Rare photography and stunning artworks illustrate the history of NASA’s Space Shuttle program from 1981 to 2011, providing an unprecedented look at the missions, equipment, and astronauts.

Full color publication. This document has been produced and updated over a 21-year period. It is intended to be a handy reference document, basically one page per flight, and care has been exercised to make it as error-free as possible. This document is basically "as flown" data and has been compiled from many sources including flight logs, flight rules, flight anomaly logs, mod flight descent summary, post flight analysis of mps propellants, FDRD, FRD, SODB, and the MER shuttle flight data and inflight anomaly list. Orbit distance traveled is taken from the PAO mission statistics.

Get a full retrospective of all 134 flights, every mission, of the space shuttle program. This superbly designed and lavishly illustrated reissue of the best-selling hardcover book marks a special moment in history: the final mission of the space shuttle. Noted space and science author Piers Bizony's retrospective covers the entire space shuttle program that began in 1981 and ended in 2011. Every space shuttle mission is detailed, including all flights of the Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour spacecraft. The book also covers the development and design of the orbiter, as well as the technical specifications of the vehicle and details of its major assemblies and subassemblies. A full double-gatefold provides a large-scale technical drawing of the space shuttle. If you never got to watch the countdown clock in person during a space shuttle launch, The Space Shuttle is your chance to relive the history of America's first low Earth orbital spacecraft.

Explains how the space shuttle works and describes a shuttle trip from lift-off to touchdown.

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT-- OVERSTOCK SALE -Significantly reduced list price The Space Shuttle fleet set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions, from its first on April 12, 1981, to its last, on July 21, 2011. Beginning with the orbiter Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Shuttle has carried people into orbit; launched, recovered, and repaired satellites; conducted cutting-edge research; and helped build the largest human made structure in space, the International Space Station. Replete with images and facts of each mission and crew, this book is a tribute to everything accomplished during the 30 years of operation of the Space Shuttle program that defined NASA for an entire generation. Other related products: NASA Historical Data Book, V. 7: NASA Launch Systems, Space Transportation/Human Spaceflight, and Space Science can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01309-4 Revolutionary Atmosphere: The Story of the Altitude Wind Tunnel and the Space Power Chambers can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01342-6 Leadership in Space: Selected Speeches of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, May 2005-October 2008 can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01314-1 Our Changing Atmosphere: Discoveries From EOS Aura (Booklet) can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01345-1 Dressing for Altitude: U.S. Aviation Pressure Suits, Wiley Post to Space Shuttle --ePub format-- can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/999-000-44444-5 Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle 1971-2010 --Hardcover format can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01347-7 --MOBI format can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-300-00008-5 --ePub format can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-300-00007-7 and here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/999-000-44444-2 Other products produced by NASA can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/550

The space shuttle is a unique national resource. One of only two operating vehicles that carries humans into space, the space shuttle functions as a scientific laboratory and as a base for construction, repair, and salvage missions in low Earth orbit. It is also a heavy-lift launch vehicle (able to deliver more than 18,000 kg of payload to low Earth orbit) and the only current means of returning large payloads to Earth. Designed in the 1970s, the shuttle has frequently been upgraded to improve safety, cut operational costs, and add capability. Additional upgrades have been proposed-and some are under way-to combat obsolescence, further reduce operational costs, improve safety, and increase the ability of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support the space station and other missions. In May 1998, NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to examine the agency's plans for further upgrades to the space shuttle system. The NRC was asked to assess NASA's method for evaluating and selecting upgrades and to conduct a top-level technical assessment of proposed upgrades.