Customer Reviews

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

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At a fundamental level, this book is a basic history of the development of the Space Shuttle between the point of approval in 1972 and first flight in 1981. But it is also the story of how a creature of compromise designed by various political entities in Washington each with their own priorities and prerogatives, came to fruition. The story of developing this unique vehicle is ably told in Heppenheimer's book and should be a topic of both considerable significance and public interest in the post-"Columbia" accident era as this nation's political leaders make decisions about how to proceed--or perhaps not to proceed--with human spaceflight in the twenty-first century.

Heppenheimer does not argue an overarching thesis in this work; instead he provides a very helpful synthesis of the development of the shuttle. As such, this book should appeal to a general rather than a strictly engineering audience. Specifically, this work is akin to earlier works on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo and as such should become something of a basic reference in the history of American space flight efforts.

I should also say something about the nature of the historiography concerning the Space Shuttle, and the place of this book in it. There are no satisfactory general histories of the Space Shuttle program. By far, the best work to appear on the technical history of the Space Shuttle is by Dennis R. Jenkins. But that is a narrowly technical history that pays virtually no attention to the political, economic, and managerial aspects of the development effort. It also does not pretend to be a history in the sense that Jenkins uses primary documents and seeks to draw connections to larger issues. It is also, in essence, another large format illustrated history, but its illustrations are technical drawings.

As a result, Heppenheimer's Space Shuttle developmental history fills a major void in the historical literature, just as his book, "The Space Shuttle Decision," did upon its publication.

I have the same problem with this volume that I had with Volume 1 ... there is very little new information presented in it that was not covered better in Dennis Jenkins' "Space Shuttle" and it is not nearly as well illustrated. There is also the issue of having to purchase two volumes of the Heppenheimer work - it is all in a single volume in Jenkins' tome. I assume that the Smithsonian will eventually issue a Volume 3 that will cover the last third of the Jenkins history - the actual missions flown by shuttle.

Like Volume 1, there is a little new information, and the text is probably a little more readable but also less tehnical. Again, Heppenheimer reaches a few different conclusions than Jenkins, but from other sources I have read Jenkins was usually closer to correct.

If you already own Volume 1 and/or Jenkins, or just want every available piece of information on the Space Shuttle, then this volume makes a good companion piece. Otherwise, there are better ways to spend your money.

I'm an aero engineer, so I found the technical details excellent. The view points of the budgets, politics, and interplay with world events were also great. The debates and decisions in the early 70's of what to do after Apollo are very similar to our national debates in 2011 about NLS, Constellation, etc. Highly recommend.