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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Applied physics & special topics > Astrophysics
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Wings In Orbit - Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle (Paperback)
Loot Price: R895
Discovery Miles 8 950
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Wings In Orbit - Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle (Paperback)
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Total price: R905
Discovery Miles: 9 050
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This publication "Authoritatively documents the many
accomplishments of NASA's Space Shuttle Program from its origins to
the present. Beginning with a Foreword by astronauts John Young and
Robert Crippen, this compelling book provides clear, accurate, and
authentic accounts from NASA's best subject matter experts,
including aerospace engineers who worked with the shuttle program,
and leading experts from the science and academic communities. The
book captures the passion of those who devoted their energies to
the program's success for more than three decades. It focuses on
their science and engineering accomplishments, the rich history of
the program, and the shuttle as an icon in U.S. history. Its
comprehensive overview of the shuttle and its accomplishments,
combined with its lucid prose, makes Wings in Orbit a unique
resource for anyone interested in the history and achievements of
American space exploration." The first great age of space
exploration culminated with the historic lunar landing in July
1969. Following that achievement, the space policymakers looked
back to the history of aviation as a model for the future of space
travel. The Space Shuttle was conceived as a way to exploit the
resources of the new frontier. Using an aviation analogy, the
shuttle would be the Douglas DC-3 of space. That aircraft is
generally considered to be the first commercially successful air
transport. The shuttle was to be the first commercially successful
space transport. This impossible leap was not realized, an
unrealistic goal that appears patently obvious in retrospect, yet
it haunts the history of the shuttle to this day. Much of the
criticism of the shuttle originates from this overhyped initial
concept. In fact, the perceived relationship between the history of
aviation and the promise of space travel continues to motivate
space policymakers. In some ways, the analogy that compares space
with aviation can be very illustrative. If the first crewed
spacecraft of 1961 are accurately the analog of the Wright
brothers' first aircraft, the Apollo spacecraft of 1968 should
properly be compared with the Wright brothers' 1909 "Model B"-their
first commercial sale. The "B" was the product of 6 years of
tinkering, experimentation, and adjustments, but were only two
major iterations of aircraft design. In much the same way, Apollo
was the technological inheritor of two iterations of spacecraft
design in 7 years. The Space Shuttle of 1981-coming 20 years after
the first spaceflights-could be compared with the aircraft of the
mid-1920s. In fact, there is a good analogy in the history of
aviation: the Ford Tri-Motor of 1928. But here the aviation analogy
breaks down. In aviation history, advances are made not just
because of the passage of calendar time but because there are
hundreds of different aircraft designs with thousands of
incremental technology advances tested in flight between the "B"
and the Tri-Motor. Even so, the aviation equivalent compression of
decades of technological advance does not do justice to the huge
technological leap from expendable rockets and capsules to a
reusable, winged, hypersonic, cargo-carrying spacecraft. This was
accomplished with no intermediate steps. Viewed from that
perspective, the Space Shuttle is truly a wonder. No doubt the
shuttle is but one step of many on the road to the stars, but it
was a giant leap indeed. That is what this book is about: not what
might have been or what was impossibly promised, but what was
actually achieved and what was actually delivered. Viewed against
this background, the Space Shuttle was a tremendous engineering
achievement-a vehicle that enabled nearly routine and regular
access to space for hundreds of people, and a profoundly vital link
in scientific advancement. The vision of this book is to take a
clear-eyed look at what the shuttle accomplished and the shuttle's
legacy to the world. This book will serve as an excellent reference
for building future space vehicles.
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