Toward a History of the 

Space Shuttle

An Annotated Bibliography

Compiled by

Roger D. Launius and Aaron K. Gillette

NASA History Office

Code JCH

NASA Headquarters

Washington, DC 20546

MONOGRAPHS IN AEROSPACE HISTORY

Number 1

December 1992

iii

PREFACE

Since the idea of a reusable rocket-plane was first seriously-studied by Eugen Sänger in the 1930s, the concept 

has exerted strong influence on the development of human spaceflight. In the United States, detailed proposals for a 

reusable space vehicle were developed as early as the 1950s, and several projects reached the design and test stage in the 

1960s. Initially, the Space Shuttle was envisioned as a fully reusable, commercial spaceplane. During the early 1970s, 

however, its development faced considerable obstacles, budgetary shortfalls, some congressional opposition, increasing 

public apathy, and design difficulties. What emerged was a smaller, semi-reusable vehicle, advertised as an economical 

and efficient means of space transport. Whether the Shuttle has fulfilled these goals is a topic of some controversy. Even 

so, the Space Shuttle has been the cornerstone of the U.S. space program, and the driving force behind much of the 

budget and programs of NASA for over two decades.

Throughout the long history of the Space Shuttle concept, numerous books, studies, reports, and articles have 

been written. This selective, annotated bibliography discusses those works judged to be most essential for researchers 

writing scholarly studies on the Space Shuttle's history. A thematic arrangement of material concerning the Shuttle will, 

it is hoped, bring clarity and simplicity to such a complex subject. Subjects include the precursors of the Shuttle, its 

design and development, testing and evaluation, and operations. Other topics revolve around the Challenger accident 

and its aftermath, promotion of the Shuttle, science on the Shuttle, commercial uses, the Shuttle's military implications, 

its astronaut crew, the Shuttle and international relations, the management of the Shuttle program, and juvenile literature. 

Along with a summary of the contents of each item, judgments have been made on the quality, originality, or importance 

of some of these publications. An index concludes this work.

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of those individuals who aided in the preparation of this 

bibliography. Lee D. Saegesser was instrumental in obtaining those documents listed below; J.D. Hunley edited and 

critiqued t he t ext; P atricia S hephard t yped t he m anuscript; t he s taffs o f t he N ASA H eadquarters Library and the 

Scientific and Technical Information Program provided assistance in locating bibliographical materials; and the NASA 

Headquarters Printing and Graphics Office developed the layout and handled printing.

This is th e f irst p ublication in a n ew s eries o f s pecial s tudies p repared b y th e N ASA H istory Office. The 

MONOGRAPHS IN AEROSPACE HISTORY series is designed to provide a wide variety of studies relative to the 

history of aeronautics and space. This series' publications are intended to be tightly focused in terms of subject, relatively 

short i n l ength, an d r eproduced i n an i nexpensive f ormat t o allow t imely an d b road dessimination to researchers in 

aerospace history. Suggestions for additional publications in the MONOGRAPHS IN AEROSPACE HISTORY series 

are welcome.

ROGER D. LAUNIUS

Chief Historian

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
iv
v 

TOWARD A HISTORY OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE

PREFACE

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS v 

CHAPTERS

1. General Works 1 

2. Precursors of the Shuttle 8 

3. The Shuttle Decision 12

4. Shuttle Design and Development 20

5. Space Shuttle Testing and Evaluation 29

6. Space Shuttle Operations 32

7. Challenger Accident and Aftermath 35

8. Shuttle Promotion 44

9. Science on the Shuttle, Potential and Actual 47 

10. Commercial Uses of the Shuttle 52

11. Shuttle and the Military 56

12. Shuttle Astronauts 60

13. The Shuttle in International Perspective 63

14. The Management and Funding of the Shuttle Program 66

15. Juvenile Literature 72
vi
1 

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL WORKS

Baker, D avid. " A S chedule f or t he S huttle." Spaceflight. 13 ( December 1971) : 454 -55. D escribes t he t imetable f or 

completion and flight of the Shuttle as it was understood in the early 1970s. It comments that the Shuttle should 

be flying operational missions by 1979, but Baker suggests that there was already a co ntingency plan being 

developed to push flight operations as far into the future as the 1981-1983 time period depending on NASA's 

funding.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, Part 1." Spaceflight. 15 (June 1973): 202-10. First in a series of articles 

dealing with the development of the Shuttle. It focuses on the technological development of the system through 

the proposed baseline for Phase B studies.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, North American Rockwell, Part 2." Spaceflight. 15 (July 1973): 264-68. 

Second in series of articles, this one reviews the studies in the late 1960s on the possibility of a fully-reusable 

Shuttle, emphasizing technological development.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, North American Rockwell, Part 3." Spaceflight. 15 ( September 1973): 

344-52. T he third Shuttle article in this series deals with the technological development of the external fuel 

tanks for the orbiter and the replacement of the piloted flyback booster with a ballistic booster arrangement.

Baker, D avid. " Evolution o f th e S pace S huttle, P art 4 ." Spaceflight. 18 ( September 1976) : 304 -38. W ritten to 

commemorate t he r oll-out o f t he O rbiter 1 01 p rototype, t his ar ticle r eviews t he m ajor d esign ch anges an d 

presents an evolutionary update of the Shuttle's technological development.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the S pace S huttle: 5 . A pproach an d L anding T est P rogramme." Spaceflight. 1 9 ( June 

1977): 213-17. As the subtitle suggests, this article describes the major developments in the test program for 

the Shuttle's reentry and landing phase.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 6. Free Flight Tests Begin." Spaceflight. 20 (January 1978): 21-28, 40. 

Describes the flight characteristics of the Shuttle tests then underway at the Dryden Flight Research Center in 

California.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 7. External Tank Design-1." Spaceflight. 20 (February 1978): 60-66. An 

article relating the basic development of the technology going into the external tank design.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 8. External Tank Design-2." Spaceflight. 20 ( March 1978): 110-15. A 

continuation of the above article.

Baker, D avid. Space Shut tle. N ew Y ork: C rown P ublishers, 1979. A popu larly-written w ork o n t he o rigins a nd 

development of the Shuttle. Heavily illustrated, it b ears a striking resemblance to the series of articles on the 

subject listed above. 

Bekey, I., and Mayer, H. "1980-2000: Raising Our Sights for Advanced Space Systems." Astronautics and Aeronautics. 

14 (July-August 1976): 34-64. This special section on the possible future of space travel has much to say about 

space s tations a nd f lights to M ars an d b eyond, b ut al so em phasizes t he d evelopment o f the Shuttle as the 

necessary first step in any ready access to space.

Champine, Gloria R. Langley's Space Shuttle Technology—A Bibliography. Hampton, VA: Langley Research Center, 

1981. A c ompilation of most of the major r esearch r eports, j ournal ar ticles, p resentations, an d co ntractor 
2 

reports written or published by the Langley Research Center staff or by its contractors. It covers a number of 

disciplines: aer othermodynamics, s tructures, d ynamics an d aer oelasticity, environment, a nd m aterials. 

Organized ch ronologically w ithin t hree m ajor cat egories—NASA formal reports, c ontractor r eports, a nd 

articles an d co nferences—the bibliography collects the material p roduced o nly th rough th e a uspices o f 

Langley. It is not annotated and there is no indication of any central location where all the listed items might be 

found. There are more than one thousand entries in this bibliography, most of them unpublished in the strict 

sense o f the t erm—reports an d t echnical p apers which might have b een d uplicated b ut n ot g enerally made 

available—and all of them highly technical.

Collins, M ichael. Liftoff: T he St ory of A merica's Adventure in Space. New Y ork: G rove Press, 1988. This book, a 

general history of t he U.S. s pace p rogram for a popular audience written by a former astronaut, has a fine 

discussion of the development and flight of the Space Shuttle. He sketches, in an easy to understand style, the 

design and engineering development of the system, difficulties overcome, and the operations of the Shuttle. 

The m ost v aluable p art is C ollins' a nalysis o f th e Challenger accident. It w as p artly a p ersonal acco unt, 

describing his predictions and reactions, and presenting a clear portrait of the technical problem that caused the 

disaster. He then comments on NASA as an organization and offers some insights on how to bounce back from 

the tragedy.

Cooper, Henry S.F. " A R eporter A t L arge: S huttle-I." The N ew Y orker. 9 F ebruary 1981, pp. 43 -105, passim. A 

sophisticated account of the development of the Shuttle, written with attention to detail, human involvement, 

and real style. It surveys the course taken by the space program that led to the building of the Shuttle. Cooper 

makes f requent co mparisons b etween t he S huttle an d ear ly s pacecraft lik e A pollo, n ot j ust th e s earch f or 

reusable systems ala Sänger.

Cooper, Henry S.F. "A Reporter At Large: Shuttle-II." The New Yorker. 16 February 1981, pp. 65-113, passim. Second 

in the Cooper series, follows on with continued discussion of the Shuttle and some speculation on what the 

Shuttle might mean for the world and future space programs.

Covault, Craig. "Columbia Ready for First Flight." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 6 A pril 1981, pp. 16-20. A 

description of the Shuttle, how it was developed, how it operates, and what promise it holds. This article was 

published at the time of the first launch.

Disher, John H. "Space Transportation: Reflections and Projections." in Durant, Frederick C., III, ed. Between Sputnik 

and the Shuttle: New Perspectives on American Astronautics. San Diego, CA: American Astronautical Society, 

1981. pp. 199-224. This article is part of a larger publication focusing on various aspects of the space program. 

A presentation by the director of Advanced Programs for NASA's Office of Space Transportation Systems at 

the AAS, it contains no notes or other scholarly apparatus. It does survey the methods of spaceflight for piloted 

missions since Mercury and describes some of the features of the Shuttle.

Dooling, Dave. " Shuttle Business and S pace P olicy," Astronautics & Aeronautics. 19 (September 1981): 9-15. This 

article is a good, short assessment of the Shuttle mission and how it affects the commercial and military worlds; 

it raises some policy questions concerning the NASA's role in the operational arena.

Embury, Barbara, with Crouch, Tom D. The Dream is Alive. New York: Harper and Row, 1991. This book is a printed 

version of the National Air and Space Museum's IMAX film by the same title. Using powerful illustrations and 

spare text, it deals with the potential of the Shuttle. 

Fletcher, James C. "Are SKYLAB and the Space Shuttle Worth the Investment?" Government Executive. January 1974. 

pp. 38 -40, 4 2. T his is a lo gical d efense o f b oth th e S huttle a nd S kylab p rograms w ritten b y the N ASA 

Administrator. H e j ustifies the S huttle on th e basis o f cost savings ($1 billion p er year for operations) and 

versatility, and its ability to serve as an excellent platform for scientific research, to mate humans and machines 
3 

in a r eliable an d m eaningful w ay, t o m ix s cientific an d p ractical ap plications, t o p rovide a s pace r escue 

capability, to be used for D epartment o f D efense p rojects, t o f oster aer ospace t echnology, t o f acilitate 

international cooperation, and to provide the key to U.S. supremacy in space. 

Forres, George. Space Shuttle: T he Q uest Continues. London: Ian Allen, 1989. I n what could only be considered a 

broad introduction to the Shuttle p rogram, th e a uthor d escribes th e r eassessment o f th e S huttle p rogram 

following the Challenger accident and its return to flight in September 1988. Designed for the buff market, it is 

well-illustrated but has no references.

Furniss, Tim. Space Shuttle Log. New York: Jane's, 1986. This is a decent general history of the Shuttle, promotional 

and heavily-illustrated in a large format.

 

Gatland, Kenneth W.; Hewish, Mark; and Wright, Pearce. The Space Shuttle Handbook. New York: Hamlyn, 1979. 

This is a short, heavily-illustrated work about the development and operation of the Shuttle, designed for the 

popular market. 

Hawkes, N igel. Space Shut tle. New York: Gloucester P ress, 1982. A short work us ing d rawings and diagrams, t his 

booklet describes the new era of space technology that began officially in 1981 with the maiden flight of the 

Shuttle Columbia, the first reusable spacecraft. 

Hawkes, Nigel. Space Shuttle: A New Era? New York: Gloucester Press, 1989. Rehashes Hawkes' 1982 publication but 

also discusses the evolution of the Shuttle program since first flight, including the Challenger accident. In this 

book the author, who had been a booster of the Shuttle program, takes a much more critical approach toward 

the effort and suggests that the Shuttle does not really provide easy access to space.

Henry, B everly Z ., a nd D ecker, J ohn P . " Future E arth Orbit T ransportation S ystems/Technology I mplications." 

Astronautics & Aeronautics. 14 (September 1976): 18-28. Sophisticated article on the potential of the Shuttle 

for space exploration.

Hosenball, S. Neil. "The Space Shuttle: Prologue or Postscript?" Journal of Space Law. 9 (Spring-Fall 1981): 69-75. 

This article treats the d evelopment o f t he S huttle as a m ethod f or eas y acces s t o s pace, f ocusing o n t he 

problems a nd p otential o f s pace c ommercialization, th e le gal issues of orbiting civilians, and associated 

questions. As might be expected, it is h eavy o n p olicy a nd le gal q uestions a nd s hort o n te chnological 

discussions.

Jenkins, Dennis R. Rockwell International Space Shuttle. Arlington, TX: Aerofax Inc., 1989. One of several popular 

books that present a n overview of the Shuttle and its development and use. It is a well-illustrated, 72 page 

book.

Joels, Kerry Mark, and Kennedy, Greg. Space Shuttle Operator's Manual. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982. One of 

the better promotional-oriented, illustrated histories, this book describes the origins and development of the 

Shuttle.

Johnson, Thomas H. "The Natural History of the Space Shuttle." Technology and Society. 10 (1988): 417-24. Describes 

the historical development of the Shuttle from its inception to the present day. Johnson argues that "scientific 

rationality," as evidenced in t he d esign o f t he s ystem, w as o verridden b y o ne p resident w ho i gnored 

professional advisors, and by a second president who overruled DOD's protest of the Shuttle's monopoly on 

launches. He notes that mixing explicit technical and economic goals with subjective criteria of politics and 

prestige established a p rogram in which shortcuts were common and the potential for failure downroad was 

probable. He notes that stress on competition promoted what he calls "irrational elements in decision making." 

In other words, Johnson maintains that cautious judgment and detailed analysis took a back seat to glamour and 
4 

national prestige in the development of the Shuttle.

"Just How Does the Shuttle Stack Up?" NASA Activities. 21 (November/December 1990): 8-10. Attempts to justify the 

Shuttle by comparing its performance in the 1980s with previous human space flight missions.

Kaplan, Marshall H. Space Shuttle: America's Wings to the Future. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishing, 1978. A popular 

treatment, with heavy reliance on photographs and a p ublic relations tone, that discusses the development of 

the Shuttle from a nontechnical perspective. The subtitle summarizes the thrust of the work; useful chiefly as an 

example of the public image of the space program.

Larmore, L ewis, an d G ervais, R .L. ed s. Space Shut tles and I nterplanetary Missions. T arzana, C A: A merican 

Astronautical Society, 1970. This lengthy publication is a collection of papers presented at an AAS meeting on 

the use of the Shuttle, then only on the drawing board, for flights to Mars and other planets. These discussions 

were highly speculative.

Light, Larry. "Space Shuttle Will Usher in N ew S paceflight E ra...Despite D elays, B udget C uts a nd C ontroversy." 

Congressional Quarterly. 37 (28 April 1979): 784-5. Reviews the congressional battle over funding for the 

Shuttle, and summarizes the Shuttle's expected military, scientific, and commercial uses.

Luxenberg, Barbara A. "Space Shuttle Issue Brief #IB73091." The Library of Congress Congressional Research Service 

Major Issues System. 7 July 1981. Describes the general development and mission of the Shuttle and provides 

commentary on issues o f i mportance i n t he p olitical ar ena o f t he p eriod, es pecially relating to o perational 

performance and costs.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Space Shuttle. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration SP407, 1976. This highly-illustrated, full-color booklet was written within NASA as a means of convincing the 

public of the a dvantages o f th e S huttle p rogram. I t d escribes th e S huttle s ystem a nd m ission p rofile, th e 

technology required, the benefits accrued from living and working in space, and the major components of the 

Shuttle. T he la st s ections d eal with the economic impact of the S huttle a nd th e f ield c enter p articipants. 

Although now 16 years old it is still a useful summary of the Shuttle and its capabilities and potential uses.

MacKnight, N igel. Shuttle. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1985. A heavily illustrated, popular book on the 

Shuttle.

MacKnight, Nigel. Shuttle 2. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1988. Revision of the 1985 e dition, with more 

illustrations and a commentary on the Challenger accident.

Mark, Hans. "The Impact of Our Enterprise in Space." Technology in Society. 1 (1979): 43-53. Broad-brush assessment 

of the nation's space program. Mark, a former top NASA official, pays special attention to the Shuttle program 

as the best effort the U.S. has for routine access to space. Once ready access is achieved, the door will be open 

for grand developments in science and the applications of science and technology in new areas, it argues.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. National Space Transportation System Reference. W ashington, DC: 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, June 1988. 2 Vols. Contains a wealth of information about the 

Shuttle. The first volume has material about systems and facilities and the second is about Shuttle operations.

National Aeronautics a nd Space Administration. National Space Transportation System Overview. Washington, DC: 

National Aeronautics a nd S pace A dministration, S eptember 1 988. B rief d escription o f th e o verall S huttle 

program, assessing the status of each major aspect of the effort and offering a soothing statement that problems 

were corrected after the Challenger accident and by 1988 the Shuttle program was running well.
5 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Space Shuttle News Reference. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, 1981. This is a l oose leaf reference source about the Shuttle designed for use by 

media. It has basic facts about all manner of subjects and approaches the topic with a characteristic public 

relations slant common to such types of material. 

National Commission on Space. Pioneering the Space Frontier: The Report of the National Commission on Space. New 

York: B antam B ooks, 1 986. P lays o n th e th eme o f th e pioneering spirit of America and sets forth the 

proposition that the nation will go into space, thus opening the next frontier. The book asks questions about 

how the U.S. will meet the challenge of space exploration in the next century, in the process developing an 

aggressive program for a space station and colonies on the Moon and eventually Mars. The centerpiece of this 

program, however, is the ability to reach space economically and routinely. In that environment a m ixture of 

expendable launch vehicles and the Shuttle are recommended. The commission urges the development of more 

efficient space transportation systems through technological research, especially fully reusable vehicles of all 

types. A chapter, "Highway to Space," deals specifically with the Shuttle and urges its continued development. 

It also recommends the development of a follow-on system, an aerospace plane that could take off and land like

an aircraft but reach orbit.

O'Neill, Ge rard K. The H igh F rontier: H uman C olonies i n Spac e. N ew Y ork: W illiam M orrow a nd C o., 1977. 

Speculates on what the universe and humanity will be like in the 21st century. A central part of the book is 

movement into space made possible by the Space Shuttle.

Oberg, James E. "Beyond the Space Shuttle." Astronomy. 4 (March 1976): 6-19. This article speculates on the potential 

for space exploration opened by the Shuttle. It discusses the possibilities of a space station and trips to the other 

planets.

Parkinson, R .C. " Earth-Moon T ransport O ptions i n t he S huttle a nd A dvanced S huttle E ra." Journal of B ritish 

Interplanetary Soc iety. 34 ( February 1 981). T his a rticle is a u seful d iscussion o f th e p otential o perational 

activities of the Shuttle in an environment in which access to space was assured, in which there was a space 

station, and in which there was a Moon base.

Pielke Jr., Roger A. "A Reappraisal of the Space Shuttle Program." Unpublished study conducted by the Center for 

Space and Geosciences Policy, University of Colorado. Copy in NASA History Office Reference Collection. 

Part 1 critiques the "conventional wisdom" concerning the Shuttle's development, that the Space Shuttle is a 

"policy failure" because NASA bowed to political pressure in designing a l ess costly but also less effective 

shuttle. It criticizes the "Apollo paradigm" that a clear goal and strong presidential commitment to a large space 

program is necessary for success. Rather, the article argues, the space program should adapt itself to the system 

of incremental politics that characterizes U.S. government. Using the level of federal commitment and program 

performance with respect to original expectations as the main criteria for success, Pielke concludes that the 

Shuttle program has performed poorly. Part II of Pielke's study attempts to identify the specific causes of the 

Shuttle's " poor p erformance." P ielke cl aims that th e p roblem s tems f rom N ASA's c ontrol o ver technical 

expertise in a stronautics, N ASA's f ixation o n th e Shuttle as a stepping-stone t o l arger p rograms, c hanging 

justifications for the Shuttle in order to please Congress and the Office of Management and Budget, pork-barrel 

politics, and NASA's expectation of non-accountability.

Powers, Robert M. Shuttle: The World's F irst Spaceship. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1979, 1980. A popular 

work written in the excited tones of the early Shuttle period, this book lays out the mission and direction of the 

program as it stood at the end of the 1970s. There is quite a lot of ballyhoo about what the Shuttle should be 

able t o acco mplish, " routine acces s t o s pace," an d w hat t hat w ould m ean f or t he world. There is a short 

bibliography at the end of the book.

Priestley, Lee. America's Space Shuttle. New York: J. Messner, 1978. Written for a p opular audience and containing 
6 

numerous illu strations, th is b ook d iscusses th e r eusable s pace tr ansportation s ystem from a routine a nd 

pedestrian perspective.

Rector, William F., III, and Penzo, Paul A., eds. Space Shuttle: Dawn of An Era. San Diego, CA: Univelt Inc., 1980. 

This is a collection of essays on the Shuttle's promise for routine access to space. It contains the proceedings of 

the 26th annual meeting of the American Astronautical Society.

Roland, Alex. " The S huttle: T riumph o r T urkey?" Discover. November 1985, pp. 14 -24. W ritten b y a c ritic o f th e 

Shuttle program, Roland argues that the Shuttle was sold as a p ractical and cost-effective way to gain routine 

access to space. It has not delivered. It is still in the spectacle stage and its much-touted capabilities have not 

been realized. It has made far fewer flights and conducted fewer scientific experiments than publicly predicted.

Salkeld, R obert, P atterson, D onald W ., an d G rey, J erry. Space Transportation Sy stems: 1980 -2000. Ne w Yo rk: 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1978. This s hort b ook d eals with the c oncept, 

development, building, and proposed use of the Space Shuttle. It has a section dealing with the origins of the 

reusable spacecraft concept and an assessment o f the u ses of the Shuttle. It also recommends t he vigorous 

pursuit of the goals of the Shuttle, largely because of the practical and economic benefits that will accrue.

Sharpless, J ack. The Earthbound Observer: A P ersonal Look at t he P eople of N ASA and the Spac e Shut tle Effort. 

Michigan City, IN: Sharpless Corp., 1983. This is an eclectic critique of the Shuttle program in 89 pages.

Smith, E.P. "Space Shuttle in Perspective—History in the Making." AIAA Paper 75-336. February 24-26, 1975, pp. 1-

13. This survey reviews four decades of space vehicle systems research and development leading up to the 

building o f th e S huttle. I t tr aces th e h ighlights o f th ose d evelopments le ading to a reusable orbiter from 

Wernher von Braun's winged A-4b and Eugen Sänger's antipodal bomber of the World War II era, through the 

X-series of test aircraft and rocket planes in the U.S. Smith pays special attention to the design studies and 

hardware programs of the 1950s and 1960s from which the Shuttle emerged. Finally, he recites the major steps 

in Shuttle review from its initial planning stage to the RDT&E process of the 1970s. This is a very informative, 

scholarly article.

Smith, Melvyn. An Illustrated History of the Space Shuttle. Sommerset, England: Haynes Pub. Group, 1985. This largesized picture book is oriented toward satisfying the popular market. Almost half of it is concerned with earlier 

high-speed, hi gh-altitude f light a s a m eans o f p aving th e w ay f or th e S huttle. I t r ecites a nd publishes 

photographs of early aircraft, such as the X-1, the X-15, and lifting body studies before going into a discussion 

of t he S huttle. T his d iscussion focuses o n t he t echnological development o f the o rbiter, es pecially test an d 

evaluation. A chapter is th en d evoted to e ach o f th e S huttle o rbiters b uilt, d ealing w ith th eir p rocurement, 

construction, test and evaluation, and mission performance. There is a helpful set of appendices discussing each 

of the X-15, M2F2, HL-10, X-24, M2F3, and Shuttle flights. There are no references.

Soffen, Gerald A. ed. Visions of Tomorrow: A Focus on National Space Transportation Issues. San Diego, CA: Univelt, 

1987. This contains the proceedings of the 25th Goddard Memorial Symposium held 18-20 March 1987 at the 

Goddard Space Flight C enter, G reenbelt, Mar yland, an d sponsored b y t he American Astronautical Society. 

There are several articles on what the future might hold for space transportation as well as practical areas of 

exploitation for the Shuttle.

Stine, G. Harry. Shuttle into Space: A Ride in America's Space Transportation System. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co., 

1978. This is an interesting account of the development and especially the promise offered by the Shuttle.

Stine, G. Harry. The Hopeful Future. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1983. In this book one of the leading "futurists" in 

the nation analyzes what humanity can accomplish in the twenty-first century. His emphasis is on science and 

technology, and he discusses at length the need to move outward into the solar system. He contends that many 
7 

of the world's present problems can be solved by the exploration, and in some instances exploitation, of space. 

Much of the species' reach for the planets hinges on the Shuttle and its ability to support a reasonably-priced 

and routine entry into space.

Thompson, R.F. The Space Shuttle: A Future Space Transportation System. Houston, TX: Johnson Space Center, 1974. 

Originally presented as an AIAA paper, this short work sets forth the primary objective of the Space Shuttle 

program as an attempt to achieve an economical means to reach space. It provides an introductory review of 

the considerations that led to NASA's d evelopment o f th e S huttle; d escribes th e h istorical c ontext f or th is 

discussion from the standpoint of general developments in transportation; and presents a review of the Shuttle 

system, mission profile, payload categories, and payload accommodations. It concludes with a f orecast of the 

system's use for space science research.

