Space Shuttle Columbia: Her Missions and Crews (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)

If you want a definitive summary of the missions, crew and experiments undertaken by Columbia, this is a good reference to have. The trouble is that, after describing the excitement of the first flight, and the other milestones, it becomes a long list of one mission after the other. I doubt that the book could have ended up any other way, but it's not necessarily interesting reading after a while. What's also surprising to this reviewer is that the choice of photographs seems restricted. Many crews get their standard group shot floating in one of the shuttle's equipment bays or in Spacelab, but once again they are essentially the same picture. It may will be that the options available to the photographers in the confines of the spacecraft are restricted. What do work well are the opening chapters, particularly the context of John Young's enthusiasm for the announcement of the shuttle programme, and the closing chapters on Columbia's final mission and the subsequent investigation. In these, there are poignant descriptions that I've not read elsewhere, that bring home the enormity of what happened. To imagine being at KSC, awaiting its return, and slowly to realize that the sonic boom is missing, that the speck on the horizon in missing, and that the clock has passed the touch-down time, is ably supported by the narrative. To this reviewer, the book also brings home the sheer difficulty and dangers of regularly launching this spacecraft - something that we forget at our peril - and the successes that NASA and the United States have had in this 25-year programme. Having all this information, presumably availailable in each missions report, in one volume is useful. On February 1st 2003, one of the worst and most public disasters ever witnessed in the human space programme unfolded with horrifying suddenness in the skies above north central Texas. The Space Shuttle Columbia – the world's first truly reusable manned spacecraft – was lost during her return to Earth, along with a crew of seven. It was an event that, after the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger during a launch 17 years before, the world had hoped it would never see again. This book details each of Columbia's 28 missions in turn, as told by scientists and researchers who developed and supported her many payloads, by the engineers who worked on her and by the astronauts who flew her. In doing so, it is intended to provide a fitting tribute to this most remarkable flying machine and those who perished on her last mission. On February 1 st 2003, one of the worst and most public disasters ever witnessed in the human space programme unfolded with horrifying suddenness in the skies above north central Texas. The Space Shuttle Columbia the worlds first truly reusable manned spacecraft was lost during her return to Earth, along with a crew of seven. It was an event that, after the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger during a launch 17 years before, the world had hoped it would never see again. This book details each of Columbias 28 missions in turn, as told by scientists and researchers who developed and supported her many payloads, by the engineers who worked on her and by the astronauts who flew her. In doing so, it is intended to provide a fitting tribute to this most remarkable flying machine and those who perished on her last mission. "Space Shuttle Columbia is the first book to tell the story of the most successful spacecraft ever developed. The world's first truly reusable spacecraft entered service in 1981, and completed 28 missions before the devastating event of 1 February 2003 when Columbia and her seven-person crew were lost during her return to Earth. Containing many unique photographs from the various missions, Space Shuttle Columbia - Her Missions and Crews is a fitting tribute to both this remarkable machine and those who flew in her."--Jacket Space Shuttle Columbia tells the story of the most successful spacecraft ever developed. The world's first truly reusable spacecraft entered service in 1981, and completed 28 missions before the devastating event of 1 February 2003 when Columbia and her seven-person crew were lost during her return to Earth. The book looks at each of Columbia's 28 missions and is a fitting tribute to both this remarkable machine and those who flew in her