History of the Space Shuttle, Volume 2: Development of the Space Shuttle, 1972-1981

by T.A. Heppenheimer

Basing his work on virtually untapped NASA archives, T. A. Heppenheimer has produced the second volume of his definitive history of the space shuttle. Volume Two traces the development of the shuttle through a decade of engineering setbacks and breakthroughs, program-management challenges, and political strategizing, culminating in the first launch in April 1981. The focus is on the engineering challenges—propulsion, thermal protection, electronics, onboard systems—and the author covers in depth the alternative vehicles developed by the U.S. Air Force and European countries. The first launch entailed a monumental amount of planning and preparation that Heppenheimer explains in detail.

Genres: History

480 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Thomas A. Heppenheimer (January 1, 1947 – September 9, 2015) holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has held research fellowships in planetary science at California Institute of Technology and at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany.

He has been a freelance writer since 1978. He has written extensively on aerospace, business and government, and the history of technology. He is a frequent contributor to American Heritage and its affiliated publications, and to Air & Space. He has also written for the National Academy of Sciences, and contributed regularly to Mosaic of the National Science Foundation. He has written some 300 published articles for more than two dozen publications.

Reviews

[Jer Wilcoxen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustive history of the space shuttle program, from the politics to the engineering. Heavy on the substance, light on the style. There's no better compendium for details on the processes that created the space shuttle program, though their may be a few less boringly written. Having said that, a must read for anyone deeply interested in the space shuttles.