Torres, G eorge. Space Shut tle: A Q uantum Leap. N ovato, C A: P residio P ress, 1 987. D iscusses th e S huttle a nd th e 

technology th at it b rings to s pace f light. W ell-illustrated and packaged in a f ormat designed f or a p opular 

audience.

Torres, George. Space Shuttle: The Quest Continues. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1989. A revision of Torres' 1987 

publication on the Shuttle. Adds some additional detail and includes a section on the Challenger accident.

Turner, Sarah. "Maxime Faget and the Space Shuttle." NASA Activities. 21 (November/December 1990): 22. This short 

biography of Faget credits him with making major contributions toward developing the concepts and designs of 

every U.S. manned spacecraft from the Mercury program to the Space Shuttle.

"A W alk A round t he Space Shuttle." NASA A ctivities. 21 ( November/December 1990) : 16 -17. T his s hort a rticle 

provides a thumb-nail sketch of the main components of the Space Shuttle: the orbiter, engines, external tank, 

and solid rocket boosters.

Wilford, John Nobel. "Riding High." Wilson Quarterly. 4 (Autumn 1980): 56-70. Lead article in a special section of the 

space program. It details the recent history of the United States space program since the launch of Sputnik and 

the declaration of the space race by Kennedy. The author examines the interrelationships involved in funding, 

planning, and administration of the space program between Congress, NASA, and the DOD. He also examines 

highlights o f t he M ercury, G emini, a nd A pollo p rojects, as well as th e d evelopment o f a dministrative 

techniques for management. Wilford suggests that the 1970s was a d ecade of decline for interest in the space 

program but that with the development of the Shuttle this appears to be changing. The present effort, he says, 

seems to represent an important combination of military, commercial, and scientific interests that have not been 

present in the space program before.

Wilson, A ndrew. Space Shut tle St ory. N ew Y ork: H amlyn, 1986. L arge-format, illustrated h istory o f th e S huttle 

designed mostly for the popular market.

Yenne, Bill. Space Shuttle. New York: Gallery Books, 1989. Another illustrated history with excellent color photos and 

simple text.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 1—General Works
8 

CHAPTER 2

PRECURSORS OF THE SHUTTLE

Akridge, Max. "Space Shuttle." 8 January 1970. Document in the NASA History Office Reference Collection. Written 

by a m ember of the Marshall Space Flight Center's Space Shuttle Task Team, this monograph-length work, 

without footnotes, discusses the history of the Space Shuttle concept from 1950 through the Integral Launch 

and Reentry V ehicle S tudies ( Phase A ). I t ad dresses t he eco nomics, m arketability, co nceptualization, an d 

preliminary design of reusable launch vehicles as devised in various "Space Shuttle" studies.

"Ancestors o f the Space S huttle: T he X-15, Dyna-Soar, X-23 a nd X-24 P rograms." Space World: The Magazine of 

Space News. December 1978, pp. 4-14. Deliberately ties the Shuttle design to the hypersonic aircraft named in 

the title. Each aircraft is profiled in an encyclopedia format.

Becker, J ohn V . " The D evelopment o f W inged R eentry V ehicles, 1 952-1963." Unpublished study, 57 pp. Copy i n 

NASA History O ffice R eference C ollection. A n i nteresting d iscussion o f t he s earch f or a f ully r eusable 

spacecraft. 

Blaine, J .C.D. The End of an E ra i n Spac e E xploration. S an D iego, C A: A merican A stronautical S ociety, 1 976. 

Reviews earlier efforts to place men in space and has some discussion of the Shuttle program.

Bono, Philip. "The Rombus Concept." Astronautics & Aeronautics. January 1964, pp. 28-34. One of several articles in 

this issue devoted to the possibility of a reusable transportation system between the earth and the moon.

Bono, P hilip, a nd G atland, K enneth. Frontiers of Spac e. N ew Y ork: M acmillan P ub. C o., 1969. P rofiles efforts to 

explore space, as well as several proposed methods and objectives for future space activities including a lunar 

base and a s pace s tation. T here i s a l engthy d iscussion i n t he b ook o f t he S pace S huttle, as w ell as i ts 

precursors, emphasizing its reusable nature and how it would lower launch costs. There is also a commentary 

on the 1968 discussion of George Mueller, NASA's Manned Space Flight head, before the British 

Interplanetary Society about NASA's plans for a Space Shuttle. The commentary is oriented toward the fullyreusable concept, NASA's preference at that time. The narrative is especially interesting for its representation 

of what was thought about the Shuttle in 1969.

Ehricke, K.A., and D'Vincent, F. "The Nexus Concept." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 3 (January 1964): 18-26. One of 

several articles in this issue devoted to exploring the possibility of a reusable transportation system between the 

earth and the moon.

Hallion, Richard P ., e d. The H ypersonic R evolution: E ight C ase St udies i n t he H istory of H ypersonic T echnology. 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Aeronautical Systems Division Special Staff Office, 1987. 2 Vols. This 

two volume work contains studies of e ight hy personic R &D p rograms: t he X -15, t he X -20A D yna-Soar, 

winged r eentry ve hicles, ASSET, Project PRIME, the S cramjet, l ifting bodies, and t he Space S huttle. T his 

study w as don e t o pr ovide i nformation on t he e volution of h ypersonic t echnology t o program personnel 

working on the National Aero-space Plane (NASP). It places the Shuttle in the context of what has gone before 

and suggests that it is just one program in a continuum that led toward the present state of technology, the 

NASP. The studies in this two-volume set were written over a lengthy period from the 1960s to the present. 

Some w ere co mpleted b y A ir F orce h istorians as i nternal p ublications, w hile o thers w ere d one in NASA. 

Hallion pulled them together, and in many cases rewrote sections of them. It is a most detailed, academic, and 

useful presentation of information.

Hallion, Richard P. "Lifting Bodies: These 'Flying Fish' Were the Forebears of Today's Space Shuttle." Air & Space. 

March-April 1980, pp. 6-7. This short article, written by a leading historian of aeronautical technology, deals 
9 

with the study, testing and evaluation of lifting bodies during the 1950s and 1960s. With an acknowledgment 

extended to Eugen Sänger, Hallion briefly describes the development of such programs as Dyna-Soar and other 

experimental programs. It is oriented toward hardware, and emphasizes the holdings in the National Air and 

Space Museum of many of these various types of craft.

Hallion, Richard P. The Path to the Space Shuttle: The Evolution of Lifting Reentry Technology. Edwards AFB, CA: Air 

Force Flight Test Center History Office, 1983. An outstanding monograph by one of the leading historians of 

aviation technology, this study emphasizes the evolution of technology toward the development of a r eusable 

spacecraft. I t d escribes t he ev olution o f t he r eusable s pacecraft concept, emphasizing the w ork o f E ugen 

Sänger, lifting body studies, and the technological breakthroughs that allowed the Shuttle to be built.

Hallion, Richard P. "The Path to Space Shuttle: The Evolution of Lifting Reentry Technology." Journal of the British 

Interplanetary Society. 30 (December 1983): 523-41. This is a shortened version of Hallion's 1983 monograph 

by the same title. It describes and shows the evolution of the reusable spacecraft concept, emphasizing the work 

of Eugen Sänger, the lifting body studies, and the technological breakthroughs that allowed the Shuttle to be 

built. I t is a n e specially im portant a rticle b ecause it s hows h ow th e te chnological p roblems s olved in one 

program were incorporated into the beginnings of the next attempt. 

Hallion, Richard P. " The Space Shuttle's Family Tree." Air & Space. Ap ril-May 1991, pp. 44-46. T his short article, 

taken from Hallion's discussion of the early history o f the Shuttle p ublished in The Hypersonic Revolution, 

deals with hundreds of paper studies, experiments, and a handful of aircraft that actually flew and were the 

antecedents of the Shuttle. It traces the general design of the Shuttle from lifting body technology to the actual 

configuration that was built and launched in 1981.

Kocivar, Ben. "Flying NASA's X-24B Lifting Body." Popular Science. November 1973, pp. 87-91. Short but interesting

article on one of the precursors of the Shuttle in the 1960s.

Koelle, H.H., and Rutland, C.H. "Toward a Reusable Earth-Moon Transportation System." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 

3 (January 1964): 14-17. One of several articles in this issue devoted to exploring the possibility of a reusable 

transportation system between the earth and the moon. The others in the issue detail different concepts for such 

an effort.

Lore, Eugene S. "Manned Lifting Entry." Astronautics & Aeronautics. May 1966, pp. 54-64. This is a technical article 

on the potential of spacecraft that could be flown like an airplane. It identified many of the characteristics that 

were later incorporated into the Shuttle.

Moise, J.C., Henry, C.S., and Swanson, R.S. "The Astroplane Concept." Astronautics & Aeronautics. January 1964, pp. 

35-40. O ne of s everal articles in th is issue devoted to exploring the possibility of a reusable transportation 

system between the earth and the moon.

Office of Manned Space Flight. NASA's Manned Space Flight Program. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, 29 April 1969. Describes the efforts of NASA to place men in orbit and on the moon. It 

also d iscusses t he n ext phase o f m anned f light, t he d evelopment o f a reusable spacecraft for movement of 

people and supplies to and from orbit.

Peebles, C urtis. " On W ings I nto S pace." Spaceflight. 28 ( June 1986) : 276 -80. A r ather g eneral ar ticle o n t he 

development of the idea and then the technology for a reusable spacecraft. It has a lengthy discussion of 1930s 

and 1940s research in such aircraft as the X-1. There is also mention of the X-20A Dyna-Soar program, which 

had m any o f t he s ame as pirations as t he S huttle p rogram. F inally, there is a d iscussion of the lif ting b ody 

studies and the development of the Shuttle concept in the 1960s and 1970s.
10

Peebles, C urtis. "Project Bomi." Spaceflight. 22 (July-August 1980) : 270-72. Interesting story of a program by Bell 

Aircraft to b uild a reusable spacecraft. This project tried to develop a booster that could lift a Shuttle-type 

orbiter into space. It was undertaken in the 1950s but abandoned by Bell because it could not undertake an 

R&D effort of this magnitude without government sponsorship; the company withdrew to concentrate on more 

immediately commercial prospects.

Peebles, Curtis. "The Origins of the U.S. Space Shuttle-1." Spaceflight. 21 (November 1979): 435-42. The first of two 

articles, this one discusses some of the early s cientific work o n reusable spacecraft, es pecially the work of 

Eugen Sänger. There is also a lengthy description of Project Bomi, the Bell Aircraft Co. program to develop a 

large delta-winged reusable spacecraft during the 1950s. Peebles also pays close attention to Dyna-Soar, the illfated Air Force program to build a reusable vehicle. Finally, there is a discussion of lifting body technology in 

the 1960s, including the ASSET and M2-F1 programs.

Peebles, Curtis. "The O rigins o f th e U .S. S pace S huttle-2." Spaceflight. 21 ( December 1979) : 487 -92. T his a rticle 

follows on from the previous one and extends the discussion of the Shuttle's development from the lifting body 

studies of the 1960s through the development of the NASA Shuttle. Major components of this effort were the 

X-23, X-24, and HL-10 research craft.

Phillips, William H. "Flying Qualities from Early Airplanes to the Space Shuttle." Journal of Guidance, Control, and 

Dynamics. 12 (July-August 1989): 449-59. Originally published as an AIAA paper, this is a fine discussion of 

the development of aircraft technology, firmly concluding that the Shuttle orbiter is a hybrid, the first spacecraft

with aerodynamic lift characteristics.

Plattner, C.M. "NASA to Begin Unmanned Tests of New Type of Lifting Shape for Hypersonic Maneuvers." Aviation 

Week & Space Technology. 29 September 1969, pp. 52-58. This news story discusses in detail early plans for a 

reusable spacecraft with many of the same features as the Shuttle.

Sänger-Bredt, Irene. "The Silver Bird Story." Spaceflight. 15 (May 1973): 166-81. This is an article about early, 1930s1950s, engineering work done by Austrian aerospace designer Eugen Sänger (1905-1961) on a winged means 

of escaping the atmosphere along the lines of the Space Shuttle. The vehicle was especially to be used as the 

first stage of booster rockets or to ferry, supply, and furnish rescue equipment for space stations. The basic 

concepts of the Shuttle, a cross between a p owered booster rocket and an aerodynamic glider are presented. 

The article was written by his former student, co-worker, and wife.

Sänger-Bredt, Irene. "The Silver Bird Story: A Memoir." in Hall, R. Cargill, ed. Essays on the History of Rocketry and 

Astronautics: Proceedings of the Third Through the Sixth History Symposia of the International Academy of 

Astronautics. vol. 1. NASA Conference Publication 2014, 1977. Examines Eugen Sänger's vision of a "Silver 

Bird" rocketplane designed in the 1930s to be used as the first stage of booster rockets or to transport rescue 

equipment for manned space stations. The article continues with a discussion of Sänger's life and research work 

until his death in 1961. It is written by his collaborator and wife, Irene Sänger-Bredt.

Von Braun, Wernher, and Ryan, C. "Can We Get To Mars?" Colliers. 30 April 1954, pp. 22-29. During the Second 

World W ar G erman s cientists, i ncluding W ernher v on B raun, b egan t esting s pacecraft m odels b ased on 

Sänger's concepts as well as theories of their own. This article popularized the idea of a reusable earth-to-orbit 

space transportation system. 

Wilkinson, S tephan. " The L egacy o f t he L ifting B ody." Air & Space. April/May 1991, pp. 51 -62. S olid, popu larly 

written article which deals with a precursor of the Space Shuttle. Lifting bodies were first tested at Dryden 

Flight Test Facility in 1963 and served to provide data for the design of the Shuttle. This article details the 

interesting story of how they were developed on a shoestring and without NASA headquarters approval.
11

Winter, Frank. "1928-1929 Forerunners of the Shuttle: The 'Von Opel Flights'." Spaceflight. 21 (February 1979): 75-

92. Well-done story of the pioneering efforts to design and build reusable spacecraft.

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 2—Precursors

83,
12

CHAPTER 3

THE SHUTTLE DECISION

America's N ext D ecades in Spac e: A R eport of the Spac e Task Group. W ashington, DC: N ational A eronautics and 

Space Administration, September 1969. This seminal report published just months after the first moon landing 

describes NASA's plans for the future. It offers several important recommendations relative to the development 

of the Shuttle. It emphasizes the need for continued exploration of space and the requirement for economy and 

reusability of spacecraft. This was couched in terms of supporting a space station for planetary exploration. All 

of th ese a ctivities would support practical as well as scientific programs. The plan emphasizes the 

establishment of a space station by 1976 that would be supported by a Shuttle.

Aspin, Les. "The Space Shuttle: Who Needs It?" The Washington Monthly. September 1972, pp. 18-22. The author, a 

Democratic Congressman from Wisconsin, suggests that th e S huttle w as th e r esult o f N ASA's d esire to 

continue as a s eparate entity. He notes that while the DOD and HUD are critical components of government, 

the same is not the case with NASA and space exploration. It is a luxury that can be expended when economic 

pressures require it. He argues that the agency has lived on public relations, and that Congress has enjoyed this 

glitter a s w ell. H e is s keptical o f th e n ecessity o f th e Shuttle and c halks its s upport u p n ot to le gitimate 

requirements but to NASA "puffery."

Barfield, Claude. "Space Report/NASA G ambles i ts F unds, F uture o n R eusable S pace S huttle P rogram." National 

Journal. 3 (13 March 1971): 539-51. Discusses efforts by NASA to obtain approval of the Space 

Transportation System. It describes the conceptualization of the program and its emphasis on practical benefits 

over national prestige. This was a s ignificant and necessary alteration because of the changes in the national 

economy and international relations. The author concludes that NASA had no option but to develop the Shuttle 

if it were to remain a well-funded agency. Barfield asserts that the ten months after this article appeared would 

be critical to the Shuttle program, as forces lined up on both sides of the issue. 

Barfield, Claude. "Technology Report/Intense Debate, Cost Cutting Preceded White House Decision to Back Shuttle." 

National Journal. 4 ( 12 August 1972): 1289-99. An excellent account of the investigations and controversy 

preceding the Nixon Administration's endorsement of a new Space Transportation System.

Barfield, Claude. "Technology Report/NASA Broaden's Defense of Space Shuttle to Counter Critic's Attacks." National 

Journal. 4 (19 August 1972): 1323-32. Another well-researched and well-written article on the Shuttle debate 

in the early 1970s. 

"Correcting the Mistakes of the Past: A Conversation with John Logsdon." Space World (August 1986): 12-18. In this 

interview, Logsdon argues that the Shuttle neither guarantees routine access to space, nor is inexpensive. This, 

says Logsdon, was d ue to u nrealistic ex pectations ab out the S huttle's capabilities. Performance would have 

been better had t he d esigners co ncentrated o n t ransporting S huttle-unique pa yloads. L ogsdon c laims th at 

basically the same thing is happening to the Space Station. Other topics covered are the role of the President, 

the Office of Management and Budget, and Congress in the U.S. space program, and the Soviet space program.

Dooling, Dave. "Space Shuttle: Crisis and Decision." Spaceflight. 14 (July 1972): 242-45. This is an interesting article, 

written very early in the Shuttle program, about the decision to build the spacecraft. It describes some, but not 

all, of the political machinations involved in the decision.

Draper, Alfred C.; Buck, Melvin L.; and Goesch, William H. "A Delta Shuttle Orbiter." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 9 

(January 1971): 26-35. This is an excellent technical review of the reasons for developing a delta-wing versus a 

straight-wing or lifting body orbiter. The authors were engineers for the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory, 

and their arguments contributed to the decision to change to a delta configuration, giving the military the 2000 
13

mile crossrange capability it needed for military missions.

Economic Analysis of New Space Transportation Systems: Executive Summary. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica, Inc., 1971. 

This s tudy p resents an eco nomic an alysis o f al ternative s pace t ransportation systems. It indicates that the 

expendable systems represent modest investments, but the recurring costs of operation remain high. The Space 

Shuttle and tug system requires a substantial investment but would substantially reduce the recurring costs of 

operation. Economic benefits and costs of the different systems are also analyzed.

Farrar, D.J. "Space Shuttle and Post Apollo." Aeronautical Journal. March 1973. pp. 157-62. This article, written by the 

Coordinating D irector of P ost-Apollo S tudies f or th e B ritish A ircraft C orporation, is c oncerned w ith t he 

relationship of the Apollo program to the Shuttle effort and the role of international cooperation concerning the 

development of the new spacecraft. The author sees all manner of opportunity for British use of the Shuttle and 

urges close cooperation in the program's execution.

Fletcher, James C. "Are SKYLAB and the Space Shuttle Worth the Investment?" Government Executive. January 1974. 

pp. 38 -40, 4 2. T his is a lo gical d efense o f b oth th e S huttle a nd S kylab p rograms w ritten b y th e NASA 

Administrator. He justifies th e Shuttle on th e basis of c ost s avings ($1 billion p er year for o perations) and 

versatility, and its ability to serve as an excellent platform for scientific research, to mate humans and machines 

in a r eliable a nd m eaningful w ay, to m ix s cientific an d p ractical ap plications, t o p rovide a s pace r escue 

capability, to be used for D epartment o f D efense p rojects, t o f oster aer ospace t echnology, t o f acilitate 

international cooperation, and to provide the key to U.S. supremacy in space. 

GAO R eport on A nalysis of C ost of Spac e Shut tle P rogram. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f Representatives 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1973. This is a set of hearings held by the House subcommittee on 

Manned Space Flight on 26 June 1973 concerning the GAO report on the feasibility of the Shuttle versus two 

alternative methods of launch operation.

General Accounting Office. Analysis of Cost Estimates for the Space Shuttle and Two Alternate Programs. Washington, 

DC: General Accounting Office, 1973. This report reviews the costs associated with the use of a fully reusable 

Shuttle, a partially reusable Shuttle, and a fully expendable launch system. It finds that the partially reusable 

Shuttle is cost effective with a rigorous flight schedule over several years.

General Accounting Office. Cost Benefit Analysis Used in Support of the Space Shuttle Program. Washington, DC: 

General Accounting Office, 1972. This 53-page report describes the process by which NASA developed its 

Shuttle c ost-effectiveness ar gument. This analysis was s een as a factor i n the presidential decision to p ress 

ahead with development of the spacecraft.

Gibson, T.A. and Merz, C.M. Impact of the Space Shuttle Program on the Economy of Southern California. Space 

Division, North American Rockwell, SD 71-7662, September 1971. Discusses the probable impact on regional 

employment a nd p roduction i n S outhern C alifornia t hrough t he a warding o f p rime c ontracts for the Space 

Shuttle p rogram. T he p aper concludes that t his r egion, with a h eavy co ncentration o f aerospace i ndustries, 

would find a "highly favorable and widely diffused" economic impact from such contracts.

Gillette, Robert. "Space Shuttle: Compromise Version Still Faces Opposition." Science. 175 (28 January 1972): 392-96. 

Reviews the controversy surrounding the decision to build the Shuttle, especially the configuration debate that 

took place within the government before the presidential announcement of 5 January 1972. Gillette also notes 

that in spite of presidential support, the Shuttle had its share of critics in Congress and that it could be tabled by 

the l egislative b ranch. F or o ne, C ongress q uestioned the argument for the cost-effectiveness of t he Shuttle. 

Gillette is skeptical of the Shuttle and calls the program "NASA's ferryboat to the future."

Guilmartin, John F., Jr., and Mauer, John Walker. A Shuttle Chronology, 1964-1973. Houston, TX: Lyndon B. Johnson 
14

Space Center, 1988. 5 Volumes. This is a co mprehensive and detailed chronology of the development of the 

Shuttle, d ivided in to separate sections co ncerning v arious as pects o f t he p rogram an d o rganized 

chronologically within them. It suffers from some repetition, but still has much valuable information and many 

reference notes.

Hechler, K en. Toward t he E ndless F rontier: H istory of t he C ommittee on Sc ience and T echnology, 1959-1979

(Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 1980). Contains the best account to date of Congressional 

wrangling over the Shuttle, and demonstrates the bipartisan nature of both Shuttle support and opposition. 

Heiss, Klaus P., and Morgenstern, Oskar. Mathematica Economic Analysis of the Space Shuttle System. Princeton, NJ: 

Mathematica, Inc., 1972. This is a t hree volume study of the economic value of the Shuttle. It found that the 

major economic potential for the Shuttle in the 1980s would be the lowering of space program costs due to the 

reuse, refurbishment, and updating of satellite payloads. This is based on a partially reusable, stage-and-a-half 

Shuttle. It uses sophisticated statistical models to show the measure of economic viability of the system.

Heiss, K.P. "Our R and D Economics and the Space Shuttle." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 9 ( October 1972): 50-62. 

This lengthy article is an economic analysis of the effect of R&D projects on the Shuttle.

Holden, Constance. "Space Shuttle: Despite Doubters, Project Will Probably Fly." Science. 180 ( 27 April 1973): 395, 

397. This short article deals with the debate in Congress over the NASA budget for FY 1974, especially as it 

relates t o t he f unding t o b e e xpended on the Shuttle. It d escribes the ef forts of cr itics, am ong t hem space 

scientists who saw the Shuttle as eating into their programs, to kill or at least delay the program. There is an 

explicit tie between the Shuttle debate and that surrounding the recently cancelled Supersonic Transport, with 

the author asserting that the two programs are comparable.

Holder, William G., and Siuru, William D., Jr. "Some Thoughts on Reusable Launch Vehicles." Air University Review. 

22 (November-December 1970): 51-58. Discusses one of the central problems that led to the development of 

the Shuttle, the quest for cost-efficient launch vehicles through the development of reusable systems. It sets the 

stage for the Shuttle debate and decision.

Hotz, Robert. "The Shuttle Decision." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 31 July 1972. p. 7. This editorial applauded 

the 5 January 1972 decision of President Richard Nixon to proceed with the development of the Space Shuttle. 

It does not analyze how the decision was made so much as cheer the nation's commitment to leadership in the 

space age.

Howell, Craig. "The Shuttle Walks a Tightrope." New Scientist. 59 ( 9 August 1973): 321-23. Reviews the history of 

budget d ifficulties f or th e d evelopment o f th e S pace S huttle. T he a uthor b elieves that if the B ureau of the 

Budget does not supply NASA with the full funding needed to maintain the space program at its present level, 

NASA will sacrifice whatever is necessary to k eep th e Shuttle going. Suggests that it is important that th e 

Shuttle program be funded at close to the optimum rate because speeding up or slowing down from that rate 

will increase costs. The consequences of a significant cost overrun or a suspension of the Shuttle are examined, 

with the author predicting serious repercussions.

Hunter, Max well W ., I I, Mi ller, W ayne F ., an d G ray, R obert M . " The S pace S huttle W ill Cut Payload Costs." 

Astronautics & Aeronautics. 10 (June 1972): 50-58. This article, written by three engineers from the Lockheed 

Missiles and Space Co., argues that while the Shuttle is not being designed solely for the purpose of reducing 

operating costs, it does take advantage of technological developments during the first decade of spaceflight to 

achieve a quantum leap in the capabilities of the spacecraft. The article discusses at length the parameters of the 

effort to develop the Shuttle, analyzing costs and estimating possible returns. The result, the authors believe, 

would be a great improvement over earlier space operations as well as a reduction in operating costs.
15

Kyger, Timothy B. "Lunar Eclipse: President Nixon, Public Opinion, and Post-Apollo Planning." Bachelors of Public 

Administration T hesis, University o f San Francisco, 1985. This thesis attempts to determine to what extent 

public opinion influenced Nixon's decision to severely curtail NASA's space program. It concludes that adverse 

public opinion in 1969 about the future of t he s pace pr ogram w eakened c ongressional s upport f or t he 

recommendations o f t he S pace T ask G roup, w hich i n turn lessened Nixon's own endorsement o f t hese 

recommendations.

