero Galaxy)
Recommended
June 26, 2013
'Last Launch' is a photographic tribute to three space shuttles and their final launches from Florida by Dan Winters. Mr. Winters was given clearance to photograph them at launch. The photos throughout the book show some of the history of spaceflights as well as full color plates of the three featured shuttles, the Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis, in flight and at rest.
There is an introduction by Dan Winters explaining how he became interested in space missions through his parents watching launches on television in the 1960s. Also, there is an overview of the shuttle program by Al Reinert, director of NASA's documentary For All Mankind. The overview discusses the funding battles, failures and ultimate triumphs of the shuttle program, and does it in a few short pages. There is also a brief introduction by Mark Kelly, who was commander on Endeavor's last flight (and is probably better known as Gabrielle Gifford's husband at this point).
The pictures of the launches explode with power and clouds of spent fuel. Shown also are the shuttles at rest, as well as some of the ephemera of space travel. Each shuttle is given a section in the book. Some of the launch photos look similar to each other, especially when there is just a cloud of fuel vapor, but the shots of the shuttle escaping lower atmosphere are breathtaking. Shots of heat shields and astronaut gear and a bag of space ready M&Ms add a human touch to the story
The book wraps up with a description of how shuttle launch photos are taken (close up and automated with everything locked or taped down to prevent vibration). It's an intriguing process, and I was glad it was included. The book finishes with plate descriptions of the photos by Dan Winters.
I can't help but feel wistful looking at these photos. They depict a program we may never see again, but that served an amazing purpose in the history of space. Without the shuttle, we likely would not have the Hubble telescope or much of the International Space Station. It's a moving tribute.
There is an introduction by Dan Winters explaining how he became interested in space missions through his parents watching launches on television in the 1960s. Also, there is an overview of the shuttle program by Al Reinert, director of NASA's documentary For All Mankind. The overview discusses the funding battles, failures and ultimate triumphs of the shuttle program, and does it in a few short pages. There is also a brief introduction by Mark Kelly, who was commander on Endeavor's last flight (and is probably better known as Gabrielle Gifford's husband at this point).
The pictures of the launches explode with power and clouds of spent fuel. Shown also are the shuttles at rest, as well as some of the ephemera of space travel. Each shuttle is given a section in the book. Some of the launch photos look similar to each other, especially when there is just a cloud of fuel vapor, but the shots of the shuttle escaping lower atmosphere are breathtaking. Shots of heat shields and astronaut gear and a bag of space ready M&Ms add a human touch to the story
The book wraps up with a description of how shuttle launch photos are taken (close up and automated with everything locked or taped down to prevent vibration). It's an intriguing process, and I was glad it was included. The book finishes with plate descriptions of the photos by Dan Winters.
I can't help but feel wistful looking at these photos. They depict a program we may never see again, but that served an amazing purpose in the history of space. Without the shuttle, we likely would not have the Hubble telescope or much of the International Space Station. It's a moving tribute.
July 6, 2013
ARC provided by NetGalley
Like many out there I've long been fascinated by space and space travel. I once dreamed of becoming an astronaut and strapping into the space shuttle to soar on rocket boosters into the great beyond. And while that dream never became a reality, I've never lost my fascination with space and seeing the images of shuttles launching and smoke billowing outwards and the rockets send the astronauts forth into the great unknown. And that's what this book captures. The close up details of shuttles launching, of the pieces that send the astronauts off into space. Unlike other books there are no pictures of the astronauts moving around or getting into the shuttle, instead this book is all about the equipment and the nonliving components of the journey.
Many of the photographs in this book are breathtaking and beautiful of the shuttle as it goes on it's journey. It makes you think and remember the times that you've watched the shuttle launch. Of the stories it has to tell. My one complaint about the book is that there need to be more photographs. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars.
Like many out there I've long been fascinated by space and space travel. I once dreamed of becoming an astronaut and strapping into the space shuttle to soar on rocket boosters into the great beyond. And while that dream never became a reality, I've never lost my fascination with space and seeing the images of shuttles launching and smoke billowing outwards and the rockets send the astronauts forth into the great unknown. And that's what this book captures. The close up details of shuttles launching, of the pieces that send the astronauts off into space. Unlike other books there are no pictures of the astronauts moving around or getting into the shuttle, instead this book is all about the equipment and the nonliving components of the journey.
Many of the photographs in this book are breathtaking and beautiful of the shuttle as it goes on it's journey. It makes you think and remember the times that you've watched the shuttle launch. Of the stories it has to tell. My one complaint about the book is that there need to be more photographs. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars.
February 8, 2014
Exploration of the universe around us has always fascinated me. We know so little about the world out there. The author introduces the topic by explaining his personal history with launches -- his parents waking him up to view the Apollo 11 launch and conversations with his son during camping trips. It gives us a look at the personal investment of the author as well as revisiting the history of launches. It ends with a recap of how the photos were taken as well, which was interesting because most aren't manned during the photographs and are instead planned out beforehand, knowing what angles and sections they'll capture.
The photographs are breathtaking. The atmospheric pictures give a real feeling and environment to each launch. It sets a mood. There's the usual photos of the launches, of the smoke and fire that couples with them, to photos of the inter-workings of rockets and the calm before and after the launches. It really gives a whole story of each launch.
Reviewed this book for a free ecopy from NetGalley.
The photographs are breathtaking. The atmospheric pictures give a real feeling and environment to each launch. It sets a mood. There's the usual photos of the launches, of the smoke and fire that couples with them, to photos of the inter-workings of rockets and the calm before and after the launches. It really gives a whole story of each launch.
Reviewed this book for a free ecopy from NetGalley.
July 2, 2016
if there is anything that summons for me such almost religious wonder, it is the human drive to explore Space, and it is forever captured in photographic record. this suggests to me, not engineer or scientist, that the arts have some role in these projects. when we go to Mars, do we want to go in someone's garage, or do we want to go in some version of 2001: a space odyssey? is art in these missions not only a full expression of our being human, but also as necessary to health as the oxygen we will breathe? meditate on this while you look at these photos. this is the true human art...
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February 9, 2014
Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand
-Neil Armstrong
July 16,1969 was the day Apollo 11 was launched and headed for the moon. The Last Launch is about the history of space exploration and the last three ships launched into space. Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.
I grew up in Houston, Nasa Headquaters, so this reminds me of all the trips I made as a kid to Space Center Houston. I recently visited the center with my daughter and much has changed from when I was a child. This book brought back many memories and one can learn a lot from space exploration.
-Neil Armstrong
July 16,1969 was the day Apollo 11 was launched and headed for the moon. The Last Launch is about the history of space exploration and the last three ships launched into space. Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.
I grew up in Houston, Nasa Headquaters, so this reminds me of all the trips I made as a kid to Space Center Houston. I recently visited the center with my daughter and much has changed from when I was a child. This book brought back many memories and one can learn a lot from space exploration.
September 8, 2016
Great photography book for people who are fascinated by science, astronomy, and NASA. With stunning photographs that give you an up close and personal look at the last launches Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis. If you're anything like me and are a space nerd then you would love this!
December 15, 2012
mostly the history of all the launches by NASA
March 5, 2014
As someone who loves to take pictures and a lover of picture looking this book was very well done. My teenage son who is into science moved the read and pictures.
September 24, 2016
Outstanding photography of the last Space Shuttle launches.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews