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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Basing his work on virtually untapped NASA archives, T.A. Heppenheimer has produced the first two volumes of a definitive three-volume history of the space shuttle. Volume 2 traces the development of the shuttle through a decade of engineering setbacks and breakthroughs, program-management challenges, and political strategizing, culminating in the first launch in April 1981. The focus is on the engineering challenges - propulsion, thermal protection, electronics, onboard systems - and the author covers in depth the alternative vehicles developed by the U.S. Air Force and European countries. The first launch entailed a monumental amount of planning and preparation that Heppenheimer explains in detail.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

-Contents.

-List of Illustrations.

-List of tables.

-Acknowledgments.

-Prologue.

-Abbreviations and Acronyms.

-1. Launching the Progrm.

-NASA Fight for Its Budget.
-Congress and the General Accounting Office.
-Trimming the Weight, Farming Out the Work.
-Managing the Program.

-2. The Expanding World of the Shuttle.

-Europe's Background in Space.
-Europe and the Shuttle.
-Spacelab, Ariane, and ESA.
-The External Tank.
-The Solid Rocket Boosters.
-The Air Force and the Shuttle.

-3. Odyssey of the Enterprise.

-The Shuttle Orbiter as a Glider.
-Choosing the Carrier Aircraft.
-Construction, Roll-Out, Prelude to Flight.
-First Flights.
-The Shuttle Takes Wing.
-The Odyssey Continues.

-4. Propulsion I: The Space Shuttle Main Engine.

-Starting the Project.
-Starting the Engine.
-The Fuel Turbopump.
-The Oxygen Turbopump and Fuel Turbine Blades.
-The Need for Testing.
-Preludes to Flight.

-5. Propulsion II: SRB, ET, OMS, RCS, APU.

-The Solid Rocket Booster.
-Development and Test: The View from Thiokol.
-The External Tank.
-Storable Propellants and On-Orbit Maneuvering.
-Auxiliary Power Units.

-6. Thermal Protection.

-Early Developments.
-Protecting the Shuttle.
-Test and Development.
-The Shuttle Comes Unglued.

-7. The Orbiting Airplane.

-Aerodynamics and Structures.
-Fuel Cells for Power.
-Environmental Control and Life Support.
-Auxiliaries: Landing Gear, Remote Manipulator, Space Suits.
-Safety and the Shuttle.

-8. The Electronic Shuttle

-Defining the Requirements.
-The On-Board Computers.
-Software.
-Avionics.
-The Launch Processing System.

9. The Program Struggles.

-Schedule, Performance, and Cost.
-Shuttle Upper Stages.
-Budget and Management.
-Carter and the Shuttle.
-The Space Telescope.
-A Tale of Two Cities.

10. Preparation for Flight.

-Kennedy Space Center.
-Defining the Missions.
-Astronauts for the Shuttle.
-Into the Countdown.

-Coda: The Working Shuttle.

-Notes.

-Bibliography.

-Index.