Layton, J. Preston. "Our Next Steps in Space: A Status Report on New Space Transportation Systems." Astronautics & 

Aeronautics. 10 ( May 1972): 56-65. Because of the efforts of NASA to develop the Space Shuttle the AIAA 

convened an ad hoc panel to assess the new space transportation system. This article reviews the efforts of the 

nation to b uild th e S huttle u p to th is e arly d ate, d escribing s ome o f the various concepts and tracing the 

chronology of the Shuttle decision.

Levine, Arthur L. The Future of the U.S. Space Program. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. Chapters six and seven 

of this book deal almost exclusively with the post-Apollo space policy struggle and contain good descriptions 

and a useful early analysis of the emergence of the Shuttle as the NASA program of the 1970s.

Logsdon, John M. "The D ecision to D evelop the Space Shuttle." Space Policy. 2 (May 1986): 103-19. Surveys the 

policymaking process within government o n t he S huttle p rogram. I n r esponse t o t he Challenger accident 

Logsdon asserted that the Space Shuttle decision essentially set up the program for a disaster. He reviews the 

decision, announced on 5 January 1972, to develop a specific Shuttle design. Logsdon believes it was a barebones funding strategy for the program and chides the bureaucracy for politicizing the process. This decision 

was in fluential in N ASA's in ability to d eliver r outine and inexpensive space transportation. According to 

NASA plans in 1969, the Shuttle was to consist of two reusable components. After launch, the booster stage 

would be flown by its crew to a landing near its launch site, while the orbiter would continue on into space. As 

a r esult of b udgetary r estrictions, L ogsdon as serts, these plans h ad t o b e ab andoned. T he result, after v ery 

extended evaluations and negotiations, was the Shuttle design in its current form, which was characterized by 

smaller development costs but substantially larger operating c osts. This article is very similar to Logsdon's 

other studies on the subject and reflects on the Challenger disaster in relation to the policy decisions over the 

life of the Shuttle program.

Logsdon, John M. "From Apollo to Shuttle: Policy Making in the Post Apollo Era." Unpublished partial manuscript, 

Spring 1983, copy in NASA History Office Reference Collection. This is a detailed and insightful study of the 

political p rocess in volved in th e d ecision to b uild th e S pace S huttle in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It 

represents a more detailed discussion of the same subject, with essentially the same conclusions, that Logsdon 

presented in his articles on the Shuttle.

Logsdon, John M. "Shall We Build the Space Shuttle?" Technology Review. October-November 1971. The author, one 

of the leading analysts of space policy, prepared this article at the same time that NASA was trying to win 

approval of th e S huttle p rogram f rom th e N ixon a dministration. L ogsdon r eviews th e is sues a t p lay in 

Washington in 1970-1971 and how they affected the funding question. He finds that the only comparably-sized 

space program, Apollo, operated in an environment in which political and economic decisions were strikingly 

different from those affecting the Shuttle. A key point was that presidential support for Apollo was omnipresent 

and cast an overarching shadow on all policy issues. Such was not the case for the Shuttle; support for it was at 

best ambivalent and at some extremes perhaps contentious. Logsdon also contends that the political process, 

with officeholders constantly seeking popular support and reelection every 2, 4, or 6 years, means that they 

want payoffs in their programs within those time constraints. The process is ill-suited to fostering long-term 

technological programs with results only coming in future decades.

Logsdon, John M. "The Space Shuttle Decision: Technology and Political Choice." Journal of Contemporary Business. 

7 (1978): 13-30. In a detailed, scholarly, and convincing article, Logsdon reviews the policymaking process for 
16

the S huttle. H is p rinciple c onclusion is th at " the S huttle w as ap proved, as a m eans o f o perating i n s pace, 

without any extensive debate over what the goals of space operations in the 1980s might be" (p. 27). While 

much debate over technological designs and Shuttle configurations resulted from the process, the requirement 

for its o peration was n ot f irmly e stablished. The a uthor s uggests th at o ne o f the strengths o f the American 

system i s t hat t here i s g ive an d t ake o ver i ssues an d p ragmatic co mpromise t o achieve results that are 

acceptable to the widest range of viewpoints, but that in the heavily technological arena it is of questionable 

virtue. The result was the development of a Shuttle that might not meet the needs of the nation.

Logsdon, J ohn M. " The S pace S huttle P rogram: A Policy Failure." Science. 232 ( 30 M ay 1986) : 1099 -1105. I n a 

thoughtful article, Logsdon contends that the decision to build the Shuttle emerged from a murky policymaking 

process that did not properly analyze the approach or gauge the operational capability and, more importantly, 

compromised the funding levels so badly that serious technological compromises resulted as well. He notes 

that NASA allowed its Shuttle hopes to be held hostage by political and economic forces. The program gained 

its support on a cost-effective basis, rather than on scientific, technological, or other grounds. This ensured that 

the budget-cutters would hack away at the program every year. It also suffered from a l ack of strong support 

from key political figures. There were no Kennedys or Johnsons to champion the Shuttle and the result was a 

politicization of the process and what Logsdon calls a "policy failure."

Mathews, Charles W. "The Space Shuttle and its Uses." Aeronautical Journal. 76 ( January 1972): 19-25. This article 

assesses the development of a reusable Shuttle system, noting that it was made practicable by the availability of 

improved, staged combustion engines and d urable, t hermal p rotection s ystems. T he t wo s tage l aunch 

configuration with fully-reusable boosters and orbiter elements is considered to be the best design solution, and 

size specifications for such a vehicle are examined as a f unction o f l aunch co sts. S ignificant v ehicle 

characteristics are explained in terms of cargo bay dimensions, cross-range maneuvering capability, mission 

duration r equirements, engine c haracteristics, a nd a cceleration c onstraints. T he S huttle f light a ctivities th at 

Mathews foresees include satellite deployment and recovery, research, and space station support operations. 

Phases of the development program are also outlined, and structural details of several candidate Space Shuttle 

concepts are illustrated.

Merz, C.M., Gibson, T.A., and Seitz, C. Ward. Impact of the Space Shuttle Program on the National Economy. Space 

Division, North American Rockwell, SD 71-478, March 1971. This paper reports on the results of a study to 

determine t he o verall i mpact o f an $ 8.6 b illion S pace S huttle p rogram o n t he n ational eco nomy. Factors 

examined were the value of production by industry, the amount of employment by industry, and the effect of 

foreign trade. The estimated impact on these areas was then compared with the probable impact caused by 

similar expenditures in residential construction and consumer spending. The study concludes that the economic 

impact of t he S pace S huttle p rogram compares v ery f avorably w ith th e b enefits s temming f rom s imilar 

investments in residential construction or an increase in consumer spending.

Mueller, George E. "The New Future For Manned Spacecraft Developments." Astronautics and Aeronautics. 7 (March 

1969): 24-32. Argues for the advantages to be gained by placing a p ermanent space station in orbit, and the 

necessity of building a Shuttle to transport materials to the Space Station at low cost, by the NASA head of 

spaceflight. The Shuttle envisioned by Mueller has many of the advantages of a commercial airplane and would 

be able to carry payloads into orbit at the cost of about $5 per pound.

Myers, Dale D. "The Shuttle: A Balancing of Design and Politics." Issues in Program Management, Summer 1992, pp. 

42-45. A nalyzes th e v arious c ost c onsiderations th at in fluenced th e decision to build the Shuttle. Lack of 

adequate operational models and overly optimistic cost-effectiveness estimates characterized the early planning 

stages. This and the emphasis of development over operation were major causes of the Shuttle's later problems, 

the article asserts.

"NASA in Trouble with Congress, Executive, Scientists." Nature. 231 (11 June 1971): 346-48. Describes the difficulties 
17

between NASA and the other branches of government over the funding of the Shuttle, delineating very well the 

differences between the A pollo p rogram, w hich h ad a P residential m andate, an d t he S huttle, w hich h ad 

reluctant support a t b est. C oncludes that o nly b ecause o f D OD involvement d id th e S huttle gain s ufficient 

support to go forward. It ends: "In staking its future to the Shuttle, perhaps a necessary move, NASA had made 

a devil's pact with the m ilitary, ig nored th e a dvice o f th e s cientific c ommunity a nd r isked a ntagonizing its 

supporters in Congress by sacrificing peripheral projects. The gamble is a dangerous one, but at least if it fails 

NASA will end with a bang, not a whimper" (p. 348).

NASA Space Shuttle Summary Report. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, rev. ed., 31 

July 1969. Summary report of efforts to define the proposed Space Shuttle. It should be used in conjunction 

with the longer 4-volume report described immediately below.

NASA Space Shuttle Task Group Report. W ashington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1969. 4 

Volumes. This multi-volume report, written by a joint NASA/DOD study group, was the foundation of NASA's 

early efforts to define the Space Shuttle program. Volume one contains the summary and makes a strong case 

for t he d evelopment of "A versatile Space Shuttle s ystem t hat can t ransport ef fectively, a v arying m ix o f 

personnel and cargo to low earth orbits and return, could be the keystone to the success and growth of future 

space flight developments for the exploration and beneficial uses of near and far space." The second volume 

deals w ith " Desired S ystem C haracteristics," th e th ird w ith " Vehicle Configurations," and the fourth with 

"Program Plans." Originally issued on 19 May 1969, it was revised and reissued on 12 June 1969. It projected 

the first operational flight of a Shuttle by 1980, and proposed three options for a Shuttle: fully-reusable, oneand-one-half stage or drop tank concepts, and expendable boosters plus reusable orbiter.

NASA S pace T ask G roup. Technology P rogram P lan. Washington, DC: National A eronautics an d S pace 

Administration, 1969. This report, issued on 26 June 1969, is an outgrowth of Space Task Group studies and 

emphasizes five areas: aerodynamics/configuration s election, integrated electronics system, expendable tank 

construction, propulsion, and thermal protection. This plan contains specifics of development for these five 

areas since they are critical for the timely development of the system. Subcommittees in each of the five areas 

develop action plans for technology harnessing that are laid out in this work.

NASA Space Task Group. The Post Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future. Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, September 1969. A seminal document in the development of the Shuttle, this work analyzes of 

the possibilities for the development of a reusable spacecraft at the time that NASA is seeking a follow-on 

program for the lunar expeditions. It was generated by the presidentially appointed group considering the best 

direction for the U.S. space program after the Apollo program. It recommends a g oal of a b alanced human 

space flight and science with five policy goals: (1) expand the space applications program to realize potential 

benefits, (2) enhance the defense posture of the U.S. through the exploitation of space techniques for military 

missions, (3) increase knowledge of the universe through a strong program of lunar and planetary exploration, 

astronomy, p hysics, an d ear th an d l ife s ciences, ( 4) d evelop n ew s ystems an d technology for space w ith 

emphasis on reusability, commonality, and economy, and (5) promote a sense of world community through a 

program providing opportunity for broad international participation.

The Next Decade in Space: A Report of the Space Science and Technology Panel of the President's Science Advisory 

Committee. Washington, DC: P resident's Science A dvisory C ommittee, M arch 1 970. T his im portant r eport 

reviews the development of the space program in the United States through the moon landing and projects 

some future objectives for the President. There is some discussion of the space transportation system and the 

report c oncludes: " A S pace S huttle w ill a llow la rge p ayloads to b e a ssembled in o rbit, w ith consequent 

advantages for manned flight. This may provide the line of evolution towards systems for long-duration flights 

or to a greater variety of manned activity should this be desirable" (p. 37). It also notes that the development of 

reusable systems is critical to lowering costs for orbit. It recommends that NASA continue efforts to develop 

the Shuttle and aim for a decision on it by fiscal year 1972. It does not support NASA's two other post-Apollo 
18

goals: a human mission to Mars and a space station.

O'Leary, Brian. "The Space Shuttle: NASA's White Elephant in the Sky." Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 29 (February 

1973): 36 -43. T his e ssay is h ighly c ritical e ssay o f th e S pace S huttle. T he a uthor n otes th at th e principal 

problems w ith th e S huttle include its q uestionable r ole in c ompeting national priorities; the lack of a clear 

definition of NASA's goals for the Shuttle; the uncertainties of the recurring costs; the question o f payload 

subsystem refurbishments; the secondary social and economic costs of the Shuttle; and the probability that the 

Department of Defense will become the primary user of the Shuttle and therefore drive the configuration and 

costs. O'Leary based h is ar guments o n an o ral p resentation h e m ade b efore t he S enate C ommittee o n 

Aeronautical and Space Sciences when it was considering the 1973 budget. He summarized the skepticism of 

many within the scientific community. The article is an interesting critique but contains no scholarly references.

Pace, Scott. "Engineering Design and Political Choice: The Space Shuttle, 1969-1972." M.S. Thesis, MIT, May 1982. 

Detailed academic study of the interplay of engineering design and political factors during the early stages of 

Shuttle development. During this period the concept went from a rocketplane take-off and landing proposal to 

the take-off-like-a-rocket and land-like-a-glider system that was developed. Although interesting, it is 

nonetheless a thesis and not the product of a mature historian.

Redford, Emmette, and White, Orion F. What Manned Space Program After Reaching the Moon? Government Attempts 

to Decide, 1962-1968. Syracuse, NY: The Inter-University Case Program, January 1971. Limited edition study 

of t he ef forts o f N ASA an d other g overnment agencies t o d etermine what policies and programs it should 

pursue for the future space program. It is especially helpful as a s tatement of where leaders thought the U.S. 

should be going at the very time the debate over the development of the Shuttle was taking place.

"Reusable Space Shuttle Effort Gains Momentum." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 27 O ctober 1969, pp. 22-24. 

Useful a rticle d escribing th e e fforts u p to th at p oint to " sell" th e id ea o f th e Shuttle based on its cost 

efficiencies.

Selection of Papers Presented at the Space Shuttle Symposium, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, 

DC, Oc tober 1 6-19, 1969 . ( Washington, D C: N ational A eronautics a nd S pace Administration, 1969). An 

exceptionally important collection of papers that discusses the origins, development, and promise of a reusable 

Shuttle for entrance into and recovery from earth orbit. Individual essays deal with a wide variety of subjects, 

everything from the development of launch vehicles to the potential for a space station.

Shaver, R.D., Dreyfuss, D.J., Gosch, W.D., and Levenson, G.S. The Space Shuttle as an Element in the National Space 

Program. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, October 1970. This report for the United States Air Force 

assesses the role of the proposed Space Shuttle in policy and technological issues. It especially examines the 

economic justification and potential funding problems of the Shuttle as advanced by NASA to the President in 

September 1 969. I t s uggests that t he concept of a two-stage, f ully-reusable l aunch v ehicle that can p lace a 

40,000- to 50,000-pound payload in polar orbit would show a net savings of $2.8 billion by 1990. To achieve 

this, h owever, the government would h ave t o f und N ASA at t he pe ak of $7 billion in 1975, about double 

NASA's 1970 budget. The authors conclude that viewed over the long term, the Shuttle had definite merit, but 

its im mediate eco nomic j ustification d epended o n t he p ace t hat w as f inally ad opted f or t he n ational space 

program.

"Space Shuttle: NASA Versus Domestic Priorities." Congressional Quarterly. 26 February 1972, pp. 435-39. This short 

article discusses the issues relative to the political football of the Shuttle. It quotes at length the pros and cons 

of the system from key Congressional and Executive Branch personnel as they understood the issue at the time 

of Nixon's approval of the Shuttle.

Truax, R obert C . " Shuttles—What Price E legance?" Astronautics & A eronautics. 8 ( June 1970) : 22 -23. T his i s a n 
19

important " minority r eport" o n th e S huttle's m odus o perandi a s it w as b eing d esigned a nd b efore it w as 

approved as a program by President Nixon. It argues that the necessity of a fully-reusable Shuttle is a chimera. 

Traux argues for an expendable or partially reusable lower stage and a r eusable orbiter, but he contends that 

there was no necessity of making it a winged or lifting body vehicle. Instead, a ballistic craft would do just as 

well and be recoverable in the ocean and reusable. That would cut down development costs drastically, but 

since sp lash-downs w ere " inelegant" N ASA w as co mmitted t o a w inged s pacecraft t hat " could b e an 

unparalleled money sponge."

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 3—The Decision to Build the Space Shuttle 
20

CHAPTER 4

SHUTTLE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Bailey, R.A., a nd K elley, D .L. " Potential o f R ecoverable B ooster S ystems f or O rbital L ogistics." Astronautics & 

Aeronautics. 2 (January 1964): 35-40. One of several articles in this issue devoted to exploring the possibility 

of a reusable transportation system between the earth and the moon.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, Part 1." Spaceflight. 15 (June 1973): 202-10. First in a series of articles 

dealing with the development of the Shuttle. It focuses on the technological development of the system through 

the proposed baseline for Phase B studies.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, North American Rockwell, Part 2." Spaceflight. 15 (July 1973): 264-68. 

Second in series of articles, this one reviews the studies in the late 1960s on the possibility of a fully-reusable 

Shuttle, emphasizing technological development.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle, North American Rockwell, Part 3." Spaceflight. 15 ( September 1973): 

344-52. T he third Shuttle article in this series deals with the technological development of the external fuel 

tanks for the orbiter and the replacement of the piloted flyback booster with a ballistic booster arrangement.

Baker, D avid. " Evolution o f th e S pace S huttle, P art 4 ." Spaceflight. 18 ( September 1976) : 304 -38. W ritten to 

commemorate t he r oll-out o f t he O rbiter 1 01 p rototype, t his ar ticle r eviews t he m ajor d esign ch anges an d 

presents an evolutionary update of the Shuttle's technological development.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 7. External Tank Design-1." Spaceflight. 20 (February 1978): 60-66. An 

article relating the basic development of the technology going into the external tank design.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 8. External Tank Design-2." Spaceflight. 20 ( March 1978): 110-15. A 

continuation of the above article.

Beichel, R udi. " Nozzle C oncepts f or S ingle-Stage S huttles." Astronautics & A eronautics. 13 ( June 1975) : 16 -27. 

Technical ar ticle o n b reakthroughs as sociated w ith t he p ropulsion s ystems b eing d eveloped t o l aunch t he 

Shuttle orbiter into space.

Bekey, I., and Mayer, H. "1980-2000: Raising Our Sights for Advanced Space Systems." Astronautics and Aeronautics. 

14 (July-August 1976): 34-64. This special section on the possible future of space travel has much to say about 

space s tations an d f lights t o Mar s an d b eyond, b ut al so em phasizes t he d evelopment o f the Shuttle as the 

necessary first step in any ready access to space.

Bell, M. W. Jack. "Advanced Launch Vehicle Systems and Technology." Spaceflight. 20 ( April 1978): 135-43. This 

article is a good report on the development of the launch vehicle that would be used to send the Shuttle orbiter 

into space.

Bourland, C.T., Rapp, R.M., and Smith, M.C ., J r. " Space S huttle F ood S ystem." Food T echnology. 31 ( September 

1977): 40-41, 44-45. This is a general article on the food system being developed for use in orbit.

Brown, Nelson E . " Safe S huttle." Technology Review. 79 ( March/April 1977) : 17 -25. T his is a n e arly s tudy o f th e 

redundant systems and other safety features being incorporated into the Shuttle design by a leading investigator 

of safety programs.

Brown, Nelson E. "Space Shuttle's Safety and Rescue: An Enormous Jump In Man's Ability to Work in Outer Space." 
21

Space World. 10 (December 1977): 16-25. This is a complex article that analyzes the ability of the Shuttle to 

ensure that no individual is stranded in space and to teach us how best to live in a space environment.

Bursnall, W .J.; Mo rgenthaler, G .W.; a nd S imonson, G .E., e ds. Space Shut tle M issions of the 80' s. S an D iego, C A: 

Univelt Inc., 1977. A multi-author review of the possibilities offered for missions by the Shuttle. It contains the 

proceedings of the 21st annual meeting of the American Astronautical Society in Denver, CO, 26-28 August 

1976.

Caveny, Leonard H. "Thrust and Ignition Transients of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor." Journal of Spacecraft 

and Rockets. 17 (November/December 1980): 489-94. This is a technical article on the solid rocket propulsion 

system developed by Morton Thiokol for the Shuttle.

Chaffee, N orman, co mp. Space Shuttle T echnical C onference P apers. W ashington, D C: N ational A eronautics a nd 

Space A dministration, 1985. T his t wo v olume w ork c ontains pa pers on m any a spects of t he design and 

performance of the Shuttle. It was the product of a conference held at the Johnson Space Center on 28-30 June 

1983.

Collingridge, D avid. " Technology O rganizations a nd I ncrementalism: th e S pace S huttle." Technology Analysis and 

Strategic Management. vol. 2, no. 2, 1990: 181-200. This article argues that the Shuttle's performance has been 

poor because it was built using inflexible technology. This was a result of technology development through a 

centralized process dominated by a f ew very similar organizations with little debate or compromise, and with 

risks being taken at the expense of the tax payer. The authors conclude that better technological performance 

would result from incremental development and decentralized decision making.

Cooper, A.E., and Chow, W.T. "Development of On-Board Space Computer Systems." IBM Journal of Research and 

Development. 20 ( January 1976): 5-19. This is a scholarly article discussing the design and construction of a 

completely new on-board computer system for the Shuttle. This effort spawned much of the technology now 

present in modern microcomputers, especially the micro-chip.

Cooper, Paul, and Holloway, Paul F. "The Shuttle Tile Story." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 19 (January 1981), pp. 24-

34, 36. This is a good discussion of the development of the special tiles used to protect the Shuttle during 

reentry. While it contains some technical information about the tiles, it is oriented toward a general audience.

Dankoff, Walter; Herr, Paul; and McIlwain, Melvin C. "Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)—The `Maturing' Process." 

Astronautics & A eronautics. 21 ( January 1983) : 26 -32, 4 9. T his technical ar ticle d escribes t he o rigins and 

evolution of the Shuttle's main engine. It seeks to show that the main engine, which had received some negative 

press, was a well-designed and efficient component of the Shuttle. It suggests that the SSME had proven itself 

"in hundreds of ground tests and five flights of Columbia." Even so, it had been repeatedly redesigned and 

improved with every orbiter built for the program.

"Designing f or Z ero-G: The S pace S huttle G alley." Design Ne ws. 22 O ctober 1979, pp. 48 -50. A lthough no t a 

particularly scintillating topic, this article treats something not usually discussed in relation to the Shuttle, the 

galley of the spacecraft and the difficulties of preparing foods in microgravity. The emphasis of this piece is 

toward the specially-designed and built equipment of the galley.

Donlan, Charles J. "Space Shuttle Systems Definition Evolution." Issues in Program Management, Summer 1992, pp. 

46-48. This article reviews some of the Shuttle configurations considered in the early 1970s, stressing their 

appeal from a cost-effectiveness standpoint. The discussion concentrates on the development of the booster 

rockets.

Dooling, Dave. Shuttle to the Next Space Age. Huntsville, AL: Alabama Space and Rocket Center, 1979. A collection of 
22

presentations from the Alabama Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, this book 

contains 22 ar ticles o n a v ariety o f subjects related to t he Shuttle. Organized i n several sections—National 

Space L ine, S pace A pplications, S pace S cience, and Other Space Activities—These p apers ar e l argely 

technical and designed for an academic au dience. T here ar e n o S huttle p rogram o verviews or h istorically 

oriented articles in this publication.

Draper, Alfred C.; Buck, Melvin L.; and Goesch, William H. "A Delta Shuttle Orbiter." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 9 

(January 1971): 26-35. This is an excellent technical review of the reasons for developing a delta-wing versus a 

straight-wing or lifting body orbiter. The authors were engineers for the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory, 

and their arguments contributed to the decision to change to a delta configuration, giving the military the 2000 

mile crossrange capability it needed for military missions.

Elson, Benjamin M. "Shuttle Booster Motor Tests Planned." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 20 February 1978, pp. 

54-59. This is a lengthy article on the development and testing of the Shuttle's booster engines.

Faget, Maxime A. "Space Shuttle: A New Configuration." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 8 (January 1970): 52-61. This is 

an exceptionally important article written by one of NASA's foremost engineers that looks at the plans for the 

development of the Shuttle and offers a configuration for a fully-reusable, straight-wing, two-stage system. It 

contains considerable technical d etail of the S huttle. Faget concludes that his configuration offers complete 

reusability, economical cost per flight, and a tremendous advantage to the United States’ efforts to make space 

more accessible.

Farrar, D .J. " The S pace S huttle: C oncept an d I mplications." Spaceflight. 14 ( March 1972) : 104 -108. T his pa per 

describes th e Shuttle, tu g, a nd o rbital s tation transportation system envisioned b y N ASA and assesses their 

costs and benefits. It notes as especially significant the European economic implications.

Fitzgerald, Paul E., Jr. and Gabris, Edward A. "The Space Shuttle Focused-Technology Program: Lessons Learned." 

Astronautics & Aeronautics. 21 (February 1983): 60-67, 72. This article reviews the technological program for 

the Shuttle, emphasizing the structure and membership of the steering committee, how it functioned, and how 

NASA "put wheels under" the technology development program for Shuttle in several arenas. These included: 

propulsion, el ectronics, aer othermodynamics, aer oelasticity, m aterials, an d b iotechnology. T he conclusions 

aimed t oward t he u se o f f ocused-technology de velopment f or c ost-avoidance an d ef ficient m ethodology. 

NASA had a clear picture of what it wanted and organized a research group from several sites and disciplines 

to work on pieces of it. 

Gatland, Kenneth. "Designing the Space Shuttle." Spaceflight. 15 (January 1973): 11-14. Presents information, as it was 

known at that time, about the configuration of the Shuttle. It describes the orbiter, the reusable boosters, and the 

expendable liquid fuel tank. It also discusses the Shuttle's avionics systems and the thermal protective effort.

Gatland, K enneth. " The S pace S huttle." Spaceflight. 13 ( May 1971) : 158 -63. This article d escribes th e S huttle a s 

conceived in 1970-1971. It emphasizes the two-stage, fully reusable system with crews in each component of 

the Shuttle, the booster and the orbiter. There is also considerable technical detail in the article about how the 

reusable system would operate.

Geddes, J. Philip. "Space Shuttle Basics." Interavia. 27 ( December 1972): 1331-34. This article, prepared by a s taff 

writer a t Interavia, i s a g ood e xplanation of the Shuttle's mission as u nderstood in 1 972, its te chnological 

elements, and its challenges for development. Most important, it is one of the earliest full explanations of the 

Shuttle configuration as eventually built.

General Accounting Office. Space Shuttle: Changes to the Solid Rocket Motor Contract TLSP: Report to Congressional 

Requestors. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1 988. T his r eport, d one af ter t he Challenger
23

accident, describes the changes to the Space Shuttle solid rocket motor contract, and assesses the redesign of 

the m otors f ollowing t he a ccident, d escribing t he c hanges i n t he m otor j oints a nd other design changes to 

enhance the motor's safety and reliability. These changes were incorporated into 13 sets of boosters for the

Shuttle. It also comments on the method used to assess the costs of these changes, noting that the fees paid 

were changed from specific cost and performance incentives to more subjective valuations by NASA.

General Accounting Office. Status and I ssues Relating to the Space Transportation System. Washington, DC: General 

Accounting Office, 21 April 1976. This study assesses NASA's Shuttle development plan and concludes that it 

could result in increased costs, schedule d elays, an d p erformance d egradation t hat w ere n ot o riginally 

envisioned. The d evelopment p lan, r evised a s t he p rogram f ell b ehind s chedule a nd t ook f unding c uts, 

embodied such factors as reduced testing, compressed schedules, and concurrent development and production. 

The s tudy a lso a sks, b ut d oes not truly answer, whether the Shuttle s ystem f ulfills the space tr ansportation 

needs of the United States.

Gentry, Jerauld R. "A Lifting Body Pilot Looks at Space Shuttle Requirements." The Society of Experimental Test Pilots 

1970 Report t o t he A erospace P rofession. 10 ( September 1970) : 179 -93. A p resentation a t th e 1 4th 

Symposium o f th is p rofessional o rganization h eld in B everly H ills, C alifornia, 2 4-26 S eptember 1970. I t 

discusses the r ole o f t he S huttle as a s pace v ehicle an d en dorses t he co ncept of a r eusable s ystem. I t al so 

suggests that jet engines are not necessary for the orbiter and that landing can be accomplished with glide only. 

This was a critical conclusion and one that was adopted by the program. This was based on the fact that lifting 

bodies had not been powered for landing and had worked fine.

Getting Aboard the Space Shuttle: Space Transportation System User Symposium. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE, 1978. This 

publication, the proceedings of a s ymposium, pr esents pa pers on v arious a spects of t he S huttle a nd t he 

opportunities it provides. It is especially h elpful in a scertaining th e p ositions o n th e p rogram f rom th e 

standpoint of different users.

Gore, Rick. "When the Space Shuttle Finally Flies." National Geographic. 159 (March 1981): 317-47. In an article 

containing an ab undance o f t his p ublication's t rademark p hotographs, G ore o ffers an assessment of the 

development of the Shuttle through its first mission.

Guilmartin, John F., Jr., and Mauer, John Walker. A Shuttle Chronology, 1964-1973. Houston, TX: Lyndon B. Johnson 

Space Center, 1988. 5 Volumes. This is a co mprehensive and detailed chronology of the development of the 

Shuttle, divided into s eparate s ections co ncerning v arious as pects o f t he p rogram an d o rganized 

chronologically within them. It suffers from some repetition, but still has much valuable information and many 

reference notes.

Hanaway, John F., and Moorehead, Robert W. Space Shuttle Avionics System. Washington DC: National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, 1989. This monograph describes the avionics systems of the Shuttle, celebrating the 

numerous "firsts" in the program: the incorporation of a co mprehensive fail operational/fail safe concept; the 

complex redundancy management techniques which became a s tandard in the industry; the use of digital data 

bus technology; the employment of high-order language to develop onboard software; the use of flight software 

program overlays from a tape memory; integration of flight c ontrol f unctions w ith th e r est o f the a vionics 

program; use of digital fly-by-wire technology; use of malfunction cathode-ray-tube display and crew interface 

approach; and the application of extensive operational services to onboard avionics systems.

Helms, W .R. " History, D esign, an d P erformance o f t he Space Shuttle H azardous G as D etection S ystem." JANNAF 

Safety and Environmental Protection Subcommittee Meeting. Lompoc, CA: NASA, 1984. pp. 195-202. This is 

a technical paper on the development of a critical safety feature of the Shuttle, prepared for presentation at this 

professional meeting.
24

Jeffs, George W. "The Space Shuttle: Its Interdisciplinary Design and Construction." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 

4 (September 1979): 208-38. This is a lengthy scholarly article which surveys the scientific and engineering 

disciplines involved in the design and construction of the Shuttle to trace its evolution. It presents background 

material on the search for a r eusable spacecraft and describes Shuttle operations and capabilities. It goes into 

detail t o r eview t he d evelopment of some Shuttle systems, es pecially as m any t echnological ar eas w ere 

integrated. Jeff specifically looks at aerodynamics, propulsion, structural design, data processing and software, 

simulation exercises, crew training, verification testing and mission control.

Johnson, Colonel Roger W. "Advanced Space Programs: Transition to the Space Shuttle." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 

14 (September 1976): 32-39. This is an intriguing discussion of the movement from the space program of the 

1960s to the S huttle as well as the movement of l aunches of s uch i tems as s atellites t o deployment by the 

Shuttle.

Kah, C arl L .C. High C hamber P ressure R eusable R ocket E ngine T echnology. N ew Y ork: S ociety o f A utomotive 

Engineers, 1970. This technical work deals with the development of technology necessary to power the Shuttle. 

It is a good early statement of the status of the effort and the prospects for the future.

Kanai, K. "Applications of Active Control Technology to Spacecraft and Aircraft." Journal of the Society of Instrument 

and Control Engineering. 23 (January 1984): 157-62. Considers fly-by-wire and active control techniques and 

applications to the Space Shuttle.

Kranzel, Harold. "Shuttle Main Engine Story." Spaceflight. 30 ( October 1988): 378-80. Although overshadowed after 

the Challenger accident and the attention f ocused o n t he s olid-fuel b oosters, t he m ain en gine h as h ad a 

checkered history as well. T he d evelopment, test, an d p roblems of the m ain en gine are noted in this short 

article, along with a table of all main engine flight events whether on an actual mission or a test.

Lewis, Richard. "Whatever Happened to the Space Shuttle?" New Scientist. 87 ( 31 July 1980): 356-59. Describes the 

reasons for the delays in the development of the Shuttle.

Loftus, J.P., Jr., et al. "The Evolution of the Space Shuttle Design." Unpublished paper written at the Johnson Space 

Center, H ouston, T X, 1986. T his r eport w as pr epared i n r esponse t o r equests by t he R ogers C ommission 

investigating the Challenger accident. It is a good technical discussion of the Shuttle's development. A copy is 

available at the History Office, Johnson Space Center.

Lore, Eugene S . " Advanced T echnology an d t he S pace S huttle." AIAA P aper 7 3-31. W ashington, D C: A merican 

Institute o f A eronautics a nd A stronautics, 1 973. T his w as t he t enth v on K arman L ecture at t he A merican 

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics held in Washington, DC, 8-10 January 1973. It presents a detailed 

account of NASA's overall technical challenge in the development of the Shuttle.

Lynch, R obert A . " The S pace S huttle B ooster." U npublished p aper p resented at t he eighth Space Congress, Cocoa 

Beach, F L, 1 9-23 April 1971. T his is a n a nalysis a nd s tatus r eport o f th e S huttle b ooster c onfiguration, 

presenting design features and performance characteristics. It analyzes the reasons behind choosing the delta 

wing over the stowed, fixed straight, or swept wing configurations, commenting that the delta wing was chosen 

on the basis of its compatibility to air breathing engine installation requirements rather than purely aerodynamic 

considerations.

Lyndon B . J ohnson S pace C enter. Technology I nfluence on t he Space Shut tle Development. Houston, T X: J ohnson 

Space Center, 1986. Because of desired low development costs, designers of the Space Shuttle used existing 

technology w henever p ossible. T his i ncreased m aintenance co sts an d t urnaround t ime t o the point that the 

Shuttle has been unable to obtain the expected low refurbishment and reuse rates. The report concludes that 

technological emphasis should be placed on maintainability, refurbishment, and reuse.
25

Malkin, M.S. "Space Shuttle/The New Baseline." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 12 (January 1974): 62-78. Written by the 

director of the Space Shuttle program office a t N ASA, th is le ngthy a rticle is a d etailed r undown o f t he 

development of the Shuttle through 1973. It contains a wealth of information about the Shuttle's characteristics, 

dimensions, and capabilities. Virtually every important system in the Shuttle is described in some way, and a 

host of illustrations help with this process. There is also a description of the proposed flight of the Shuttle from 

both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base as well as analyses of trajectories and recovery data. It 

concludes with a statement of faith that the Shuttle will be built on a reduced budget but with essentially the 

same capabilities as originally proposed.

McKenzie, P.J. "Structural Review of the Space Shuttle." Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 26 ( October 

1973): 597-605. Surveys the preliminary research on reusable spacecraft from which the Shuttle emerged, and 

asserts th at th e m odified s ystem w ill n ot s upport th e d evelopment o f s ophisticated primary structures and 

metallic thermal protection systems.

Michel, Rudi. "Propulsion Systems for Single-Stage Shuttles." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 2 (November 1974): 32-39. 

Describes and analyzes the plans for the launch vehicles supporting the Shuttle orbiter.

Morea, S.F., a nd W u, S.T. eds. Advanced High Pressure Oxygen/Hydrogen Technology. Washington, DC: National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1985. This publication contains the proceedings of a conference on 

rocket propulsion held at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, on 27-29 June 1984.

Mueller, George E. Address on the Space Shuttle before the British Interplanetary Society, University College, London, 

England. August 10, 1 968. C opy i n N ational A eronautics an d S pace A dministration R eference C ollection, 

NASA History Office, Washington, DC. T his p resentation, m ade b y N ASA's A ssociate A dministrator f or 

Manned Space Flight, may well have been the first public presentation of the Shuttle concept to a scholarly 

community. It set up the rationale, technological choices, and planning activities taking place at NASA for the

development of the Space Transportation System.

NASA's Plans to Procure New Shuttle Rocket Motors. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on 

Government O perations, 1 986. T his l engthy r eport c ontains t he he aring o f t he L egislation a nd N ational 

Security Subcommittee on this subject conducted on 31 July 1986 after the loss of Challenger. 

NASA Space Shuttle Technology Conference. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1971. 

NASA T echnical Mem orandum (TM) X -2272, X-2273, a nd X-2274. This t hree volume work contains the 

presentations of a conference held at Langley Research C enter, Hampton, V irginia, 2-4 March 1971. Each 

volume i s d edicated t o a s pecific ar ea o f co nsideration: I-Aerothermodynamics, C onfigurations, a nd Flight 

Mechanics; II-Structure and Materials; and III-Dynamics and Aeroelasticity.

"Orbiter Protective Tiles Assume Structural Role." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 25 February 1980, pp. 22-24. 

Although a news story, this article is an excellent report on the development and use of the special tiles on the 

orbiter used to absorb heat during reentry.

Poll, Henry O., et al. Space Shuttle Reaction Control System. New York: Society of Automotive Engineers, 1970. This 

is a short technical publication dealing with the development of one aspect of the Shuttle's control system.

Rainey, Robert W. "Progress and Technology for Space Shuttles." Unpublished paper presented at the sixteenth annual 

meeting of the American Astronautical Society, Anaheim, CA, 8-10 June 1970. AAS Paper 70-046. This is a 

fine technical paper on the efforts to develop a reusable spacecraft written by a senior engineer at the Langley 

Research Center. Rainey notes that during the past several years, considerable effort has been expended by 

industry and government to define low-cost transportation systems envisioned to operate from earth to orbit 
26

and return. The most recent NASA studies, the Phase A Integral Launch and Reentry Vehicle (ILRV) Studies, 

were completed in the latter part of 1969. The study's goals were to determine the feasibility of Shuttle vehicles 

that would r educe t he c ost pe r pou nd of pa yload t o or bit by a n or der of magnitude with improvements in 

systems reliability and crew safety. Primary emphasis was place upon two-stage fully reusable systems, and in 

this paper, designs of the Phase A Shuttles are examined. Special attention is given to contractual and in-house 

activities in s everal k ey t echnological ar eas: s tructures, t hermal protection, aerothermodynamics, 

aerodynamics, and approach and landing.

Robinson, John W. ed. Shuttle Propulsion Systems. New York: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1983. This 

book collects presentations made at the annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on 

14-19 November 1982 relating to the development and technology of the Shuttle propulsion system.

Salkeld, Robert, and Skulsky, R.S. "Air Launch for Space Shuttles." Acta Astronautica. 2 (July/August 1975): 703-713. 

Explores some o f the p ossibilities for launching the Shuttle not vertically on a booster like ordinary rocket 

payloads but from aircraft for flight into the upper atmosphere and eventually to space using its aerodynamic 

features.

Salkeld, R obert. " Single-Stage S huttle f or G round L aunch a nd A ir L aunch." Astronautics & A eronautics. 1 7 ( June 

1979): 52-64. This article describes the technical effort going into the study of launch vehicles for the Shuttle. 

Salkeld stresses the diversity of design potential that decision makers should grasp to shape effective space

transportation. V arious a nd d iverse ty pes o f s ingle-stage Shuttles are identified in te rms o f m ission a nd 

operational capabilities, physical characteristics and eco nomics. It is shown that the development of 

economical space transportation can b e realistically r egarded as feasible, and t hat i t will make possible the 

performance of dependable, commercially viable operations beyond the earth. With this system it should be 

possible to bring such systems into operation within 10-15 years. The development of single-stage Shuttles is 

expected to represent a significant advance in space travel.

Salkeld, Robert. "Space Shuttle: Some Growth Possibilities." Spaceflight. 15 ( November 1973): 402-408. This article 

looks at the S huttle as a m eans to develop n ew capabilities a nd e xploit n ew te chnologies. A rgues th at th e 

single-stage concept of the Shuttle appears particularly interesting in view of the possibility that such a vehicle 

could be converted directly to a g lobal-orbiter commercial transport by exchanging rockets for jets. Salkeld 

considers other growth options: replacing the solid rocket motors with a fully reusable booster, replacement of 

both solid motors and the main tank with reusable boosters, and replacement of the entire baseline Shuttle with 

a f ully r eusable s ingle-stage vehicle. For al most al l g rowth co ncepts, i rrespective o f v ehicle co nfiguration, 

mixed-mode propulsion promises significant advantages in the form of improved performance, reduced vehicle 

size and manufactured hardware weight, and reduced propellant costs.

Scherer, L ee R . " Space T ransportation S ystem: S tatus R eport." British I nterplanetary Soc iety J ournal. 32 ( October 

1979): 364-70. A useful synopsis of the development of the Shuttle through its flight tests, written for a British 

audience. The emphasis is on hardware and the overall system.

Scott, Harry A. "Space Shuttle: A Case Study in Design." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 17 (June 1979): 54-58. This is a 

brief r eview o f t he e volution o f t he S huttle d esign d escribing ho w o ne contractor involved i n t he s tudies, 

Rockwell International, worked through the process. It emphasizes the changing requirements for the Shuttle, 

as well as the difficult economic problems the program faced, during the course of these studies. It has a good 

degree of technical information and discusses how the DOD requirements for cross-range capability prompted 

the c hange f rom a s traight to d elta w ing c onfiguration. S cott's c onclusion th at " the o rbiter's performance 

requirements w ere r easonably m aintained an d ach ieved even t hough t he p rogram's p rojected f unds w ere 

halved" is debatable.

Sheridan, Caroline T. "Space Shuttle Software." Datamation. 24 (July 1978): 128-40. A useful article on the problems, 
27

priorities, and promise of the computer systems being developed for use in the Shuttle.

The Space Shuttle—Its Current Status and Future Impact. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers, 1981. A 

collection of 12 technical presentations on the Shuttle and various aspects of the program. Maxime Faget offers 

perhaps the most useful article for the nonspecialist on the overall development of the Shuttle.

Space Shut tle M ain E ngine D evelopment P rogram. Washington, DC: U.S. S enate C ommerce, S cience, an d 

Transportation Committee, 1978. This is the report of a hearing on the Shuttle's engine development difficulties 

before the 95th Cong., 2d Sess.

Space Shuttle Missions of the '80s. San Diego, CA: American Astronautical Society, 1976. This book is volume 32 of 

the society's "Advances in A stronautical Sciences" s eries. I t s peculates o n t he nature a nd e xtent o f S huttle 

missions of the future and suggests that routine access to space will come as a result of these missions, space 

science will blossom, and the exploration of the planets will be possible. It is a promotional work, but based on 

realistic possibilities.

Space Shuttle Program: Proceedings of the Short Course, Boulder, CO, October 6-7, 1972. Boulder, CA: American 

Institute o f A eronautics an d A stronautics, 1 973. T he S pace S huttle p rogram i s s urveyed i n several papers 

dealing with project management and planning functions, design concept definition studies, projected mission 

profiles, vehicle h ardware an d s ystems configurations, t esting p rograms, an d mission s upport requirements. 

Specific topics considered include typical payload capabilities in various types of missions, flight operations 

concepts, aerodynamic aspects of the orbiter, thermal protection systems, design and performance of the main 

engines, design of t he external d rop tank an d solid rocket motor s tages, r ecovery and refurbishment of t he 

Shuttle, and launch center tasks and facilities.

Space Transportation System User Handbook. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, June 

1977, rev. ed. May 1982. This loose-leaf booklet explains the Shuttle's development and uses. It describes the 

types of user support it was designed for and offers some pricing background.

Strouhal, George, and Tillian, Donald J. "Testing the Shuttle Heat Protection Armor." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 14 

(January 1976 ): 5 7-65. T his is a technical paper o n the design, construction, and te sting o f heat protection 

systems on the Shuttle. Specific discussion of the heat-absorbing tiles on the outside of the orbiter is included.

Talay, T.A.; Morris, W.D.; Eide, E.G.; and Rehder, R.R. "Designing for a New Era of Launch Vehicle Operational 

Efficiency." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 21 ( June 1983): 44-48. The authors contend that now is the time to 

start work on a next-generation Shuttle, and that early and explicit consideration of operational requirements 

and assessment of their effects provide the best means of designing an economically viable system. Some of the 

operational features affecting configuration design are fleet size, operational mode, refurbishment, and resource 

requirements. The proposed system h as a s implified o perational r ole in th e S huttle, w hich, in a ddition to 

transportation, also had to allow experiments, support payloads, and stay longer than a week in orbit. Once the 

Space Station is in o rbit, it w ill o nly be r equired t o p rovide t ransportation. T he au thors ad vocate t he 

development of a two-stage, fully-reusable launch vehicle designed to carry 150,000 pounds to a space station, 

off-load, an d r eturn. I t w ould al ways b e l aunched f ully l oaded an d i ts car go would be pr ocessed a nd 

redistributed at the s pace s tation. T he a uthors g ive s ome a ttention to g round s ervicing, f light o perations, 

rendezvous-compatible orbits, la unch w indows, s tandard tr ajectories, e ntry w indows, o perational c osts, th e 

mission model, and resource requirements.

Tischler, A.O. "A Commentary on Low-Cost Space Transportation." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 7 (August 1969): 50-

64. A well-done technical discussion of the ability of the United States to develop a r eusable, and therefore 

low-cost, space vehicle as the follow-on system for the Saturn rocket. Written by the head of the NASA Office 

of Advanced Research and Technology, it suggests that "the pace of payload development, the availability of 
28

manpower and funds, and the technological state of the art argue a t ransitional approach to fully recoverable 

large space transports" (p. 50).

Tischler, A.O. "Defining a Giant Step in Space Transportation: Space Shuttle." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 9 (February 

1971): 22-67. This is a special section in this publication relating to the Shuttle's development as it stood early 

in the program. Tischler had specialists write on the following: technology for aerothermodynamics, structures, 

dynamics and aeroelasticity, l ife s upport, p rotective s ystems, cr ew s ystem in terface, a nd p ropulsion. I t 

represents a very good technical overview of the major fronts on which the Shuttle was moving in 1970-1971.

Tischler, A.O., ed. Space Transportation System Technology Symposium. Cleveland, OH: Lewis Research Center, 1970.

Technical Memorandum (TM) X-52876. This seven-volume work is the published proceedings of a 

symposium on the Shuttle held at Lewis Research Center on 15-17 July 1970. Consisting of papers on various 

subjects, t he v olumes ar e: I -Aerothermodynamics an d C onfigurations; I I-Dynamics a nd A eroelasticity; I IIStructures and Mat erials; IV-Propulsion; V-Operations, Maintenance, and Safety; VI-Integrated Electronics; 

and VII-Biotechnology.

Townsend, Marjorie R. " Direct D elivery o f A utomated S pacecraft U sing t he S huttle: T houghts f or t he D esigner." 

Astronautics & A eronautics. 15 ( April 1977) : 32 -38. A rgues t hat t he S huttle s hould b e e mployed for the 

movement of special items between earth and orbit for future exploration beyond the planet. It offers some 

thoughts on how the Shuttle should be built to make this more practicable.

Vaughn, Robert L. ed. Space Shuttle: A Triumph in Manufacturing. Dearborn, MI: Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 

1985. This collection of essays, written by members of the society of Manufacturing Engineers, discusses the 

construction of the Shuttle.

Von Braun, Wernher. "The Reusable Space Transport." American Scientist. 60 ( November-December 1972): 730-38. 

This is a lucid description of the Shuttle as envisioned near the time of its approval by President Nixon. It 

describes the components of the Shuttle's configuration and in the b est s ense o f th e te rm tr ies to s ell th e 

program, arguing that the system will be versatile and the keystone of the continuing exploration and use of 

space.

Weidner, Don K., ed. Space Environment Criterial Guidelines for Use in Space Vehicle Development (1969 Revision). 

Huntsville, A L: M arshall S pace F light C enter, 1 969. T his d ocument p rovides a cross-section o f n ational 

environmental d ata f or u se as d esign cr iteria guidelines in the s pace v ehicle d evelopment p rogram. T he 

document focuses on earth science issues, especially atmospheric considerations.

Whitsett, C.E., J r. " Manned Maneuvering Units." Space Shuttle and Spac elab Utilization: New-term and L ong-Term 

Benefits f or M ankind. S an D iego, C A: U nivelt, 1978. pp. 617 -31. T his a rticle, d elivered a t th e sixteenth 

Goddard M emorial S ymposium i n 1 978, f ocuses o n t he m anned m aneuvering units that the Shuttle crews 

would use in orbit. The n ew s pace s uit w ith a ttached lif e-support sy stem a nd se lf-contained pr opulsion 

backpack would allow the crew to venture beyond the confines of the cargo bay. It would allow free-flight from 

the Shuttle cargo bay to satellites and return. The freedom of movement this allows would make working in 

space a realistic capability. The paper describes the suit and its method of operation.

Yaffee, Michael L. "Alternate Booster Evaluation Set." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 24 January 1972. pp. 36-

37. This article reports on the efforts of Grumman and Boeing in investigating the use of a pump-fed booster as 

an alternative to the pressure-fed ballistic recoverable booster that had been intended for the Shuttle.

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 4—Design and Development
29

CHAPTER 5

SPACE SHUTTLE TESTING AND EVALUATION

Baker, D avid. " Evolution o f t he Space Shuttle: 5 . A pproach a nd L anding T est P rogramme." Spaceflight. 1 9 ( June 

1977): 213-17. As the subtitle suggests, this article describes the major developments in the test program for 

the Shuttle's reentry and landing phase.

Baker, David. "Evolution of the Space Shuttle: 6. Free Flight Tests Begin." Spaceflight. 20 (January 1978): 21-28, 40. 

Describes the flight characteristics of the Shuttle tests then underway at the Dryden Flight Research Center in 

California.

Baker, David. "Space Shuttle Feels the Atmosphere." Flight International. 26 M arch 1977, pp. 784-787. Summarizes 

the flight tests of the first Shuttle orbiter then being completed at the Dryden Flight Research Center.

Baker, D avid, an d W ilson, Mi chael. " Space Shuttle Debut." Flight I nternational. 25 S eptember 1976, pp. 975-982. 

Description of the first roll-out of the Shuttle Enterprise in 1976.

Beatty, J. Kelly. "Space Shuttle: Problems and Progress." Sky and T elescope. 57 ( June 1979): 542-44. Discusses the 

Shuttle's c onstruction a nd te sting a s o f 1979. Its premise i s w hatever i s g ood f or t he S huttle i s g ood f or 

astronomers.

Beatty, J. Kelly. "The Space Shuttle in Free Flight." Sky and Telescope. 54 ( October 1977): 271-275. News report on 

the flight tests of the Shuttle after being deployed from the Boeing 747 used in its flight testing. 

Bulloch, C hris. " Space S huttle Progress." Interavia. 35 ( October 1980) : 899 -906. T his ar ticle d escribes f or an 

international audience the development of the Shuttle from its conception through its flight tests.

Covault, C raig. " Shuttle A borts P ose N ew Challenges." Aviation W eek & Spac e T echnology. 15 October 1975, pp. 

39-45. Reports in depth on the difficulties of the Shuttle after one of its tests were aborted due to malfunctions.

Covault, C raig. " Shuttle E ngine P asses C ritical Mi lestone." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 30 June 1975, pp. 

37-42. This is one of many news articles on the Shuttle by Covault. Discusses the major testing of the Shuttle 

main engine.

