Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew (New Series in NASA History) [Hardcover]

Henry S.F. Cooper Jr. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Cooper, who covers the space program for the New Yorker , offers an engaging account of crew training for a 1984 Space Shuttle launching. The book illuminates the world of "sims"the endless computerized simulations that crews endure to learn their complex task. Writing with wit, sensitivity, and intelligence, Cooper conveys the bond that develops among the crew members and between crew and instructors. His vivid account is poignant in the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger explosion, but it captures the exuberance that existed before that disaster. Highly recommended. Thomas J. Freiling, Bainbridge Coll. Lib. , Ga.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The making of a space crew—a fascinating story masterfully told.

(Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut 2006)

Written in a journalistic style without scholarly apparatus, it is an excellent first person account of the 1984 mission of STS-41G

(Roger D. Launius Space Times )

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; First edition. edition (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801835240
• ISBN-13: 978-0801835247
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,595,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book gave me purpose, August 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

Before Lift-Off is a wonderfully detailed look at the entire process that a Space Shuttle crew goes through in preparing for a mission, from selection, through all their training, and on to the flight itself. You get a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes, and you get a glimpse of just how much work goes into it, not just from the astronauts, but from the thousands of people in the background. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to work in the space industry, or just dreams of being an astronaut.

I read this book for the first time in probably 1988 for a junior high assignment, and it was an epiphany. I knew what I wanted to do with my life - train astronauts. And lo and behold, from 1996 through 2000, I did, and it was as amazing (and as much hard work) as the book described.

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than The Right Stuff, here's the Real Stuff!, April 3, 2011

By 

Victor R. Volkman "http://www.LovingHealing.com" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff set the bar for third-person Astronaut biography way back in the Mercury Era and perhaps only Andrew Chaikin A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts ever exceeded that bar in the Apollo Era. Cooper has created a worthy successor for the Shuttle Era in "Before Lift-Off".

Unlike the heady era of the 1950s, the Shuttle astronauts of the 1980s and 1990s were NOT about booze, fast cars, and faster women. These guys were nose-to-the-grindstone, 12-hour workdays for a year leading up to a 7 to 10 day mission. How does that get done? Back in the Apollo days, there was a lot of classroom time, vendor visits, and a certain amount of simulation ("sim") time in what one astronaut christened "The Great Train Wreck", a collection of boxes wired together.

Journalist Cooper had full behind-the-scenes access in the simulators, watching the trainers train the astronauts in various length simulations from the "10 minute ride" to orbit down to the final 3-day integrated testing with a full mission control team. Better than this is the inside look at the steely-eyed leader Bob Crippen, veteran arm handler Dr. Sally Ride, and Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau. Add in a couple of exciting firsts: First 7 person crew, first crew with two women, first re-fueling of an object in orbit, and its not just a workaday mission, it's history in the making.

Written just months before the Challenger disaster, it is a sobering account of "Go Fever" as schedules ricochet out of control in a desperate bid to obsolete the working unmanned satellite launch system that had already been proven for 30 years with the Altas, Delta, and other systems.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent reading, October 19, 2000

By 

"maxinepeck" (Plainsboro, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

This book allows the reader to trail along the astronauts & their instructors during training, and it also lets the reader get to know the people involved. It's a wonderful adventure with the crew of 41G!