A Baker’s Dozen of Important Books
on the History of the Space Shuttle

1. Cooper, Henry S. F. Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. This book presents a fine discussion of the selection and training of crews for individual Shuttle missions. Written in a journalistic style without scholarly apparatus, it is an excellent first-person account of the 1984 mission of STS-41G.

2. Grey, Jerry. Enterprise. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1979. This is a popularly written book on the decision, development, and test of the early Space Shuttle, the Orbiter 101, named for the Star Trek craft Enterprise. Written for a popular market, it is a fast-moving story emphasizing anecdotes, without scholarly apparatus.

3. Harland, David M. The Space Shuttle: Roles, Missions and Accomplishments. Chicester, England: Wiley-Praxis, 1998. One of the more sophisticated histories of the Space Shuttle to appear.

4. Heppenheimer, T. A. The Space Shuttle Decision: NASA’s Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle. Washington, DC: NASA SP-4221, 1999. A full-length, scholarly history of the decision to develop the Space Shuttle.

5. Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System, the First 100 Missions. North Branch, MN: Speciality Press, 2001, 3rd Edition. By far the best technical history of the Space Shuttle, presenting an overview of the vehicle’s development and use.

6. Joels, Kerry Mark, and Greg Kennedy. Space Shuttle Operator’s Manual. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986 edition. One of the better popularly oriented illustrated histories, this work also describes the origins and development of the Space Shuttle.

7. Lewis, Richard S. The Last Voyage of Challenger. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. In a follow-on to his Voyages of Columbia, this book presents, in a large-size format with many illustrations, the story of the tragic loss of Challenger in 1986.

8. —. The Voyages of Columbia: The First True Spaceship. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. Taking as its theme the idea that the Shuttle is the first true spaceship—it can be reused and makes access to space more routine—this combination scholarly/popular book is a good rendition of the development and use of the Columbia orbiter. A large-format, well-written book, this work has numerous photographs and illustrations, as well as scholarly notes. There is much discussion of development and testing, procedures for operations such as solid-rocket booster use and recovery, and a detailed account of each mission. Probably the best book of its type, its focus and theme are limited to a single orbiter and its role in the space program.

9. McConnell, Malcolm. Challenger: A Major Malfunction. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1987. This book is one of several exposés of NASA’s Shuttle development and operations management that appeared following the Challenger accident.

10. Smith, Melvyn. An Illustrated History of the Space Shuttle. Sommerset, England: Haynes Pub. Group, 1985. This large-sized picture book is oriented toward satisfying the popular market. Almost half of it is concerned with earlier high-speed, high-altitude flight as a means of paving the way for the Shuttle. It recites and publishes photographs of early aircraft such as the X-1, the X-15, and lifting body studies before going into a discussion of the Shuttle. This discussion focuses on the technological development of the orbiter, especially the test and evaluation. A chapter is then devoted to each of the Shuttle orbiters built, dealing with their procurement, construction, test and evaluation, and mission performance. There is a useful set of appendices discussing each of the X-15, M2F2, HL-10, X-24, M2F3, and Shuttle flights. There are no references.

11. Stockton, William, and John Noble Wilford. Spaceliner: Report on Columbia’s Voyage into Tomorrow. New York: Times Books, 1981. This is a popular discussion of the development and flight of the first Shuttle mission, Columbia, in 1981. It is heavy on fast-paced narrative and anecdotes and light on documentation. It keeps the human element of the story in the forefront, and while there is some discussion of technological developments, those are certainly subservient to the good story the authors try to tell.

12. Trento, Joseph J., with reporting and editing by Susan B. Trento. Prescription for Disaster: From the Glory of Apollo to the Betrayal of the Shuttle. New York: Crown Publishers, 1987. Not truly an investigation of the Challenger accident, this book is an in-depth review of the NASA management and R&D system, emphasizing the Agency’s “fall from grace” after the Apollo program.

13. Vaughan, Diane. The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. The first thorough scholarly study of the events leading to the fateful decision to launch Challenger in January 1986, this book uses sociological and communication theory to piece together the story of America’s worst disaster in spaceflight and to analyze the nature of risk in high technology enterprises.

Roger D. Launius
NASA History Office
3/20/01

Updated April 5, 2001
Steven J. Dick NASA Chief Historian
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
For further information, e-mail histinfo@hq.nasa.gov

Designed by Douglas Ortiz and edited by Lisa Jirousek
NASA Printing and Design