Covault, Craig. "Shuttle Firing Test Count Starts." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 9 February 1981, pp. 24-26. An 

account of the test firing of the Shuttle's main engines.

Edwards, C.L.W., and Cole, Stanley R. Predictions of Entry Heating for Lower Service of Shuttle Orbiter. Washington, 

DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1983. This 94-page report is a technical memorandum on 

this subject.

Fink, Donald. "Orbiter Experiences Control Problems." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 31 October 1977, pp. 16-

17. Describes the problems found in the handling of the Shuttle during its free flight tests. On its fifth free flight 

test on 26 October 1977 the Enterprise encountered control problems at touchdown. While trying to slow the 

spacecraft for landing the pilot experienced a left roll, corrected for it, and touched down too hard. The Shuttle 

bounced once and eventually settled down to a longer landing than was expected.

Fink, Donald. "Orbiter Flight Plan Expanded." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 27 June 1977, pp. 12-14. This news 

article describes the current status and fast pace of the Shuttle test program at Dryden in the latter 1970s.
30

Fink, Donald. " Orbiter Responsive in Free Flight." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 22 A ugust 1977, pp. 12-19. 

This is a news report on the tests of the Shuttle orbiter from the Boeing 747 test bed.

Flight T est R esults P ertaining t o t he Spac e Shut tlecraft. Washington, DC: N ational A eronautics an d S pace 

Administration, 1970. A vailable f rom S pringfield, V A: F ederal S cientific a nd T echnical I nformation. T his 

159-page work was published as NASA Technical Memorandum (TM) X-2101. It contained the proceedings 

of a symposium held at the Flight Research Center at Edward Air Force Base, California, on 30 June 1970, 

assessing the s tatus o f t he l ifting b ody p rogram a nd various a spects o f t he S huttle p rogram t hen b eing 

developed. It is a highly technical set of presentations.

Gong, Leslie; Ko, William L.; and Quinn, Robert D. Thermal Response of Space Shuttle Wing During Reentry Heating. 

Edwards, CA: Dryden Flight Research Facility, 1984. This is a highly technical report concerning the reentry 

problems of the Shuttle orbiter.

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 Shuttle, the Orbiter 101, named after the "Star Trek's" Enterprise. Designed 

for the popular market, it is a fast-moving story with emphasis on anecdotes, and without scholarly apparatus.

Hallion, Richard P. Test Pilots: The Frontiersmen of Flight. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988 ed., 

pp. 270-80. This addendum to the 1981 or iginal edition of this book reviews the test and evaluation phase of 

the Space Shuttle. It is a good summation of the development of the program through the first flights of the 

orbiter.

Hamilton, D avid D .; S chliesing, J ohn A .; a nd Z upp, G eorge A ., J r. Orbiter Loads M ath M odel D escription and 

Correlation with ALT Flight Data. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service, 1980. This is a 

short technical paper relating to flight operations and tracking of the Shuttle.

Kolcum, Edward H. "Shuttle Engine Firing Successful." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 2 March 1981, pp. 17-19. 

Discussion of the successful test of the Shuttle's main engines.

Lenorovitz, Jeffrey M. "Shuttle Orbiter Test Phase Trimmed." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 4 July 1977, pp. 18-

19. This news item describes the conduct of the captive test flights of the Shuttle mated to the Boeing 747 at 

Dryden an d co mments that s ince t hey were g oing so well the t est program was ahead o f schedule and t he 

number of flights could be cut because they were unnecessary.

McIntosh, G regory P ., a nd L arkin, T homas P . " Space S huttle's T esting G auntlet." Astronautics & A eronautics. 14 

(January 1976): 44-56. Technical article on the rigid testing program given for each system of the Shuttle. It 

emphasizes the safety aspects of the program.

National Research Council. Technical St atus of t he Space Shut tle M ain Engine (Second R eview). Washington, DC: 

National Research Council, February 1979. This is the second of two reports of the Assembly of Engineering's 

ad hoc Committee for Review of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Development Program. A follow-up study was

requested b y t he S ubcommittee o n S cience, T echnology, an d S pace o f t he U .S. S enate C ommittee o n 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation as the result of uncertainties in technical development pointed out in 

the committee's first report. This report presents t he co mmittee's as sessment o f p roblems co nsidered in its 

earlier review as well as others that arose subsequently. It also addresses longer-range issues concerning safety 

and r eliability. D amaging m alfunctions in tw o m ain e ngines w hile u nder te st d uring th e p eriod o f the 

committee's study are described together with a discussion of their implications for development of the main 

engines.

Whitnah, A.M., a nd H illje, E.R . Space Shuttle Wind Tunnel Testing Program Summary. Washington, DC: National 
31

Aeronautics and Space A dministration, 1984. Detailed en gineering r eport d escribing te sts o f th e S huttle in 

wind tunnels.

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 4—Design and Development
32

CHAPTER 6

SPACE SHUTTLE OPERATIONS 

Arrington, J ames P ., a nd J ones, J im J . C omps. Shuttle P erformance: L essons Learned. W ashington, D C: N ational 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1983. 2 Vols. This is a collection of papers given at a conference on the 

Shuttle held at Langley Research Center on 8-10 March 1983 f or the purpose of ascertaining the operational 

performance of the Shuttle after its first missions into o rbit. It has several papers dealing with a number of 

broad ar eas: as cent aer odynamics; en try aer odynamics; g uidance, n avigation, an d co ntrol; aer othermal 

environment; thermal protection; and measurements and analyses.

Carrillo, M anuel J . A D evelopment of L ogistics M anagement M odels f or the Space T ransportation Sy stem. S anta 

Monica, CA: Rand Corp., 1983. This study reviews procedures and sets priorities and policies for the support 

of Shuttle operations.

Case, Ed. "We Have Lift Off": History and P hotos of Shuttle Launches. Palm Bay, FL: E. Case, 1989. Collection of 

photos of Shuttle launches, some of them striking, with a little text about the launches. 

Covault, Craig. "Aerobatics at Mach 25." Science 81. 2 (May 1981): 58-63. A short article on the first Shuttle mission in 

1981.

Covault, C raig. " Planners S et L ong-Term S pace G oals." Aviation Week & Spac e T echnology. 9, M arch, 1981, pp. 

75-78. This article reports on NASA and other Federal Government leaders' efforts to assess the direction of 

the space program for the future as the Shuttle begins its operational phase.

Covault, Craig. "Shuttle Management Shifting to Operations." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 21 December 1981, 

pp. 12-15. This article reviews the process of change taking place in NASA as it moved from an RDT&E 

stance with the Shuttle to one oriented toward flying operational missions.

Dawson, Harry S. Review of Space Shuttle Requirements, Operations, and Future Plans. Washington, DC: U.S. House 

of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1984. This report deals with the past and prospects 

for the Shuttle during its early operational life. It is optimistic but still not sanguine that NASA would be able 

to m ake i t co st ef fective. T his r eport w as p repared b y the House Subcommittee on Space Science and 

Applications.

General Accounting Office. Space P rogram: Spac e D ebris a P otential T hreat t o Spac e St ation and Shut tle. 

Washington, D C: G eneral A ccounting O ffice, 1 990. T his r eport, w ritten for the chair of U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, deals with the problem of orbiting junk and its 

potential hazard to the Shuttle and other flight operations in the next five years.

Gore, Rick. "When the Space Shuttle Finally Flies." National Geographic. 159 (March 1981): 317-47. In an article 

containing an ab undance o f t his p ublication's t rademark p hotographs, G ore o ffers an assessment of the 

development of the Shuttle through its first mission.

Gurney, Gene, and Forte, Jeff. The Space Shuttle Log: The First 25 Flights. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Aero Books, 

1988. Briefly covers each of the first 25 flights of the Shuttle in chronological order. Each mission begins with 

a flight detail entry covering the basics of the missions, personnel, payload, experiments, etc. Nothing in this 

book is really new.

Kolcum, E dward H . " Managers Mo dernize S huttle S ystem t o I ncrease Efficiency, Launch Rate." Aviation W eek & 

Space T echnology. 4 D ecember 1989, pp. 46 -48. This article focuses on the e fforts of Robert L. C rippen, 
33

astronaut and manager of the Shuttle program, to reorganize his function to ensure safe and reliable operations.

Lewis, Richard S. The Voyages of Columbia: The First True Spaceship. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. 

Taking as its theme that the Shuttle is the first true spaceship—one that can be reused and makes access to 

space more routine—this book provides a good rendition of the development and use of the Columbia orbiter. 

A large-format, well-written publication, it 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 is limited to a single orbiter and its role in the space program.

National Aeronautics and S pace A dministration. Space T ransportation Sy stem U ser H andbook. W ashington, D C: 

National A eronautics a nd S pace A dministration, J une 1977, r ev. e d. May 1982. This loose-leaf b ooklet 

explains t he Shuttle's d evelopment and u ses. It describes the t ypes of u ser support it was designed for an d 

offers some pricing background.

Oberg, A lcestis R . " After t he P arades." Final F rontier. S eptember/October 1990, pp. 43 -48, 58 -59. T his a rticle 

describes the little-known or little-noticed efforts to refurbish the Shuttle orbiters after each flight. After flight 

they are in terrible condition and are sent to a S huttle garage for a co mplete overhaul. The author details the 

work done on the various systems, etc., to get the spacecraft ready to fly again.

Overbye, D ennis. " The S huttle C omes o f A ge." Discover. June 1982, pp. 61 -64. P ublished j ust a fter th e f irst f ew 

operational flights of the Shuttle, this short article assesses for a popular audience the importance of the craft 

for the United States.

Phillips, W . P elham. Space Shut tle O rbiter T rimmed C enter-of-Gravity E xtension St udy. H ampton, V A: L angley 

Research Center, 1984. This is one of several technical studies undertaken during this period to correct for 

flight characteristics of the Shuttle.

Powell, Joel W. and Caldwell, Lee Robert. The Space Shuttle Almanac: A Comprehensive Overview of the First Ten 

Years of Space Shuttle Operations. Calgary, Alberta: Microgravity Press, 1992. This reference tool offers an 

overview of Space Shuttle operations, facilities, hardware, and missions for the Shuttle's first 39 flights. Using 

information culled mainly f rom v arious N ASA p ublications, th e a uthors d escribe th e o rbiter, d iscuss e ach 

mission flown, and provide detail on payloads, experiments, and crew.

Results of Spac e Shut tle F light 41 -C. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives C ommittee o n S cience and 

Technology, 1984. This contains hearings about this Shuttle flight held on 15 May 1984.

Results o f S pace Shut tle F light 41 -D. Washington, DC: U.S. House o f R epresentatives C ommittee o n S cience an d 

Technology, 1984. This contains hearings about this Shuttle flight held on 25 September 1984.

Results of Spac e Shut tle F light 61 -C. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse of R epresentatives C ommittee o n S cience and 

Technology, 1986. This contains hearings about this Shuttle flight held on 23 September 1986.

Results of the Space Shuttle Discovery Mission. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation, 1988. This publication reports on the hearings of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, 

and Space held on 13 October 1988.

Space Shuttle Payloads: Hearing Before the Committee on A eronautical and Space Sciences. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Senate Committee o n A eronautical an d S pace S ciences, 3 0-31 O ctober 1973. T his t wo-part p ublication 

reviews the Shuttle's possible missions in the 1980s.
34

Space Shuttle Requirements, Operations, and Future Plans. Washington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives 

Committee o n S cience an d T echnology, 1 984. T his co nsists o f t he h earings o n the subject before the 

subcommittee on Space Science and Applications of the 98th Cong., 2d Sess.

Space Shuttle Transportation System: Press Information. Downey, CA: Rockwell International, February 1981. This 

publication contains facts and information about the Shuttle for the media. It has been issued periodically since 

the system first began operation, updating certain aspects of the program.

Stockton, William, and Wilford, John Noble. Spaceliner: Report on C olumbia's Voyage into Tomorrow. New York: 

Times Books, 1981. T his 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 thin 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.

Trippett, Frank. "Milk Run to the Heavens." Time. 12 January 1981, pp. 10ff. A well-done news story with characteristic 

striking photography, this article describes the use of the Shuttle for routine operations. No longer would space 

flight be a difficult venture, but one that is, as the writer said, a "milk run."

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 5—Operations
35

CHAPTER 7

CHALLENGER ACCIDENT AND AFTERMATH 

Assured A ccess t o Spac e: 1986 . W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives C ommittee o n S cience and 

Technology, 1986. T his pu blication r eports on h earings h eld by t he S ubcommittee on Space S cience an d 

Applications on several occasions in 1986 following the Challenger accident.

Baker, D avid. " Science C rashed w ith C hallenger." New S cientist. 29 J anuary 1987, pp. 55 -57. W ritten o n th e f irst 

anniversary of the Challenger accident, this article asserts that space science was set back many years because 

of the retrenchment of the space program. Baker analyzes what he thought was a dangerous trend in the space 

program, the subversion of science for military payloads. Even without this, contends Baker, literally hundreds 

of scheduled experiments for the Shuttle have been delayed for an indefinite period. He ends by saying that the 

fate of the Shuttle resulted in the loss of 38 years from the science projects discussed in the article.

Beck, Melinda. "NASA's Troubled Flight Plan: There's no Turning Back, but Are We on the Right Path?" Newsweek. 

10 February 1986, pp. 35-38. This is a good article on the development of the space program and the alleged 

loss of nerve resulting from the explosion of Challenger. It suggests that NASA was naive to put all eggs in the 

Shuttle basket and that a reevaluation is appropriate.

Bell, Trudy E. and Esch, Karl. "The Fatal Flaw in Flight 51-L." IEEE Spectrum. (February 1987): 36-51. This article, 

based on personal interviews and Rogers Commission and congressional committee reports, reviews the events 

leading up to the Challenger accident. It discusses the steady erosion of concern about the deficiencies of the 

O-ring design as NASA and Thiokol became more complacent with the Shuttle's operational success. Other 

reasons cited for NASA's and Thiokol's failure was their rigid chains of command, the lack of input from the 

NASA safety office, the financial and p ossible p olitical p ressure t o l aunch, an d t he l ack o f s econdary 

manufacturing sources for the boosters. The article concludes that management was in general too wedded to a 

climate that simply ignored bad news, rather than pay attention to it and try to correct reported problems.

Bell, Trudy E., a nd Esch, Karl. "The Space Shuttle: A Case of Subjective Engineering." IEEE Spectrum. (June 1989): 

42-46. These writers, in an unreferenced article based on interviews, describe the development of a NASA 

cultural bias to ward e ngineering r eliability a nd s afety d uring th e d evelopment an d co nstruction p hase o f a 

spacecraft. Because of this approach, NASA never placed reliance on probabilistic risk analysis, the statistical 

tracking of failure rates, and had collected none on which to base a s tatistical analysis. This was not an issue 

until the Challenger accident, when it was found that a statistical effort could have predicted the probability of 

failure and perhaps signaled that caution was in order.

Biddle, Wayne. " NASA: What's Needed to Put it o n its Feet?" Discover. 8 (January 1987): 30-41. This is a lengthy 

special r eport o n i ssues r elating t o N ASA m anagement o f t he s pace program. The Shuttle program, its 

management, operations, and restructuring following Challenger are examined.

Brosz, T om. " NASA Works to Get Shuttle Back into Space." Commercial Space Report. 10 ( November 1986): 1-6. 

This article discusses NASA's efforts to recover its Space Shuttle program following the Challenger tragedy 

and to begin flight once again. Brosz suggests that the majority of the payloads are military and government 

satellites. NASA hopes to restructure the Shuttle program's management system and develop a m anagement 

structure based upon the successful Apollo program. It was also working to correct flaws in the solid rocket 

boosters and crew escape systems.

Brosz, Tom. " The C hallenger D isaster: C auses and C onsequences—Part II. " Commercial Spac e R eport. 10 ( March 

1986): 1 -5. According to the author, NASA's monopoly on all Space Shuttle flights was the cause of what 

became an essential prohibition from space for the United States following the Challenger accident. Because of 
36

the monopoly, commercialization of the Space Shuttle had been virtually impossible, and now that the accident 

has occurred, companies are forced to look for alternative launch sites and vehicles. Europe's Arianespace may 

try to absorb as many of the satellite customers as it c an. With all the space eggs in the Shuttle basket, the 

United States has been forced to take a back seat to other nations who have a variety of launch capabilities.

Challengers: The Inspiring Life Stories of t he Se ven Brave Astronauts of Shut tle M ission 51 -L. New Y ork: Pocket 

Books, 1986. T his book , w ritten by t he s taff of t he Washington Post, d escribes t he car eers o f t he s even 

astronauts killed in the Challenger accident of January 1986. It is a relatively standard journalistic account, but 

it contains considerable background not found elsewhere.

Cohen, Daniel and Susan. Heroes of the Challenger. London: Archway Paperbacks, 1986. Published in July 1986 about 

the people killed in the Challenger explosion. Provides a media approach to covering the life stories and events 

of STS-51L in an inexpensive and compact version of Challengers. 

Dobrzynski, Judith H. "Morton Thiokol: Reflections on the Shuttle Disaster." Business Week. 14 M arch 1988, pp. 82-

83. Discusses the problems and accomplishments of Morton Thiokol in light of the O-ring problem on the solid 

rocket boosters that was a critical failure item for the Challenger accident. Special attention is paid to the work 

of Charles S. Losk, lead man at Morton Thiokol.

Dworetzky, Tom. "Return of the Shuttle." Discover. 7 (July 1988): 46-55. This is a special report somewhat flippantly 

subtitled " Righting t he S tuff," w hich s urveys t he s pace p rogram. A s ignificant p ortion o f it d eals with the 

Shuttle program and how NASA is restructuring it to return to space following the Challenger accident.

Feynman, Richard P. "An Outsider's Inside View of the Challenger Inquiry." Physics Today. 41 (February 1988): 26-37. 

This article, by one of the nation's leading scientists, is an outstanding discussion of the O-ring problem and 

Thiokol's attempted solution both before and after the Shuttle accident.

Feynman, Richard P. "What Do You Care what Other People Think?" Further Adventures of a Curious Character. New 

York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1988, as told to Ralph Leighton. This is a fascinating personal account of the 

work of the Rogers Commission t o unr avel t he r easons b ehind t he Challenger disaster. F eynman w as 

responsible for the assignment of responsibility for the accident to the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters and 

he discusses with compassion and insight the personalities and events surrounding the discovery.

Forres, George. Space Shuttle: T he Q uest Continues. London: Ian Allen, 1989. I n what could only be considered a 

broad introduction to the Shuttle p rogram, th e a uthor d escribes th e r eassessment o f th e S huttle p rogram 

following the Challenger accident and its return to flight in September 1988. Designed for the buff market, it is 

well-illustrated but has no references. 

Furniss, Tim. "Space Comes Down to Earth." Space. 2 (September-November 1986): 38-41. This article examines the 

Challenger accident and other failures and how t hey m ay af fect t he f uture ex ploration o f s pace. A b rief 

overview o f t he S huttle's b udget, m issions, s etbacks, a nd s chedules i s gi ven. S ome of the pressures on the 

Shuttle th at h e id entifies in clude a w ide r ange o f c ustomers, th e s pace s tation, S huttle modifications, 

presidential reports, and safety. The author offers a provisional flight schedule for the Shuttle.

General Accounting Office. Space Shuttle: Changes to the Solid Rocket Motor Contract TLSP: Report to Congressional 

Requestors. W ashington, D C: G eneral A ccounting O ffice, 1988. This report, d one af ter t he Challenger

accident, describes the changes to the Space Shuttle solid rocket motor contract, and assesses the redesign of 

the m otors f ollowing t he a ccident, d escribing t he c hanges i n t he m otor j oints a nd other design changes to 

enhance the motor's safety and reliability. These changes were incorporated into 13 sets of boosters for the 

Shuttle. It also comments on the method used to assess the costs of these changes, noting that the fees paid 

were changed from specific cost and performance incentives to more subjective valuations by NASA.
37

General A ccounting O ffice. Space Shut tle: F ollow-up Evaluation of NASA's Sol id R ocket M otor P rocurement. 

Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1989. T his r eport r eviews N ASA's " plans to e stablish a nd 

maintain competition in the future procurement of Shuttle solid rocket motors and the quality assurance and 

industrial safety programs at Morton Thiokol's solid rocket motor manufacturing plant."

General A ccounting O ffice. Space Shut tle: N ASA's P rocurement of Solid R ocket B ooster M otors. Washington, DC: 

General A ccounting O ffice, A ugust 1 986. T his r eport as sesses N ASA's ef forts t o p rocure the solid rocket 

booster from Morton Thiokol following the Challenger accident. It discusses the redesign effort and analyzes 

the costs to the Shuttle program.

Goldberg, Steven. "The Space Shuttle Tragedy and the Ethics of Engineering." Jurimetrics Journal. 27 (Winter 1987): 

155-159. T his ar ticle cr iticizes t he d ivorce o f en gineering judgment from management d ecisions, using the 

Challenger accident as a case study.

Implementation of t he R ecommendations of t he P residential C ommittee on t he Spac e Shut tle Challenger Accident. 

Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, June 1987. This is an in-depth report of the 

NASA leadership to President Ronald Reagan on the method and results of the implementation of changes 

recommended to th e S huttle p rogram in lig ht o f th e Challenger accident. The l eadership em phasized t he 

sweeping changes coming to the agency to ensure that nothing of this type ever happened again. They note that 

the interplay of national politics, NASA management, and individual engineering decisions is critical.

Investigation of the Challenger Accident: Hearings before the Committee on Science and Technology. Washington, DC: 

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1986. 2 Vols. This large work contains 

the t estimonies o f num erous hi gh-ranking witnesses c oncerning t he Challenger accident. I t i ncludes t he 

statements of more than 60 people taken during 10 formal sessions. Understanding its contents is critical in any 

serious effort to appreciate and interpret the complexity of the events leading up to the tragedy.

Investigation of the Challenger Accident: Report of the Committee on Science and Technology. House Report 99-1016. 

Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1986. This report's 

findings are similar to those of the Roger's Commission, drawing conclusions and making recommendations on 

the Challenger accident. It comments that the pressure to maintain a s chedule o f 2 4 l aunches p er y ear 

prompted NASA to take more shortcuts than appropriate and blames not only NASA but also Congress and the 

administration f or c ontributing to th is pressure, including that to evolve f rom a n R &D to a c ompetitive 

operational agency, which also contributes to this difficulty. The report reemphasizes the need for safety and 

stresses the nonroutine nature of space flight.

"James Beggs Speaks on the Future of NASA." Science & Technology. 24 July 1987, pp. 17-21. This interview with the 

former NASA Administrator contains a significant discussion of the agency's role in the development of the 

Shuttle. Beggs had objected to th e a ppointment o f D r. W illiam G raham as d eputy ad ministrator an d h ad, 

according to many sources, been forced out of the Administrator's job as a r esult. Graham had been on the 

scene to issue the go decision leading to the 1986 Challenger disaster. Beggs discusses pointedly the accident 

and the investigation thereafter. He notes that the r eview w as no t t horough e nough a nd t hat t he a ccident 

requires further examination.

Kline, T imothy E . "Walking on W ings: C aution and Courage for Manned Space Flight." Air University Review. 37 

(May-June 1986): 70-75. In the wake of the Challenger accident, this article describes the balance necessary in 

manned s pace f light b etween t he accep tance o f r isk an d t he co mmitment t o s afety, taking a historical 

perspective.

Kovach, Kenneth A., and Render, Barry. "NASA Managers and Challenger: A Profile and Possible Explanation." IEEE 
38

Engineering M anagement R eview. 16 ( March 1988) : 2 -6. T his a rticle is a s ociological s tudy of NASA 

management and the Challenger disaster. Based on a s eries of tests conducted on NASA personnel between 

1978 and 1982, the authors conclude t hat ag ency l eaders ar e ch aracterized b y a t endency n ot t o r everse 

decisions and not to heed the advice of people outside the management group.

Kubey, Robert W., and Peluso, Thea. "Emotional Response as a Cause of Interpersonal News Diffusion: The Case of 

the Space S huttle T ragedy." Journal of B roadcasting & E lectronic M edia. 34 ( Winter 1990) : 69 -76. T his 

article looks at the psychological aspects of disasters reported in the media using the Shuttle accident as the 

principal vehicle. It asserts th at th ere is a s trong a nd d irect c orrelation b etween th e s trength o f e motional 

reaction by the public and the time spent talking and showing pictures of the accident.

Lansford, H enry. " Phoenix i n S pace: R ising f rom the A shes to O rbit." World & I . 5 ( December 1990) : 315 -21. 

Discusses the return to operational status of the Shuttle and offers some observations on the revisions to the 

Shuttle program in the wake of the Challenger accident.

Lapp, R alph E . " $10 B illion More f or S pace?" New R epublic. 26 ( 21 F ebruary 1970) . T his l engthy a nalysis i s a 

thoughtful critique of the Space Shuttle by a l eading opponent of the manned exploration of space. Lapp, a 

physicist w ithout in stitutional a ffiliation, o pposed th e m anned f lights o f A pollo a nd s uggests he re t hat t he 

Shuttle is a spacecraft in search of a mission. He downplays the scientific and economic benefits of the Shuttle.

Lewis, Richard S. The Last Voyage of Challenger. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. 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.

Lewis, Ruth A., and Lewis, John S. "Getting B ack o n Track in Space." Technology Review. 89 (August-September 

1986): 30 -40. T his a rticle a ssesses U .S. s pace p olicy in lig ht o f th e Challenger accident, reviewing t he 

objectives and commitment. It takes a h istorical view of the evolution of the manned program, assesses the 

payload capability of the U.S. and Soviet Union, and the NASA budget as a percentage of GNP. It finds that 

the U.S. has received a lot for a relatively modest outlay.

Lopez, Ramon. "Impact of Challenger Loss: Future Shuttle Flights Tied to Presidential Probe Findings." Space Markets. 

