Customer Reviews

Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years -- The Astronauts' Experiences in Their Own Words

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
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Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years is the best book on the shuttle program yet. Yes, it has beautiful [and in some cases, unpublished] photos. Yes, it has all the details you need to know to follow a shuttle mission from training to landing. But the best part of this book is that it contains the shuttle experience in the words of the astronauts themselves! The book contains paragraph to essay length quotes from the shuttle astronauts organized into different chapters each concerning a different aspect of a shuttle mission. This book is a cousin to the beautiful and now out-of-print The Home Planet [1988], although the quotes in that book were never longer than a paragraph. To top it off, Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years is published by DK Publishing, a company especially good at this type of book. Throw in a lower than normal price for a coffee table-style book and you can't miss. I highly recommend this book.

It may seem strange that one author who has written a Space Shuttle book is recommending another book on the same subject, but this is one of the most beautifully presented books I have ever seen. It tells the story from an entirely different perspective than mine, and I am very happy that Tony Reichhardt and the Smithsonian have produced such a wonderful tribute to the program. I highly recommend this work.

With the words of those who have flown the Space Shuttle over the past 20 years, and stunning NASA photography, the reader is taken on a litterary flight to orbit. Not a dry technical account of stats and flight info, but the actual experiences of the 70+ astronauts that lead the reader from training, launch, on-orbit, visits to MIR and the International Space Station, reentry and landing. The editorial staff of Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine have joined the league of authors/ astronauts Michael Collins and Jim Lovell and historian Andrew Chakin for their ability allowing readers to take flight through the pages of their books.

Opening this book took me back to that Sunday morning back in 1981 when as a space addicted 16 year old I watched the television in amazement as STS 1 took to the skies for the first time. The book provides a wonderful walk through all that has happened in the two decades that followed. The short remarks of so many who have flown on the shuttle provide remarkably vivid insights into what most of us can only dream of experiencing. A terrific selection of photographs makes this a must have for any fan, young or old, of the space shuttle program.

If you are interested in the space program, this book is a must have. I got it for a birthday gift and really treasured it. I think most people will enjoy the narratives given by the astronauts about what goes on behind the scenes. It offers a rich in-depth perspective from the astronaut's point of view.

The photography is superior.

Well worth buying. I can't say enough good things about it.

I purchased this the day that the Columbia was lost. I needed to have some help dealing with the loss. I have been interested in the Space program since the 70's. I was born the day before Apollo 11 took of for the moon.

The stories in this book are excellent, the photographs, amazing. If you want or need a memento of the Shuttle, this is the book to buy.

I think there are three broad types of books on space programs. The pasted together by who-knows-who sadly disappointing ones. The fine works that illuminate some aspect of the space program with technical quality or historical insight or somesuch. And then there are those few books that bring together the history and the machines and the people with the words of those who were there, awesome drool-on-the-page photos, and the love of a quality craftsman. This is of course the latter. All written by the astronauts. Includes notes on every mission. Well worth the money.

i wont have a bad word said about it. some of the photos in this book are really inspiring.
if it wasn't for the love i have for it i would say that it should be thrown with considerable force at anybody who is, after two decades of such ground breaking work, still in doubt about the worth of the shuttle.
just a word or two on the title - '...the first 20 years'. theres a review just down a bit which suggests that it should be the '..most recent 20 yrs' as the book is all about the two decades between 1981 and 2001. i would like to offer that the shuttle programme is only 23yrs old so the 'first' 20yrs IS the 'most recent' 20yrs.
also, i am delighted to read that someone else gets confused when a story told turns out NOT to be related to the picture beside. don't get me wrong, i think it was a good decision to match up the stories with photos which are in some way relevant but i think that its actually done so seamlessly that i tend to think that they are two of the same and end up disappointed and slightly confused when i realise that they aren't.
before i read this book (and reading the expressions on the faces of the astronauts is definately included), an astronaut was no more than the holder of the most amazing profession there is. now they're all people, who have fought so hard and so long to earn a place at the forefront of humanity. i'm so glad that someone finally decided to tell their story.
really very impressed and somewhat bewitched.

This book gives you KNOWLEADGE with great photo and captions with all!!

Just order this book to find out what I am talking about!!!

This book includes wonderful photography of the shuttle and space and earth as seen from the shuttle. It also has short little snippets from the astronauts about their experiences. These range from the mundane to the humorous to the inspirational.