1 (Spring 1986): 40-45. Argues that the Challenger disaster was caused by several unfortunate miscalculations, 

and that now the question of its impact on the space program must be considered. Lopez asserts that June 1987 

is th e e arliest d ate th at th e S huttle m ay be operating a gain, s o vi able a lternatives s hould b e s ought i n t he 

commercial world to place satellites into orbit. Unfortunately, U.S. military vehicles cannot ease the situation 

since all already have assigned payloads. Questions remain, according to the author, about whether or not to 

build another Shuttle, and whether or not the Shuttle design needs to be recast.

Magnuson, E d. " Putting S chedule o ver S afety; D espite Challenger, t he S huttle P rogram I gnores W histle-blowers." 

Time. 1 February 1988, pp. 20-21. This short article focuses on Sylvia Robins who contends that NASA and its 

contractors ar e s till wedded t o Shuttle l aunches on an accelerated and unattainable schedule in spite of the 

Challenger accident.

Marsh, George. "Eject, Eject, Eject: The Escape Pod May Be the Most Cost-Effective Solution for the Next Generation 

of Spacecraft." Space. 4 (January-February 1988): 4-8. The Challenger disaster brought to light the inherent 

risks involved in space travel. Since then the s pace agencies and their major c ontractors have p laced great 

emphasis on concepts and systems for escaping from space vehicles. The risk of failure is highest in the first 

stages of l aunch, w hen t he p ower co ncentration i s s o l arge. T his ar ticle ex amines s ome o f t he r ecent 

developments in rocket extraction systems and their potential use for the Shuttle.

Marshall, Eliot. "The Shuttle Record: Risks, Achievements." Science. 14 February 1986, pp. 664-66. In the aftermath of 
39

the Challenger accident this article as sesses t he h istory o f t he S huttle f rom th e p erspective o f w hat it h as 

accomplished for the nation. It is a favorable record of risk versus achievement, according to the author.

McAleer, N eil. Space Shut tle: T he R enewed P romise. W ashington, D C: N ational A eronautics an d S pace 

Administration, n.d. This slick booklet attempts to e xplain e xactly w hat to ok p lace f ollowing Challenger

before NASA returned to flight in 1988. Emphasis is on the Shuttle's potential and flexibility and on restoring 

confidence in the program. A full-color format.

McConnell, Malcolm. Challenger: A Major Malfunction. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1987. This book is one 

of several "exposes" of NASA's Shuttle development and operations management that appeared following the 

Challenger accident. Written by a j ournalist and containing no scholarly apparatus, the book has on its dust 

jacket the phrase: "The True Story of Politics, Greed, and the Wrong Stuff." It deals with the events leading up 

to the decision to launch the Shuttle on 28 January 1986, emphasizing the immediate causes of the accident. 

McConnell highlights the pressures to l aunch, t he o bjections o f e ngineers, a nd t he i nternal d ebates o n t he 

subject. He claims that NASA was responsible for the disaster by pressing operations officials to launch the 

Shuttle on January 28 so that the President could mention it in that evening's State of the Union Address. He 

cites as evidence co nversations b etween a N ASA p ublic af fairs person an d t he W hite H ouse P ress Office. 

NASA has denied this contention. He also makes much of the Utah connections of NASA administrator James 

Fletcher in the award of the Utah-based Morton Thiokol to make the solid rocket booster. He suggests that the 

Reagan administration's enthusiasm for the privatization of space and the DOD's eagerness to use the Shuttle 

for Strategic Defense Initiative combined to cause overwhelming pressure to launch. Most serious, he alleges 

that the NASA reorganization following the accident was a paper tiger carried out by the same people who had 

been in leadership positions beforehand.

McKean, Kevin. "They Fly in the Face of Danger." Discover. 7 (April 1986): 48-54. This article deals with the formal 

assessment of risk at NASA, emphasizing the Shuttle program and failure modes in systems.

Miller, Jon D. "The Challenger Accident and Public Opinion: Attitudes Toward the Space Programme in the USA." 

Space Policy. 3 (May 1987): 122-40. This article discusses the results of a survey of American attitudes toward 

the s pace p rogram an d t he S huttle. T he s urvey w as car ried o ut in three periods: be fore t he J anuary 1986 

Challenger accident, immediately afterwards, and five months later. It found that the accident strongly shifted 

public opinion in favor of the space program and the Shuttle. Many people expected a timely resumption of 

Shuttle flights, although there was a delayed recognition of the significant impact of the accident on the space 

program. There was a s hift in public attitudes toward a m ore positive assessment of the benefits and costs of 

space exploration. Positive popular response towards funding was even more marked, something rarely found 

in public opinion studies.

Minsky, Marvin. "NASA Held Hostage: Human Safety Imposes Outlandish Constraints on the U.S. Space Program." Ad 

Astra. 2 (June 1990): 34-37. Assesses the length to which NASA has altered its approach and hardware used in 

spaceflight t o en sure t he s afety o f p eople ab oard t he S huttle. T he costs of this and validity of the human 

spaceflight program are assessed and still found wanting.

Moore, David H. Setting Space Transportation Policy for the 1990s. Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, 

1986. This short monograph reviews the Space Shuttle policy since the inception of the program and describes 

the process for the 1990s. It advocates a r eturn to flight for the system, but suggests that the Shuttle does not 

provide assured access to space and that expendable launch vehicles are also necessary.

Moorehead, Robert W. "America's Shuttle Returns to Space." Progress in Space Transportation. New York: European 

Space A gency, 1989. pp. 81 -90. T his a rticle d escribes th e r estructuring a nd s treamlining o f th e S huttle 

management organization following the Challenger accident. It identifies the associate administrators for space 

flight a nd s pells o ut th eir d uties, and d escribes t he N ASA p olicy o f as signing as tronauts t o m anagement 
40

positions. It a lso c omments o n th e r ole o f th e s paceflight s afety p anel. F inally, th e a uthor d iscusses n onmanagerial safety enhancement programs: the solid rocket booster changes, the Shuttle crew escape systems, 

and landing improvements.

NASA's Plans to Procure New Shuttle Rocket Motors. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on 

Government O perations, 1 986. T his l engthy r eport c ontains t he he aring o f t he L egislation a nd N ational 

Security Subcommittee on this subject conducted on 31 July 1986 after the loss of Challenger. 

NASA's Response t o t he C ommittee's I nvestigations of t he Challenger Accident. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f 

Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 1987. This publication contains the hearings 

relating to the actions of NASA following the Roger's Commission report concerning the Challenger accident. 

These were held before the committee on 26 February 1987, 100th Cong., 1st Sess.

Perrow, Charles. Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. (New York: Basic Books, 1984). This is a 

study o f t he m anagement o f t echnological i nnovations an d h ow t o make them more effective in their 

development. The author makes plain that a normal accident is one whose failure can be predicted with careful 

analysis, distinguishing between linear systems (dams), complex ones (nuclear power plants), and loose ones 

(most manufacturing). In tightly-controlled, high-risk systems such as spaceflight, events leading to tragedy can 

happen s o q uickly th at in tervention is lik ely to m ake m atters w orse. I n th ose s ystems, it is impossible to 

anticipate and design complex safety systems; the systems become so complex that failure probabilities are 

enhanced. He also describes modern management theory to create mechanisms to minimize the risks in these 

systems. He believes risks should be analyzed and placed i nto one o f three categories: (1) where the risks 

outweigh the benefits as in nuclear power plants, abandonment is desirable; (2) where the risks are presently 

too high as in DNA research, efforts should be suspended until acceptable levels of risk can be attained; and (3) 

where efforts ar e r isky b ut can b e co ntrolled t o s ome ex tent as i n ch emical p lants an d air tr affic c ontrol, 

projects should be carefully regulated and restricted. He places spaceflight in the second category.

Petroski, H enry. To E ngineer i s H uman: T he Role of Failure in Successful Design. (New York: St. M artin's Press, 

1985). A pre-Challenger book relevant for its reflections upon the relationship between engineering and risk. 

The author comments on the development of a special faith attached to modern technology in the public mind, 

and the effect of recent disasters, from Three-mile Island to Chernobyl had on that confidence. This book is not 

simply a chronicle of accidents, but seeks to look at the process of engineering and its creative aspects apart 

from its scientific ones. He notes that the design process accepts failure and seeks to test and gradually develop 

a system, whatever it might be, that has an acceptable level of risk to operate. He cautions that nothing is error 

free. He ends with a discussion of structural failures and their causes, dividing them into several categories. He 

notes that m any r ecent f ailures ar e n ot d ue t o en gineering b ut t o p oor co nstruction, i nferior m aterials, 

inadequate attention to detail, or poor management and oversight.

Results o f th e D evelopment M otor 8 Test Firing. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives C ommittee o n 

Science, Space, and Technology, 1987. This publication reports to the subcommittee on Space Science and 

Applications o n t he s uccessful p erformance o f t he r edesigned S huttle s olid r ocket b oosters at the Morton 

Thiokol test facility in Brigham City, Utah. Hearings were conducted on 16 September 1987, 100th Cong., 1st 

Sess.

Ride, Sally K. Leadership and America's Future in Space: A Report to the Administrator. Washington, DC: National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1987. Following the Challenger accident NASA reassessed its posture 

in the space program and commissioned several studies. This one, written by an astronaut, asks the question, 

where s hould N ASA h ead w ith t he s pace ef fort i n t he n ext twenty years? Essentially a study in strategic 

planning, a major part of this book deals with the ability to reach space efficiently, safely, and reliably. Two 

principal m eans ar e s uggested, an d R ide i ndicates t hat a m ix i s b est, t he S huttle an d ex pendable l aunch 

vehicles. These should become the centerpiece of all other endeavors for NASA, she argues.
41

Riffe, Daniel, and Stovall, James Glen. "Diffusion of News of Shuttle Disaster: What Role for Emotional Response." 

Journalism Quarterly. 66 (Autumn 1989): 551-56. This article is a study of the reporting (or over reporting) of 

the Challenger accident and the viability of emotional stories. It assesses the response of the public to this type 

of media coverage and offers some sophisticated analysis of the process.

Rogers, William P. Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1986. 5 Vols. The first volume of this publication contains the report itself, while 

the rest have supporting documentation and testimony. This is an exceptionally important study based on the 

Commission's in vestigation o f th e Challenger accident. I t h as ar oused co ntroversy i n al l q uarters as b eing 

either too lax in its indictment of NASA's management or too harsh in its criticism.

Roland, Alex. "Priorities in Space for the USA." Space Policy. 3 (May 1987): 104-14. This article follows the story of 

the Shuttle development, placing it in the context of the history of the U.S. space program from Apollo to the 

Space Station. The Shuttle was, according to Roland, one of a series of space "spectaculars" and has proven to 

be expensive and unreliable, practical only for a very limited number of specialized missions. The space station 

also cannot be justified on a cost-effective basis, and the author concludes that the station and the replacement 

orbiter for the Challenger should be cancelled. In their place NASA should begin a major program to develop 

a new launch vehicle independent of the military. The aim should be toward a d ramatic reduction in launch 

vehicle costs, making spaceflight practical, and a truly i ndependent N ASA, which co uld restore the United 

States to space preeminence. This article is followed by a response from John M. Logsdon and a rejoinder from 

Roland.

Roland, Alex. "The Shuttle's Uncertain Future." Final Frontier. April 1988, pp. 24-27. Written by a critic of the manned 

space program in general and the S huttle i n p articular, t his ar ticle as sesses t he s tate o f t he n ation's s pace 

program in the two years following the Challenger accident. Roland contends that the process of developing 

the Shuttle was too politicized and cost-conscious for it to result in a reasonably safe system. More important, 

he maintains that despite, or perhaps because of, the Shuttle's technical sophistication, it is inherently flawed as 

a reliable vehicle to place cargo in orbit. He suggests that the only way out is for NASA to begin seeking 

alternatives to the Shuttle for launching payloads.

Sehlstedt, Albert, Jr. "Shuttle's History Provides Answers." Baltimore Sun. 12 October 1986, pp. 6-9. More than just a 

news story, this lengthy feature is a cogent analysis of the problems in the development of the Shuttle that led to 

the Challenger disaster. S ehlstedt p oints to th e p roblems o f p olitical compromises on funding forcing 

technological compromises in the Shuttle. Ultimately they caught up with NASA.

Shayler, David. Shuttle Challenger. London: Salamander Books, 1987. Another picture book, this large-format work is 

a discussion of the system, its performance, missions, and other assorted tidbits concerning the Challenger. 

There are descriptions of its construction, missions, and the accident. There is some discussion of the inquiry 

into the accident, as well as biographies of each of the astronauts flying on the spacecraft.

Space Shuttle Accident: NASA's Actions to Address the Presidential Commission Report. Washington, DC: U.S. House 

of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 1987. This contains the NASA briefing to 

the committee chairman on 30 October 1987.

Shuttle Recovery Program. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1988. 

This publication contains the hearings on this subject before the subcommittee on Science, Technology, and 

Space held on 16 February 1988, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. It contains an overview of the recovery program and 

focuses on the management of risk.

Sidey, Hugh. "Pioneers in Love with the Frontier." Time. 10 February 1986, pp. 46-47. This thoughtful discussion of the 
42

development of the U.S. space program emphasizes the role of the frontier and the exploration imperative in 

the United States. Sidey, an e xtremely a rticulate c ommentator, s uggests th at n othing w orthwhile is g ained 

without sacrifice. This was a response to the naysayers of the space program after the Challenger accident.

Simon, Michael C., and Hora, Richard P. "Return of the ELVs." Space World. January 1988, pp. 15-18. This article 

reports o n the development an d co nstruction of a new generation of expendable launch vehicles. After th e 

Challenger disaster NASA and everyone else realized the short-sightedness of disallowing access to space via 

expendable boosters. A crash program began to remedy this problem, the fruits of which the authors describe.

Simon, Michael C. Keeping the Dream Alive: Putting NASA and America Back in Space. San Diego, CA: Earth Space 

Operations, 1987. This is a slim volume that is chiefly interesting because of its discussion of the difficulties 

NASA has experienced in meeting the challenge of using and exploring space. It has two full chapters on the 

Shuttle and its development, as well as the effort of selling it to the public in the 1970s as the central means of 

access to space. There is also a discussion of Challenger and the difficulties created and problems illuminated 

by the disaster.

Space Shuttle Accident. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1986. 

This is a set of hearings conducted by the Senate subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space in the 99th 

Cong., 2d Sess., on the accident and the Rogers Commission report.

Space Shuttle Oversight. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1987. 

This contains he arings he ld on the s ubject, p rompted by the Challenger accident held on 22 January 1987 

before the s ubcommittee o n S cience, T echnology, an d S pace, 1 00th C ong., 1 st S ess. T his h earing d eals 

specifically with the accident, NASA management, design and safety of the Shuttle, and launch operations.

Space Shut tle R ecovery. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology, 1987. This publication contains the text of hearings before the Subcommittee on Space Science 

and Applications at the 100 Cong., 1st Sess.

Stine, G. Harry. "The Sky Is Going to Fall." Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, August 1983, pp. 74-77. In an article 

that in retrospect appears prophetic, the author describes several problems with the Shuttle and comments on 

what he considers a serious possibility that a major malfunction could destroy a m ission and all aboard. He 

rests his argument on the complexity of the system and the inherent dangers of space flight. He assumes that 

there will be no way to prevent this accident—all activities of this magnitude eventually have a disaster—but 

what Stine wants his audience to do is to spearhead opposition to what he thinks will be an attack on the space 

program co ming as a r esult o f an acci dent. H e w ants t o en sure t hat t he b aby i s n ot t hrown o ut with the 

bathwater. H e u rges everyone to blunt a media attack. H e wants to save t he s pace p rogram because h e is 

convinced that the wellbeing of humanity rests on exploration of the solar system.

Strategy f or Saf ely R eturning Spac e Shut tle t o F light St atus. W ashington, D C: U .S. House o f R epresentatives 

Committee on Science and Technology, 1986. Text of hearings on this subject before the subcommittee on 

Space Science and Applications conducted on 15 May 1986, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. It emphasizes the safety 

issues of flight and the redesign of the solid rocket boosters before a return to flight.

Taylor, Stephen. "Aerojet in Focus." Space. 4 (July-August 1988): 34-37. The launch propulsion industry received a 

boost f rom t he gr owing d emand f or l aunch s ervices brought on by the grounding of th e S huttle a fter th e 

Challenger accident. The emphasis is on the growth of Aerojet as a result of these developments, and it is 

currently aiming, with NASA, to reduce the cost of low earth orbit to $300 per pound.

Tests of the Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor Program. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on 

Science, Space, and Technology, 1988. Text o f t he h earings o n t he b ooster r edesign ef fort u ndertaken b y 
43

NASA through the primary contractor, Morton Thiokol, held on 27 January 1988.

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. Essentially Trento argues that the giants of the 1960s, the men who 

successfully m anaged t he l unar p rogram, w ere g one an d w ere r eplaced with government b ureaucrats w ho 

played the political game and sold the Shuttle as an inexpensive program and, in the process, sowed the seeds 

of disaster. T rento blames the Nixon administration for politicizing and militarizing the space program, and 

every NASA administrator since that time has had to play hard, but against bigger opponents, in both arenas. 

Declining every year since then, NASA was truly in the doldrums by the time of the Challenger accident. He 

argues that the failure was not the O-rings that ignited the spacecraft, it was the political system that produced 

them. 

Wainright, Louden. "After 25 Years: An End to Innocence." Life. March 1986, pp. 15-17. With the characteristic Life

emphasis on photographs, the longtime writer for the magazine assesses the space program after the Challenger

accident.

"Whistle-blower." Life. March 1988, pp. 17-19. This is an interview with Roger Boisjoly, the former Morton Thiokol 

engineer who complained to the media and anyone else who would listen that his company and NASA had 

neglected critical safety indicators and allowed the Shuttle to be launched against many people's objections. 

That management decision led to the loss of the Challenger, millions of dollars, lots of time, an untold amount 

of credibility, and most important the lives of seven people. Contains numerous photographs. 

Whitehead, Gregory. "The Forensic Theater: Memory Plays for the Post-Mortem Condition." Performing Arts Journal. 

12 (Winter-Spring 1990): 99-110. This article assesses the use of traumatic shock from the death of loved ones 

or t he i mmediacy o f d eath b rought t o t he s creen i n t heater. A s o nly o ne ex ample, t he au thor uses the 

Challenger disaster as a vehicle to assess psychological and collective behavior.

Wright, John C.; Kunkel, Dale; Pinon, Marites; and Houston, Aletha C. "How Children Reacted to Televised Coverage 

of the Space Shuttle Disaster." Journal of Communication. 39 (Spring 1989): 27-45. This is a complex study of 

the reactions of children to the reporting of the Shuttle accident. It uses sophisticated statistical methodology to 

measure six major variables and finds an intense reaction to the accident brought on by the anticipation of 

seeing a teacher teach a class from the Shuttle and watching the explosion on television.

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 6—Challenger Accident and Aftermath

See also Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 15—Columbia Accident and Aftermath 
44

CHAPTER 8

SHUTTLE PROMOTION

Allaway, Howard. The Space Shuttle at Work. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1979. 

This public relations publications booklet is a s lick a nd s imple d iscussion o f th e S huttle a nd its p otential. 

Allaway places emphasis on the role of the Shuttle in providing routine access to space.

Becker, Harold S. " Industry S pace S huttle U se: C onsiderations B esides T icket P rice." Journal of C ontemporary 

Business. 7 ( 1978): 143-51. A p romotional a rticle th at e mphasizes th e p ositive b enefits o f th e S huttle f or 

deploying s atellites, r ecovering o r r epairing ite ms in s pace, a nd u sing the microgravity laboratory, which 

offered a whole range of new capabilities in space technology. The article concludes that the Shuttle, while an 

expensive program, has benefits far outweighing its costs.

Bova, Ben. "The Shuttle, Yes." New York Times. January 4, 1982, p. A23. This article discusses the place of the Shuttle 

in the overall exploration of space and the status of the United States among world powers. It is written by a 

well-known science fiction writer and futurist.

Collins, Michael. "Orbiter Is First Spacecraft Designed for Shuttle Runs." Smithsonian. 8 (May 1977): 38-47. This is an 

excellent article on the Shuttle's development and potential written by a former astronaut. Collins concludes 

that the Shuttle has the potential, however difficult it might be to fulfill, to open space for routine operations.

Faget, Maxime A. and Davis, H.P. "Space Shuttle Applications." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 187 (25 

January 1972) : 261 -82. This paper, written by one of the p rincipal d esigners o f th e S huttle, d iscusses th e 

performance potential of the Shuttle and the high-energy transportation system deriving from it. The authors 

show that in addition to its cost effectiveness in earth-orbital missions, the Shuttle promises to be of major 

significance for future solar system exploration. Eventually, they suggest, the Shuttle will make possible the 

launching of large interplanetary payloads sent at high velocities to the far reaches of the solar system.

Gregory, William H. "Shuttle Opens Door to New Space Era." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 8 November 1976, 

pp. 39-43. One of many articles of the period which describe the Shuttle as a revolutionary system providing 

easy and cheap access to space.

Haggerty, J ames J. " Space Shuttle, N ext G iant S tep f or Man kind." Aerospace. 14 ( December 1976) : 2 -9. This is a 

general article on the Shuttle's development with a heavy emphasis on the potential of it to offer routine access 

to space. Its development is explicitly compared to the lunar landing of 1969.

Irvine, Mat. "Shuttlemania." Scale Models. 9 (July 1978): 330-35. During the latter 1970s the Shuttle program garnered 

something of the same type of popular interest as had the space program of the 1960s, and it sparked a good 

response from the model builders. This article describes the craze in that aspect of popular culture.

Lawrence, John. "The Demythification of NASA." NASA Activities. 21 ( November/December 1990): 3-5. This article 

summarizes the main arguments NASA uses to counter its critics. Includes justifications of the Space Shuttle 

and its performance.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Space Shuttle. Houston, TX: John Space Center, 1975. This is a booklet describing 

for the public the potential of the Shuttle for the exploration of space. It emphasizes the benefits to be accrued 

and mentions the Shuttle contractors, analyzes the economic impact of the program, and describes the mission 

profile. It was reprinted a year later in a more concise and visually appealing form.

Meredith, Dennis. "It's 1985. Come with Commander Mitty and His Crew on a Routine 'Milk Run' Flight in the Space 
45

Shuttle." Science D igest. 8 7 ( January 1980): 52 -59. A lthough f lippantly n amed, th is a rticle d escribes 

something of the public hopes for the Shuttle in 1980 and its promise of providing routine access to space.

Michaud, Michael A.G. Reaching for the High Frontier: The American Pro-Space Movement, 1972-1984. New York: 

Praeger, 1986. Michaud presents a cogent history and commentary of the pro-space efforts made by voluntary 

organizations that arose near the end of the Apollo program. Michaud identifies the key groups, traces their 

origins and goals, and describes how they had a subtle but critical influence on the space policy of the nation 

during the formative years of Shuttle development. These groups lobbied with Congress and used publicity to 

support the space effort, not always with the expected results, however. Their intent was to turn ideas and a 

diffuse pro-space sentiment into legislation aimed at building support for the Shuttle and creating space stations 

and trips to Mars. This book represents the first systematic attempt to analyze the space booster efforts of the 

1970s, and although a fine contribution, it should not be the final word on the subject.

Michener, James A. "Looking Toward Space." Omni. May 1980, pp. 57-58, 121. This fine article hits home to the heart 

of the American sense of pioneering and argues that the next great challenge in this arena is space. "A nation 

that loses its forward thrust is in danger," he comments, "the way to retain it is exploration" (p. 58). It is an 

eloquent and moving defense of the American space program in all its permutations.

Michener, James A. "Manifest Destiny." Omni. April 1981, pp. 48-50, 102-104. An outstanding reading experience, this 

article, by the dean of American popular novelists, encapsulates all the most cherished principles for manned 

space flight. It is human destiny to explore, he notes, and space is the next logical path. He also hangs much 

hope for this exploration on the Shuttle, commenting that "if the Space Shuttle succeeds, Americans will once 

again be voyaging in space after a period of six years. If it fails, the exploration of space may close down for 

several decades" (p. 102).

Mueller, George F. "The Benefits of Space Exploration Related to the Space Shuttle." Interavia. 27 (December 1972): 

1335-36. This article is a very good NASA view of what was envisioned for the Shuttle at the time that it was 

being developed. Written by the chief of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight, it emphasizes the boon to 

scientists of such projects as orbiting observatories and to commercial enterprise because of its ability to use 

the weightless environment to manufacture new materials. Accordingly, Mueller was seeking to describe to two 

important, but critical, constituencies that the Shuttle had real value.

Mueller, G eorge F . " Space S huttle—Beginning a N ew E ra i n S pace Cooperation." Astronautics & A eronautics. 

September 1972, pp. 20 -25. This is a u seful a rticle, b ut c hiefly f or its p ositive a pproach o f th e s ubject. I t 

highlights the multinational promise of the Shuttle and the ready access to space it will provide humanity.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Space Shuttle: Emphasis for the 1970s. Washington, DC: N ational 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1972. This booklet for popular audiences describes the Space Shuttle 

as a vehicle that combines the advantages of airplanes and spacecraft, capable of repeatedly flying to space and 

back to earth. It could be launched vertically, powered by two solid-rocket boosters, which will be parachuted 

to earth for retrieval at an altitude of about 40 km. New uses of space flight are anticipated as costs decrease, 

turn-around times shorten, and operations become simplified. Color illustrations are included, but there are no 

references. 

O'Leary, Michael. "Shuttling, the Ford of the Space Ways." Air Progress. 39 (December 1977): 38-44. A popular and 

popularizing ar ticle, t his es say describes t he g eneral d evelopment o f t he S huttle an d what it means for the 

development of civilization by providing routine access to space.

Ragsdale, Al. "Flying the Space Shuttle." Analog. 97 (December 1977): 70-85. More heavily promotional than most, 

this article reviews the development of the Shuttle and hits hard the potential it has for opening up space to 

routine operations.
46

 

Robertson, Donald F. "The Space Shuttle in Perspective: Making a G ood Space Shuttle Better." NASA Activities. 21 

(November/December 1990) : 6 -7. Offers justifications for the S pace S huttle, p raising its r eliability, c ostefficiency, and technological achievements.

The Space Shuttle Adventure. Los Angeles, CA: Cheerios and Rockwell International, 1985. This is a short, 25-page 

booklet describing the Shuttle and its mission for young readers. It was put together as a promotional handout 

to capitalize on the popularity of the Shuttle.

Space Shuttle Program Overview. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, n.d. This short, trifold brochure relates in words and a few illustrations the development of the Shuttle. Very informative as well 

as promotional, it is designed for the public.

"Space Shuttle—Vital to Man's Future." Space World. March 1974, pp. 4-35. This is a very positive description of what 

the Shuttle is intended to be and what it offers to the world. More useful as a gauge of public interest than in 

bringing new ideas to the study of the Shuttle.

Steinberg, Florence S . Aboard the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

1980. Designed for school classes to familiarize them with the Shuttle and its mission. Well-illustrated and 

written in a catchy style, it is a good example of the public relations material put out by the agency.

Taylor, L.B. "Shuttling into Space." Mechanics Illustrated. 66 (April 1970): 45-47. This is a short, general article on the 

method of operation of the Shuttle.

Von Braun, Wernher. "Coming . . . Ferries to Space." Popular Science. September 1965, pp. 68ff. This is a speculative 

article on the potential of space exploration with reusable craft, very similar to what became the Shuttle, for 

moving people and things between the earth and orbit. Written by the head of the rocket design team that put a 

man on the moon. It was an enormously successful piece which captured many people's imagination.

Von Braun, Wernher. "Spaceplane T hat C an P ut Y ou i n Orbit: S pace S huttle." Popular Sc ience. 197 ( July 1970) : 

37-39. Promotes the Shuttle, emphasizing its strong potential for gaining easy access to space and discussing 

the possibilities of airliner-type operations.

Welch, Brian. "Musings of an Unabashed Shuttle Apologist." NASA Activities. 21 (November/December 1990): 20-21+. 

This article depicts the Shuttle as the historical culmination of aerospace triumphs stretching back to the Wright 

brothers.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 1—General Works 

 

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 3—The Decision to Build the Space Shuttle
47

CHAPTER 9

SCIENCE ON THE SHUTTLE, POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL

"A User's Eye-View of the Space Shuttle." NASA Activities. 21 (November/December 1990): 18-19. This is an interview 

with Dr. Charles E. Bugg concerning the Protein Crystal Growth Experiments performed on the Space Shuttle. 

The article discussed the advantages of using the Shuttle for these experiments, the results, and the possible 

medical advantages of the research.

Baker, David. "Programming the Shuttle to Future Needs." Spaceflight. 22 ( March 1980): 137-40. This article takes a 

cursory look at the role of the Shuttle in the development of all manner of commodities that could benefit from 

a microgravity environment.

Billstein, Roger E. "International Aerospace Engineering: NASA Shuttle and European Spacelab." Unpublished paper 

prepared for the NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow Program, 12 August 1981. This paper was prepared to 

discuss the interrelationships between the NASA and the European space programs for the conduct of a Shuttle 

mission to launch the Spacelab. It deals largely with the policy and diplomatic history of the subject.

Bless, Robert. "Space Science: What's Wrong at NASA." Issues in Science and Technology. 5 (Winter 1988-1989): 67-

73. Not specifically concerned with the Shuttle, that program nevertheless enters into Bless' analysis of the 

problems of NASA. He uses the Hubble Space Telescope as an example of how not to manage a program and 

concludes that the problems are "overreliance on the Space Shuttle, a p redilection for big projects, and poor 

management."

Chesterton, T. Stephen; Chafer, Charles M.; and Chafer, Sallie Birket. Social Sciences and Spac e Exploration: New 

Directions fo r U niversity I nstruction. W ashington, D C: N ASA E P-192, 1988. T his i s a n e ducational 

publication is sued b y N ASA e xploring th e r elationship b etween te chnology a nd society. I t em phasizes 

technological change and its continuing effects on the society that produces it. As a pathbreaking technology, 

the Shuttle plays a large role in the discussions contained in this book. The book, designed for use by college 

professors and students, provides introductory material on a v ariety of space-related social topics to help in 

classroom explorations.

Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Environments of Planetary Bodies and t he Shuttle. New York: Pergamon 

Press, 1986. This book contains reports presented at the annual meeting of COSPAR held at Toulouse, France 

on 30 June-11 July 1986.

Covault, Craig. "Shuttle Launch of Galileo Jupiter Mission Highlights U.S. Space Science Renaissance." Aviation Week 

& Space Technology. 23 O ctober 1989, pp. 22-24. This news story reports on the launch of the Galileo for 

Jupiter from the Shuttle mission in October 1989 and suggests that the Shuttle program is now emerging from 

the doldrums after the loss of Challenger. 

Dooling, Dave. "Eyeing Innovative Shuttle Payloads." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 18 (May 1980): 18-20. This article 

describes some of the unique missions and science experiments projected for the Shuttle. It is not particularly 

unique in what it discusses but has some useful information.

Froehlich, Walter. Spacelab: An International Short-Stay Orbiting Laboratory. Washington, DC: National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1983. This is an interesting short study of Spacelab, the Shuttle-based 

laboratory bu ilt by E SA a s a c ooperative v enture w ith N ASA. I t is h eavily illu strated a nd d esigned for a 

popular audience.

Get Away Special . . . The First Ten Years. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center, 1989. This 40-page report 
48

describes t he o rigins a nd d evelopment o f t he uni que s cience p rogram f or th e S huttle that allows both 

professional an d n onprofessional ex perimenters t o g ain acces s t o s pace. The brief history begins with the 

origins of the Get Away special, and tells about the milestones in its development. Most important, it presents 

an overview of individual customer payloads, chronologically grouped with the various Shuttle missions.

Goddard Space Flight Center. Final Report of the Space Shuttle Payload Planning Working Groups. Greenbelt, MD: 

Goddard S pace F light C enter, Ma y 1 973. 1 0 V ols. D escribes in d etail th e in itial p lans f or th e u ses of th e 

Shuttle. In addition to the first v olume, w hich c ontains e xecutive s ummaries, o ther v olumes r eview th e 

potential payloads in the disciplines of astronautics, atmospheric and space physics, high energy astrophysics, 

life s ciences, s olar p hysics, co mmunications an d n avigation, ear th o bservations, ear th an d ocean physics, 

materials processing and space manufacturing, and space technology.

Greer, Jerry D. "Space Shuttle Large Format Camera Coverage of Areas in Africa—A Review of the Mission and the 

Photographs A cquired." Geocarto I nternational. 4 ( June 1989) : 19 -33. D uring O ctober 1984 t he Shuttle 

Challenger carried a large format cartographic camera for an engineering evaluation that took an excellent set 

of high resolution photographs of limited areas worldwide with many in Africa. The results of this experiment 

are reviewed in this article, which also presents many striking photos.

Halstead, Thora W., and Dufour, Patricia A., eds. Biological and Medical Experiments on the Space Shuttle, 1981-

1985. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1986. This volume describes each of 

the biological and m edical e xperiments a nd s amples f lown o n th e S huttle d uring its m issions p rior to th e 

Challenger accident. It lists the Shuttle m issions c hronologically b y n umber a nd th en d escribes e ach 

experiment that took place on each mission, including such data as: flight number, experiment title, information 

on investigators, sponsors, developers, management and integration team, experiment location in the Shuttle, 

species s tudied, o bjectives o f t he ex periment, a d escription of the experiment, conclusions, and references 

about the experiment for further research.

Hammel, R.L., Gilliam, A.S., and Waltz, D.M. "Space Processing Payloads—A Requirements Overview." Journal of 

the B ritish I nterplanetary S ociety. 30 ( October 1977) : 363 -77. This article considers t he s pace p rocessing 

applications with regard to the user community offered by the Shuttle. The development of a s eries of lowgravity materials processing experiments, including c rystal g rowth a nd s olids, is d escribed a long w ith th e 

program requirements for such research. Spacelab should satisfy many of these efforts in partnership with the 

Shuttle. T he authors also review the results of an eight-month study which defines and investigates possible 

space application payloads for the Shuttle, with special attention to payload design criteria, mission planning, 

and analyses regarding costs and scheduling.

Hoffman, H .E.W. The Spac e L aboratory: A E uropean-American C ooperative E ffort. Washington, D C: N ational 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1981. This short work, a translation of a West German study, reviews 

the history of the European participation in the American Space Shuttle project. Some early work carried out in 

West Germany on the rocket-powered second stage of a r eusable launch vehicle system is cited, in particular 

wind tunnel studies of the aerodynamic and flight-mechanical behavior of various lifting body configurations in 

the subsonic range. Also highlighted is the development of international cooperation in the Shuttle program, 

especially noting West German interest and expertise. Also mentioned is the U.S.'s decision to exclude Europe 

from participating in the design of the orbiter and the booster stage of the Shuttle.

Jerkovsky, William. ed. Shuttle Pointing of Electro-Optical Experiments. Bellingham, WA: Society of Photo-Optical 

Engineers, 1981. This book contains the proceedings of a t echnical conference held in Los Angeles, CA, on 

10-13 February 1981 concerning the use of the Shuttle for star tracking and other scientific endeavors using 

optics.

Johnson, Rodney O., and Meredith, Leslie. eds. Proceedings of the Space Shuttle Sortie Workshop. Greenbelt, MD: 
49

Goddard Space Flight Center, 1974. 2 Vols. This publication represents the work done at a conference on the 

Shuttle held at Goddard Space Flight Center on 31 July-4 August 1974. The first volume of the proceedings 

deals with policy and system characteristics, while the second contains working group reports. The proceedings 

describe t he b asic cap abilities o f S huttle s ortie m ode an d t he p otential u ses o f t he S huttle f or r esearch in 

individual disciplines.

Katauskas, Ted. "Shuttle Science: Is it P aying Off?" Research and Development. 32 (August 1990): 43-46, 48, 50, 52. 

The author claims in this article that "about half of the projects scheduled to fly into space in the orbiter will do 

so with little or no practical proof that they will work once they reach microgravity." He maintains—contrary to 

the evidence in several other publications listed in this section—that NASA does not keep adequate records of 

experiments and that incompatible experiments are packed together on the Shuttle, often ruining results.

Koelle, D ietrich E ., an d B utler, G eorge V . ed . Shuttle/Spacelab: T he N ew Spac e T ransportation Sy stem and i ts 

Utilization. San Diego, CA: Univelt, 1981. This is a collection of papers relating to the development and uses 

of the Shuttle presented at the American Astronautical Society.

Lord, D ouglas R . Spacelab: A n I nternational Suc cess St ory. Washington, DC: N ational A eronautics an d S pace 

Administration, 1987. Spacelab was the European-developed and U.S.-operated space laboratory carried in the 

cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. This book details the history of this program from its conception, describing 

negotiations an d ag reements f or E uropean p articipation an d t he r oles o f E urope and the U.S. in system 

development, operational capability development, and utilization planning. More important, it reviews the joint 

management structure, coordination process, and the record in solving management and technical questions in 

an international setting. While the Shuttle comes into the book repeatedly as the vehicle carrying this system, 

this book is a chronological account of the Spacelab program from 1967 to 1985. It is filled with illustrations, 

many in color, and while it h as no notes, a list of sources is included, as well as facsimile reprints of many 

important documents.

Lyndon B . J ohnson S pace Center. Spacelab L ife Sc iences 1: F irst Spac e L aboratory D edicated t o L ife Sc iences 

Research. National Aeronautics and Space Administration NP 120, August 1989. This glossy, well-illustrated 

publication d iscusses th e f irst in a s eries o f th ree S huttle m issions d edicated to s tudying h ow living and 

working in space affects the human body. The document reviews the effects of weightlessness on the body, 

describes some of the major experiments to be performed, and includes a brief description of the crew and the 

program management.

Mark, Hans. The Space Station: A Personal Journey. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1987. This is an insider's 

account of the space science policy developed in NASA during the period of germination of the space station. 

Although a ncillary to a d iscussion o f th e s tation, it a ddresses in d etail th e technological debates over the 

method of tr aveling to a nd f rom th e s pace s tation, in cluding th e e ffect o f th e Challenger tragedy. T he 

development of the Shuttle and the relationship of it to the space station, arms control, and other topics are also 

considered.

Mason, J.A. The Space Shuttle Program and its Implications for Space Biology Research. Houston, TX: Johnson Space 

Center, 1972. This was originally presented as a paper at the American Institute of Biological Sciences meeting 

in Minneapolis in 1972. It deals with some of the potential for microgravity research using the Space Shuttle.

Morgenthaler, George W., and Burns, William J., eds. Space Shuttle Payloads. Tarzana, CA: Univelt, 1973. This is a 

publication of the American Astronautical Society. Consisting of papers by several people, it presents technical 

information on the various types and specifics of many payloads to be flown in the Shuttle orbiter.

Morgenthaler, George W., and Hollstein, M., eds. Space Shuttle and Spacelab Utilization: Near Term and Long Term 

Benefits for Mankind. San Diego, CA: Univelt Inc., 1978. A scientific work, this publication analyzes the uses 
50

of the Shuttle for microgravity, biomedicine, and other types of research.

Moulton, Robert R. First To Fly. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Co., 1983. This is an account of 18-year-old 

Todd N elson, w ho d esigned a n e xperiment t o s tudy t he f light of insects in o rbit. I t w as th e f irst s tudent 

experiment ever to fly aboard the Space Shuttle.

Murray, Bruce. Journey into Space: The First Three Decades of Space Exploration. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 

1989. This book is not principally concerned with the Space Shuttle, but it is discussed in some detail in the 

latter part of this highly personal acco unt b y a f ormer d irector o f J PL. M urray, w ho w as co ncerned w ith 

planetary probes, wrote that those missions were constantly challenged by the Shuttle, as NASA's dollars were 

poured into a development program which lagged behind schedule and over budget. He referred to the Shuttle 

as NASA's "sacred cow" which always had to be fed despite any other worthwhile projects that went begging. 

This was especially true during the early 1980s when the Shuttle was becoming operational and the Reagan 

administration w as i ntent o n c utting go vernment e xpenditures. I n e ssence, M urray c oncludes, t he S huttle 

priority ensured that the United States would have no mission to Halley's Comet.

National Academy of Sciences. Scientific Uses of the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: National Academy of SciencesNational Research Council, 1974. This 214-page document surveys the missions that could be accomplished by

the proposed Shuttle. The areas of scientific research considered are: (1) atmospheric and space physics, (2) 

high energy astrophysics, (3) infrared astronomy, (4) optical and ultraviolet astronomy, (5) solar physics, (6) 

life sciences, and (7) planetary exploration. Specific projects to be conducted in these broader areas are also 

defined. Also analyzed are the modes of operation of the Shuttle.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Materials Processing in Space: Early Experiments. Washington, DC, 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1980. This study assesses some of the experimental activities 

relating to materials processing in orbit.

Naugle, John E. "Research with the Space Shuttle." Physics Today. 26 (November 1973): 30-37. This is an interesting 

article on the potential for research in space using the large capacity bay of the Shuttle.

Neal, Valerie. Renewing Solar Science: The Solar Maximum Repair Mission. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight 

Center, 1984. This is a brief discussion of the successful efforts to repair the Solar Maximum satellite using the 

Space Shuttle.

Prouty, Clarke R., ed. Get Away Special Experimenter's Symposium. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, 1984. This is a collection of papers delivered at a symposium on small-scale experiments for 

the Shuttle held 1-2 August 1984 at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.

Science in Orbit: The Shuttle and Spacelab Experience, 1981-1986. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, 1988. This contains a mission by mission analysis of the scientific experiments conducted in 

the Shuttle between its first orbital mission and the Challenger accident.

Shapland, D avid, an d R ycroft, Mi chael. Spacelab: Research i n E arth O rbit. C ambridge, E ngland: C ambridge 

University Press, 1984. This is a useful discussion of the development and flight of the laboratory built by 

Europeans for use aboard the Shuttle in earth orbit. It charts the twelve-year program of development through 

the first launch on the Shuttle in November 1983. It contains a chronicle of experiments performed in the lab 

and discusses some of the results. The book is highly illustrated with full-color in many places, and is designed 

as a readable work for the general public but without sacrificing detail and accuracy.

Space Shuttle Payloads: Hearing Before the Committee on A eronautical and Space Sciences. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Senate C ommittee o n A eronautical an d S pace S ciences, 3 0-31 O ctober 1973. T his t wo-part p ublication 
51

reviews the Shuttle's possible missions in the 1980s.

Thomas, Lawrence R., and Mosier, Frances L. Get Away Special Experiment's Symposium. Washington, DC: National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1988. This contains the proceedings of the 1988 symposium at Cocoa 

Beach, Florida, that NASA hosted for scientists interested in the unique experimental capability provided in the 

Shuttle.

Wilkerson, T homas D .; L auriente, Mi chael; an d S harp, G erald W . Space Shuttle E nvironment: P roceedings of t he 

Engineering F oundation C onference, Space Shut tle E xperiment and E nvironment W orkshop he ld at N ew 

England College, Henniker, New Hampshire, U.S.A., August 6-10, 1984. Washington, DC: The Engineering 

Foundation, 1985. A total of 26 presentations make up this technical publication about the Shuttle. Everything 

is oriented toward current programs and what they offer the world, as well as to projections for the future of the 

space program. There is considerable discussion of the role of the Shuttle in scientific endeavors in such areas 

as environmental experimentation; chemical, electronic and biological studies; particle and molecular research; 

and weightless and motion studies.

Winter, D avid L . " Carry-On Shuttle Payloads, o r H ow to ' Con th e System'." Astronautics & A eronautics. 1 5 ( June 

1977): 54 -56. This a rticle d iscusses th e p otential o f th e S huttle f or r easonably-priced s pace ex periments, 

especially with the so-called "getaway specials" being developed for use in the cargo bay.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 7—The Space Shuttle and the Hubble Space Telescope

 

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 8—Science on the Space Shuttle

 
52

CHAPTER 10 

COMMERCIAL USES OF THE SHUTTLE

Akin, David L. "Teleoperations, Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence: Technologies for Space Operations." 

U.S. Opportunities in Space. London, England: Space Consultants International, 1985. This article, presented 

at the second annual Space Business Conference in 1985, says that the development of the Space Shuttle opens 

the door to the potential development of space for commercial purposes. So far, these operations have focused 

on two separate technologies: manual, for piloted missions, and automated, for satellite missions. With recent 

developments, however, those dichotomies are no longer valid as a whole spectrum of possibilities is present. 

The two aspects of this spectrum dealt with here are the results of a two-year effort to categorize and evaluate

the applications of automation, robotics, and machine intelligence systems for space programs and an overview 

of experimental efforts in space teleoperations, automation technology for space manipulators, and the crew 

scheduling system for space station use.

Ariane vs. Shuttle: The Competition Heats Up. Washington, DC: Television Digest, Inc., 1985. This short publication 

reviews the benefits and liabilities of launching satellites on the two principal means available, the Shuttle or 

the allegedly privately developed but still government subsidized Ariane expendable launch vehicle. With the 

competition for the s atellite la unch m arket in f ull-swing t his b ook as sesses h ow N ASA an d A rianespace 

reached their market positions in terms of service versus price.

Baker, D avid. " Space S huttle: A U ser's G uide." Flight I nternational. 20 M ay 1978, pp. 1552-58. A r eview o f t he 

Shuttle's potential, emphasizing its commercial and practical activities.

Banks, Howard. "Overloaded Shuttle." Forbes. 19 J uly 1982, pp. 33-34. This article comments on the difficulties of 

buying space on the Shuttle for either scientific experiments or satellite launches.

Becky, Yvan. "Commercial Use of the S pace T ransportation System: T oward a Permanent Man ned Space Station." 

Proceedings of the International Conference and Exhibition on the Commercial and Industrial Uses of Outer 

Space. Montreux, Switzerland: Interavia Pub. G roup, 1986. pp. 57 -66. D iscusses t he r esumption o f s pace 

transportation system operations, including the strategy for a safe return to flight, planned technical 

modifications to the solid booster, ground rules for a first launch, and the launch target date. According to the 

author, S huttle s upport o f c ommercial a ctivities in o rbit in cludes s atellite s ervicing, s atellite r etrieval, an d 

future support of a permanent space station.

Bennett, James, and Salin, Phillip. "The Private Solution to the Space Transportation Crisis." Space Policy. 3 (August 

1987): 181-205. The authors of this lengthy article assert that confused and short-sighted decisions dominated 

by political expediency have been made about the U.S. space program for the past 30 years. Overly large and 

ambitious systems have been chosen, r esulting in th e p resent c risis in s pace tr ansportation. T he h istory o f 

commercial aircraft development offers an alternative example of producing a r ange of sizes and capabilities 

for a wide variety of users and shows that the space transportation industry could benefit from applying the 

decision-making processes used in private enterprise. The authors examine strategies for privatization of the 

Shuttle and conclude that policy support for the commercial launch industry must be continued. NASA must 

also be reoriented toward its basic research function, and more government services should be bought from the 

private sector.

Bimmerle, C harles F . " Manufacturing i n S pace: A re Y ou R eady?" Twenty-eighth A nnual I nternational C onference 

Proceedings of the American Product and I nventory Control Society. Falls Church, VA: APICS, 1985. The 

author suggests that the strategy of high technology coupled with emphasis on a global economy has brought 

about a second industrial revolution. A cr itical co mponent o f t hat r evolution h as b een t he s pace p rogram, 

contributing new products and technologies to make life easier on earth. The Shuttle represents an opportunity 
53

to maximize that new development. America, via NASA, is ready to collect the economic, technological, and 

political rewards that can be attained from manufacturing in space. This presentation outlines the history, plans, 

and future of the newest type of manufacturing available to the business community, microgravity.

Blahnik, James E., an d D avis, J ames E . " Advanced A pplications o f t he S pace S huttle." Journal of Spac ecraft and 

Rockets. 11 (February 1974): 117-119. This short article describes some of the applications anticipated for the 

Shuttle, emphasizing the new technologies emerging from its development.

Brown, Richard L. "Avenues and Incentives for Commercial Use of Low-Gravity Environment." Materials Processing 

in Space: Proceedings of the Special Conference. Columbus, OH: American Ceramic Society, 1983. pp. 197-

209. This article discusses the new technology of microgravity when applied to the production of materials. It 

describes the process whereby the Shuttle in orbit can be used as a laboratory for such work, and predicts that 

by the end of the 1980s such activities will be routine.

Campbell, J anet W . " Choosing R eliability L evel f or S huttle-Carried P ayloads." Astronautics & A eronautics. 14 

(December 1976): 38-42. This professional paper assesses the methods and makes recommendations on the 

nature and means of choosing payloads for the Shuttle, essentially prioritizing those that will have the greatest 

immediate benefits for humanity.

Covault, C raig. "Boeing E yes Private Shuttle O peration." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 2 October 1978, pp. 

23-25. This is a news report of studies by Boeing to assess the possibilities for the development and operation 

of a Shuttle by the private sector.

Divis, D ee A nn. " Commercializing th e Fifth Orbiter—Can i t b e D one S uccessfully." M. A. T hesis, U niversity o f 

Nebraska, 1982. T his unpublished study in economics reviews the feasibility of privatizing the fifth orbiter. 

Developed a s a h ypothetical s ituation, t he scenario is played o ut u sing r eadily av ailable co nstruction an d 

operational d ata. Not surprisingly, the author f inds the a pproach v iable. T he most interesting aspect of this 

study is a discussion of the government's position on commercialization of an orbiter.

Divis, Dee Ann. "Thinking Big by Keeping it Small: The Price and Scheduling Advantages of a Fully Reusable MiniShuttle." International Space Business Review. 1 (June-July 1985): 38-43. This article comments on the efforts 

of Third Millennium, Inc., to develop a n ew design and approach to the Space Shuttle system. Its space van 

system is based on reusable technology and promises commercial, airline-type operations. The launch services 

include a s even-day t urn-around, a o ne-month le ad tim e, th e a bility t o s chedule ad ditional o r emergency 

launches, and a launch price of $1.9 million to $40 million, depending on orbit and weight. These conditions 

mean both small and large companies will be able to take advantage of the opportunities in space.

Fink, D onald E . " On-Orbit S atellite S ervicing E xplored." Aviation W eek & Space Technology. 14 A pril 1975, pp. 

35-39. One of the potentials of the Shuttle was always the ability either to go into space and retrieve satellites 

and other objects for repair or to fix them while still in orbit. This article discusses this possibility as it was 

being studied by NASA.

Gillam, Isaac T. "Towards Industrial Development in Space." Space Communications Broadcast. 5 (March 1987): 37-

43. The industrial an d commercial uses of space promise substantial tangible benefits for large numbers of 

people throughout the world, but this effort is not without risk. NASA's Office of Commercial Programs was 

established in 1984 in order to provide a focus for the agencywide program to encourage private investment in 

commercial space activities and to facilitate technology transfer. The Shuttle program has been one focus of

these efforts.

Hosenball, S. Neil. "The Space Shuttle: Prologue or Postscript?" Journal of Space Law. 9 (Spring-Fall 1981): 69-75. 

This article treats the development of the Shuttle as a method for easy access to space, focusing on the 
54

problems and potential of space commercialization, the legal issues of orbiting civilians, and associated 

questions. As might be expected, it is heavy on policy and legal questions and short on technological 

discussions.

McMahan, Tracy, an d Neal, Valerie. Repairing Solar Max: The Solar Maximum Repair mission. Greenbelt, MD : 

Goddard Space Flight Center, 1984. Discusses the successful Shuttle mission to repair a satellite in orbit.

Moore, David H. Pricing Options for the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Budget Committee, 1985. This 

government report e xplains p ricing o ptions f or th e N ASA S pace S huttle's c ommercial activities. It also 

analyzes Shuttle system costs, reviews alternative cost bases for pricing policy, and examines the implications 

of policy options for space policy objectives.

Moore, W.F., and Forsythe, C. "Buying a Shuttle Ticket." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 15 (January 1977): 34-40. This 

paper concerns a preliminary draft for reimbursement for Shuttle flights that had been developed by NASA. It 

comments on the reimbursement p olicy, t he t ransition f rom ex pendable t o r eusable s ystems, t he n ew u ser 

services, and the economics of these activities in relation to the cost of operating.

National A eronautics a nd S pace A dministration. Operational C ost E stimates, Spac e Shut tle—Development of U ser 

Charge P olicy on R eusable Spacecraft. Washington, D C: U.S. House o f R epresentatives Subcommittee on 

Space Science and Applications, December 1976. This report presents the rationale for NASA's estimate of out 

of pocket cost of $10.5 million (1971 dollars) per Shuttle flight if 60 missions were flown each year. Shuttle 

operating costs are used to develop the charge policy for various government and industrial users of the space 

transportation system. It also includes a comparison of various reimbursable service charges.

Projection of Non-Federal Demand for Space Transportation Services Through 2000—An AIAA Assessment for the 

Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House. New York: American Institute of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics, 1981. This study assesses the market for space transportation—launch, repair, and recovery of 

satellites p rincipally—from w hich t he S huttle m ight b enefit, f inding s ufficient d emand f or t he p rogram t o 

justify its continuation. 

Roberge, J .L. " Health E mergency L earning P lan ( H.E.L.P.)—Down-to-Earth Applications of S pace S huttle 

Technology." Emergency M edical S ervices. 8 ( July/August 1979) : 11, 14, 16-17. T his ar ticle d escribes a 

commercial spin-off program resulting from the Shuttle effort.

Simon, E llis. " Insurance L iftoff K ey to S pace S huttle B lastoff." Business I nsurance. 24 ( July 1978) : 128 -40. T his 

lengthy article discusses the role of the insurance community in preserving the investments of organizations 

involved in the space program and how the Shuttle affects that program.

Williamson, Ray A. "The USA and International Competition in Space Transportation." Space. 3 (May 1987): 115-21. 

This article is one of several that appeared during the latter 1980s reviewing the problems of competition for 

commercial launches on the Space Shuttle and other lifting vehicles. Williamson examines developments in 

international space transportation from 1982 to 1992 and t he f ailure of U .S. pol icies t o m eet f oreign 

commercial competition in space launches. Two goals have emerged from the U.S. policy debate: to achieve 

assured access to space and to reduce the costs of sending payloads into orbit. Both goals need to be faced 

within the context of a wider commitment by government and private industry to space investment.

Woodcock, Gordon R. "Rethinking Our Space Future." Space Manufacturing 4: Proceedings of the Fifth Conference. 

Princeton, NJ: P rinceton University, 1981. pp. 295-99. The best way to r evitalize the U.S. Space program, 

according t o W oodcock, i s t o f orce S huttle o perations i nto co mmercial av enues b y making them selfsupporting. This would allow the exploitation of many new technologies and make feasible the placement of a 

space station in orbit.
55

Yardley, J.F. Space Transportation System Payload Status and Reimbursement Policy. Washington, DC: Committee on 

Science an d T echnology, 1 978. I n U .S. H ouse o f R epresentatives R eport N 78-12127 03-16. T his 85 -page 

study presents a s tatus report on the space transportation system, emphasizing the management structure and 

project planning, use and payloads, cost assessments, and pricing policy.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 9—Commercial Uses of the Space Shuttle 
56

CHAPTER 11 

THE SHUTTLE AND THE MILITARY

Davis, P.O. "Effects of Space Transportation Systems on USAF Roles and Missions." Unpublished thesis written for Air 

War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, 1977. This paper asserts that the Shuttle, billed by NASA as an 

operational vehicle, raises the specter of roles and missions within both the USAF and NASA. Should NASA 

operate it, or should someone else? The author asserts that USAF should fly the Shuttle and ignores the nonmilitary aspects of the program.

Draper, Alfred C.; Buck, Melvin L.; and Goesch, William H. "A Delta Shuttle Orbiter." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 9 

(January 1971): 26-35. This is an excellent technical review of the reasons for developing a delta-wing versus a 

straight-wing or lifting body orbiter. The authors were engineers for the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory, 

and their arguments contributed to the decision to change to a delta configuration, giving the military the 2000 

mile crossrange capability it needed for military missions.

Finke, R.G., and D onlan, C .J. Continuing I ssues ( FY79) R egarding D OD U se of Spac e T ransportation Sy stem. 

Arlington, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses, 1979. This important study outlines several key areas relating to 

the partnership between NASA and the DOD on the use of the Shuttle.

Finke, R .G. Current (FY73) Issues R egarding R eusability of Spac ecraft and U pper St ages f or M ilitary M issions. 

Arlington, VA: Institute for Defense Analysis, 1973. This study examines the possible contributions to military 

space missions of the new capabilities that would be introduced by the Space Shuttle: (1) payload recovery; (2) 

human p resence; an d ( 3) i ncreased p ayload w eight an d v olume at l ower co st. B esides the conventional 

expendable mode of satellite operations, new modes of retrieval for ground refurbishment and reuse, on-orbit 

servicing, and on-board payloads become possible. The issue of the degree of reusability of an upper stage 

(tug) t o b e d eveloped f or us e w ith t he S huttle for high-altitude m issions is a lso e xamined. I ncluding b oth 

transportation and payload cost savings, the results of the analysis could not support, on an economic basis, 

military use of a r eusable tug in preference to an expendable spacecraft with minimum modification and an 

extended lifetime.

Francis, John J. "Planning for Reusable Launch Vehicles: A New and Necessary Outlook." Air University Review. 19 

(November-December 1967) : 98 -100. T his i s an ear ly as sessment o f t he n eed f or r eusable s pace vehicles. 

Oriented toward the military program and not specifically toward NASA, it nonetheless hits at the core concern 

of the Shuttle, economy of operations through reusable systems.

Galloway, Alec. "Does the S pace S huttle N eed Mi litary B acking?" Interavia. 27 ( December 1972) : 1327 -31. T his 

article describes the pros and cons of military support for the Shuttle. According to the author, the Department 

of Defense is in a difficult position because it must support a technology that it may or may not be able to use. 

But w ithout t hat b acking, t he a uthor c ontends, t he S huttle c ould not ha ve b een s upported i n C ongress. I t 

concludes with the observation: "As far away as first use of the vehicle may be at this time, survival of the 

system from attacks against funding may ultimately depend on an agreement on joint uses in the early stages of 

design."

General Accounting Office. A Second Launch Site for the Shuttle? Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1978. 

This report to Congress by the GAO discusses the pros and cons of establishing a west coast launch site for the 

Shuttle at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.

General Accounting O ffice. Space Shut tle: T he F uture of t he V andenberg L aunch Si te N eeds t o be D etermined. 

Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1988. This report examines the cost of reactivating the Shuttle's 

Vandenberg launch site.
57

Gillette, Robert. " Space Shuttle: A Giant Step for NASA and the Military?" Science. 171 ( 12 March 1971): 991-93. 

Written before the formal decision to build the Shuttle, and therefore having an air of uncertainty about the 

direction of the program, Gillette reviews the origins and development of the Shuttle concept through 1970. He 

also d escribes s ome o f t he co nfiguration i deas an d d ebates the Air Force requirement for high cross-range 

capability. He questions NASA's commitment to ensure that DOD needs are met: "At a d evelopment cost of 

somewhere between $6 billion and $25 billion, the Shuttle is likely to constitute the most expensive made-toorder g ift t o t he n ation's d efense b y an y ci vilian ag ency." D efenders ar gued, G illette co mments, t hat the 

military will be the Shuttle's principal user and should therefore ensure that it meets military needs.

Heiss, K.P. "Space Shuttle Economics and U.S. Defence Potentialities." Interavia. 31 (November 1976): 1071-73. This 

article looks at the cost and organizational aspects of the Shuttle and comments on the hazards and need for 

back-up launch sites, payload effects, funding, fleet size, and discontinuation of the use of expendable launch 

vehicles. Heiss notes that the Shuttle will allow more flexibility on mass and volume of payloads, as well as 

greater capability to retrieve and repair satellites. It has vulnerability to sabotage, blackmail or intervention and 

the author suggests additional launch sites as the best means of dealing with this threat.

Henry, R.C., and Sloan, A ubrey B . " Space S huttle an d V andenberg A ir F orce B ase." Air U niversity R eview. 27 

(September-October 1976) : 19 -26. This p aper d iscusses t he p roblems o f s iting S pace S huttle l aunch an d 

landing facilities, and ev aluates s tudies of acceptable sites. It mentions the constraints o f sites—population, 

launch azimuths, booster impact zones, buffer zones for communities, and environmental impact. The authors 

note that the best sites are in coastal zones, as are those that have already been developed somewhat. All of the 

positive features come together to point toward Vandenberg as the second Shuttle launch site.

Henry, R.C., and Sloan, Aubrey B. "Space Shuttle and Vandenberg Air Force Base." Space World. February 1977, pp. 

29-36. This article presents a good overview of the projected use of Vandenberg as a second launch site for the 

Shuttle. Its use could give NASA a launch capability on either coast and the ready capability to launch polar 

orbits. Moreover, it would speed the recovery of an orbiter following a landing at Dryden. It is very close in 

content to the earlier article by the same authors.

Holder, William G. "The Many Faces of the Space Shuttle." Air University Review. 24 (July-August 1973): 23-35. This 

article discusses the Shuttle program from a general perspective and assesses its military implications.

Johnson, E.W. "Space Transportation System: A C ritical Review." U npublished thesis written f or Air W ar C ollege, 

Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, 1974. This paper assesses the potential of the Shuttle program for military use.

Mangold, S.D. "The Space Shuttle: A Historical View from the Air Force Perspective." Thesis, Air Command and Staff 

College, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, 1984. This is a simple discussion of the development of the Shuttle, and 

the interplay of DOD and NASA in that process, written with the biases of the Air Force by a student at an 

intermediate service school.

Moore, James P. "Partners Today f or Tomorrow: The Air Force and the Space Shuttle." Air U niversity R eview. 33 

(May-June 1982) : 20 -27. T his ar ticle as sesses t he j oint as pects o f t he d evelopment an d u se o f t he S pace 

Shuttle. Appearing only a few months after the first operational mission of the Shuttle, it especially reviews the 

military mission of the spacecraft.

Parrington, Lt Col Alan J. "Toward a Rational Space Transportation Architecture." Airpower Journal. 5 (Winter 1991): 

47-62. This rambling article considers the military's need for a reliable system of space transportation. After 

reviewing the physics of satellite orbits, the article discusses the history of space transportation. It notes that 

compromises on the Shuttle's design have lessened its u tility, a nd th e m ilitary's c ontinued r eliance o n 

expendable launch vehicles is shortsighted. Thus, a new space transportation system is needed that will be able 
58

to supply a military-dedicated space station in the twenty-first century.

Sloan, Aubrey B. "Vandenberg P lanning f or t he S pace T ransportation S ystem." Astronautics & A eronautics. 19 

(November 1981): 44 -50. Reviews t he A ir F orce's ef forts t o d evelop t he f acilities r equired t o o perate t he 

Shuttle out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. It suggests, somewhat optimistically, that the first such launch will 

take place there in 1985.

Smith, Bruce A. "Military Space System Applications Increasing." Aviation Week & Space Technology. March 9, 1981, 

pp. 83-87. This article assesses the role of the Shuttle, and other space programs, in the defense of the United 

States.

Smith, Bruce A. "Vandenberg Readied for Shuttle Launch." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 7 December 1981, pp. 

49-52. This news story deals with the activities required to make Vandenberg a suitable Shuttle launch site, and 

thereby broaden the options for Shuttle usage.

Steelman, D onald L . " The A ir F orce an d the S pace T ransportation S ystem." Air University R eview. 2 2 ( JanuaryFebruary 1971): 34-41. This article assesses the Shuttle program as it relates both to NASA and to the DOD.

Ulsamer, E dgar. " Space S huttle, H igh-Flying Y ankee I ngenuity." Space W orld. J une 1977, pp. 18 -23. T his a rticle 

discusses the S pace S huttle p rogram f rom th e s tandpoint o f its p otential m ilitary u ses. U lsamer p oints o ut 

several advantages to the program, particularly its ability to put very large antennae and power sources into 

space and its retrieval capability. The Shuttle's high payload capability could accelerate the development of 

space-qualified high-energy laser systems. The Titan III will only be used as a b ackup to the Shuttle launch 

system. The author spends considerable time discussing the attributes of the solid-propellant, expendable, highorbit Interim Upper Stage, able to send payloads beyond geostationary orbit. It would have great capability for 

the 24 satellite global positioning system then being developed for USAF.

Ulsamer, Edgar. "Space Shuttle Mired in Bureaucratic Feud." Air Force Magazine. September 1980, pp. 72-77. Written 

from a decided pro-military position, this detailed article reviews the debate among NASA, the DOD, and other

federal agencies over the role of the Shuttle. The real issue is whether or not the nation's space policy, open and 

civilian, s hould b e militarized. The a uthor is convinced th at th e military advantages of space are important 

enough to warrant the DOD's primacy there. He refers to those who disagree as "fuzzy thinkers" who do not 

understand the world, since the world, the focus of the DOD's interest, is not a s afe place. Space is the new 

high-ground and must be exploited to keep the nation safe.

Vandenberg Spac e Shuttle Launch C omplex. Washington, DC: U.S. S enate Committee on Commerce, S cience, and 

Transportation, 1984. This report on the hearings before the subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space 

on 10 September 1984, 98th Cong., 1st Sess., concerning construction deficiencies and quality control failures 

of the building effort at Vandenberg.

Wisely, F red H . " The N ational S pace P rogram an d t he S pace S huttle: H istorical P erspectives-Future D irections." 

Thesis, National War College, 1981. Argues that the civilian space program under NASA has received the 

lion's share of the funding and publicity, while the military space program under DOD has been a backwater. 

This began to change as the Shuttle was developed as the "sole vehicle for future space launches." Assesses 

what t he a uthor considers as the three areas most i mportant f or t he f uture: s pace p olicy, o rganizational 

structures, and hardware. In every case Wisely makes a strong argument for the primacy of the military mission 

in space and the need to keep those concerns paramount. He argues for a n ew space act that emphasizes the 

military aspects of the space mission. He also recommends that a single organization should be developed to 

manage space programs, one apart from NASA and the DOD that would operate the Shuttle for both. In terms 

of hardware Wisely argues ag ainst the Shuttle as t he sole means t o enter orbit, s uggesting that expendable 

launch vehicles are also necessary. In the case of a Shuttle failure, he comments, the United States would have 
59

no way to launch satellites.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 10—The Space Shuttle and the Military 
60

CHAPTER 12 

SHUTTLE ASTRONAUTS

"Astronauts for First Space Shuttle Flights Named." Space World. 7 (July 1978): 12-21. This article profiles the group of

astronauts picked for the Shuttle program.

Atkinson, Joseph D., Jr., and Shafritz, Jay M. The Real Stuff: A History of the NASA Astronaut Requirement Program. 

New York: Praeger Pubs., 1985. Authors present a b rief overview of the selection of the first ten groups of 

NASA astronauts through 1984, then concentrate on covering the watershed selections of 1959, the first group; 

1965, the first scientists; and 1978, the first Shuttle selection including women and minorities. Places heavy 

emphasis on the criteria for selection and the procedures used, and on efforts to bring minorities and women 

into the Shuttle program.

Baker, David. I Want To Fly the Shuttle. Vero Beach, FL: Rouke Enterprises, 1988. This is a children's book on the 

Shuttle, describing how astronauts are chosen and trained and what it would be like to fly a mission. It is part of 

the " Today's World in Space" series of books t hat ar e s hort, h ighly i llustrated acco unts o f v arious s pace 

exploration activities.

Bird, J.D. "Design Concepts of the Shuttle Mission Simulator." Aeronautical Journal. 92 ( June 1978): 247-54. This 

article presents a solid overview of the Shuttle simulator then being developed for shuttle astronaut training.

Brandenstein, D an a nd H artsfield, J ames. " Flying th e S pace S huttle: A P ilot's L og." NASA A ctivities. 21 

(November/December 1990): 11-15ff. Written for popular consumption, this article describes a Shuttle mission 

from the astronauts' standpoint.

Briefing by the Astronauts of Shuttle Mission 51-A. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation, 1985. This publication contains the text of the presentation by the crew of Shuttle mission 

51-A before the Senate subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, 99th Cong., 1st Sess., 28 January 

1985.

Briefing by t he C rew of t he Spac e Shut tle M ission 51 -D. W ashington, D C: U .S. S enate C ommittee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation, 1985. This publication contains the text of the presentation by the crew of Shuttle 

mission 51-D before the Senate subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, 99th Cong., 1st Sess., 6 

June 1985.

Catchpole, J .E. "EVA an d t he S pace S huttle." Spaceflight. 20 ( May 1978) : 174 -75. T his s hort a rticle lo oks a t th e 

possibilities i nherent f or w ork i n s pace an d p ostulates s ome t echnological d evelopments r equired t o make 

EVAs practical experiences.

Challengers: T he I nspiring Life Stories of t he Se ven Brave A stronauts of Shuttle Mission 51 -L. New Y ork: Pocket 

Books, 1986. T his book , w ritten by t he s taff of t he Washington Post, d escribes t he car eers o f t he s even 

astronauts killed in the Challenger accident of January 1986. It is a relatively standard journalistic account, but 

it contains considerable background not found elsewhere.

Cohen, Daniel and Susan. Heroes of the Challenger. London: Archway Paperbacks, 1986. Published in July 1986 about 

the people killed in the Challenger explosion. Provides a media approach to covering the life stories and events 

of STS-51L in an inexpensive and compact version of Challengers. 

Cooper, Henry S .F. Before L ife-off: T he M aking of a Spac e Shut tle C rew. B altimore, M D: T he J ohns H opkins 

University Press, 1987. The first in the New Series in NASA History, this book presents a fine discussion of 
61

the s election a nd tr aining o f c rews f or in dividual S huttle missions. Written in a journalistic style without 

scholarly apparatus, it is an excellent first person account of the 1984 mission of STS-41G.

Covault, Craig. "Shuttle EVA Suits Incorporate Advances." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 16 M arch 1981, pp. 

69-73. A description of the new space suits developed for Shuttle crewmembers for EVA, as well as some 

discussion of the new maneuvering units under development.

Dwiggins, Don. " Flying th e S paceship ' Enterprise' S imulator." Plane and P ilot. 13 ( March 1977) : 18 -23. T his i s a 

personal reminiscence of the experience of flying the Shuttle simulator used for the test orbiter.

Flight of STS-7 with Astronauts Capt. Robert L. Crippen, Capt. Frederick H. Hauck, Col. John M. Fabian, Dr. Sally K. 

Ride, and D r. Norman E. Thagard. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science 

and T echnology, 1 983. T his p ublication c ontains th e h earing o f th is c ommittee with the crew and other 

participants involved in this mission, which was notable for several reasons, among them the flight of the first 

American female astronaut.

Flight of STS-8 with Astronauts Capt. Richard H. Truly, Comdr. Daniel C. Brandenstein, Lt. Comdr. Dale A. Gardner, 

Jr., L t. C ol. G uin S. B luford, J r., and W illiam E dgar T hornton, M .D. Washington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f 

Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1983. This publication contains the hearings of this 

committee conducted with participants in the mission held on 27 September 1983.

Fox, Mary Virginia. Women Astronauts: Aboard the Shuttle. New York: J. Messner, 1984. This book, written for the 

youth market, describes the June 1983 flight of the Space Shuttle with emphasis on the experiences of Sally 

Ride, the first American woman to fly in space. It also includes brief biographies of the eight women Shuttle 

astronauts.

Hohler, Robert E. "I Touch the Future . . ." The Story of Christa McAuliffe. New York: Random House, 1986. Written 

by a journalist of the Concord Monitor, the hometown newspaper of McAuliffe, this book is a well-researched 

and well-written biography of the teacher killed in the Challenger accident. It tells how she became interested 

in the Shuttle and how she competed to become an astronaut.

Koch, D avid C . " Space S huttle T raining." Air L ine P ilot. 47 ( March 1978) : 13-15. A d escription o f th e in tensive 

training program undergone by Shuttle astronauts.

Nelson, Bill, with Buckingham, Jamie. Mission: An American Congressman's Voyage to Space. New York: Harcourt, 

Brace, Jovanovich, 1988. This book is a personal account of Florida Representative Bill Nelson's flight on the 

Shuttle Columbia made only 16 da ys before the 28 January 1986 loss of Challenger. Nelson, the chair of the 

House Space Science and Applications Subcommittee, was a payload s pecialist o n mission S TS-61C. T his 

book relates his training regimen and p reparation f or th e f light a s w ell a s th e f irst-person acco unt o f t he 

mission. At every level, Mission has an "I was there" quality about it, and is entertaining and insightful in that 

capacity. Most interesting, the last part of the book analyzes the Challenger accident and examines U.S. space 

policy. While costly, Nelson concludes, the risks are worth what will come out of the endeavor. He concludes 

his final chapter with these comments: "If America ever abandoned her space ventures, then we would die as a 

nation, becoming second-rate in our own eyes, as well as in the eyes of the world. . . . Our prime reason for 

commitment can be summed up . . . space is our next frontier" (p. 296).

Peebles, Curtis. "Training for the Space Shuttle." Spaceflight. 20 ( November 1978): 393-95. This is a synopsis of the 

training activities of the Shuttle astronauts. It should be used in conjunction with Henry S.F. Cooper's Before 

Lift-off. 

Siepmann, H.R., and Shayler, D.J. From the Flightdeck 4: NASA Space Shuttle. London: Ian Allen, Ltd., 1987. This 
62

book is a popularly-oriented work that follows a typical Shuttle mission from take-off to landing, observing 

events and the crew's routine operations from the perspective of astronauts. It contains transcripts of dialogue 

between th e S huttle a nd m ission c ontrol, a lo t o f pictures, an d a mission s tatement o n each o f the first 25 

flights. There is no scholarly apparatus.

Spangenburg, Ray, and Moser, Diane. Living and Working in Space. New York: Facts on File, 1989. This publication 

contains information about the operational activities of NASA's Shuttle missions designed for an informed nonspecialist audience that uses the library to track down information.

Velupillai, David "Shuttle Training: The Final Countdown." Flight International. 13 December 1980, pp. 2177-82. This 

is a short discussion of the training program for Shuttle astronauts. Should be read in conjunction with Henry 

S.F. Cooper's book, Before Lift-Off.

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 11—Space Shuttle Austronauts

Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 19—Memoirs About the Space Shuttle
63

CHAPTER 13 

THE SHUTTLE IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

d'Allest, Frederic. "Ariane vs. Shuttle: The State of Competition." Air & Cosmos. 11 March 1978, pp. 25-29. This short 

article s urveys t he d evelopment o f t he S huttle i n t he l atter 1 970s as a co mpetitor t o the European Space 

Agency's projected heavy-payload launch vehicle, Ariane. 

Arenstein, S eth. " Blizzard f rom Baikonur." Ad A stra. 1 (February 1989) : 14 -18. D escribes t he d evelopment o f t he 

Soviet Shuttle "Buran" and the Soviet space program, emphasizing design, construction, and space policy, and 

then compares it to the U.S. Shuttle program. Comments on the flight of t he Buran Shuttle, launched from 

Baikonur on 16 November 1988.

Billstein, Roger E. "International Aerospace Engineering: NASA Shuttle and European Spacelab." Unpublished paper 

prepared for the NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow Program, 12 August 1981. This paper was prepared to 

discuss the interrelationships between the NASA and the European space programs for the conduct of a Shuttle 

mission to launch the Spacelab. It deals largely with the policy and diplomatic history of the subject.

Culbertson, Phillip E., and Bold, T.P. "Opening a New Era in Space—Space Transportation System Utilizing Shuttle, 

Spacelab, and Interim Upper Stage." Astronautics & Aeronautics. 15 (April 1977): 20-25. This article explores 

the overall payload planning efforts aimed at initial projected use of the Shuttle to establish a new capability for 

exploring space through operations that could not be performed before. The first payloads were suppose to fly 

on orbital test flights beginning in March 1979. After these tests the Shuttle was expected to build up to as 

many as 6 0 f lights a y ear b y 1 984. T he p ayloads h ave b een ch osen t o make special contributions to the 

management on a global scale of the interrelationships of production, consumption, population growth, and 

pollution.

Forbrich, Carl A., Jr. "The Soviet Space Shuttle Program." Air University Review. 31 (May/June 1980): 55-62. A cogent 

review and assessment of what was known in an unclassified setting about the Soviet Union's efforts to build its 

own reusable orbiter with a configuration similar to the United States.

Froehlich, Walter. Spacelab: An International Short-Stay Orbiting Laboratory. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, 1983. This is an interesting short study of Spacelab, the Shuttle-based laboratory 

built by ESA as a cooperative venture with NASA. It is heavily illustrated and designed for a popular audience.

Gatland, K enneth. " A S oviet S pace S huttle?" Spaceflight. 20 (September/October 1978) : 322 -26. A s olid pi ece 

reporting th at th e S oviet Union was apparently working on its o wn v ersion o f a r eusable o rbiter. G atland 

develops the argument that the Soviet efforts to build a Shuttle were to support the orbiting of a permanent 

space station by the end of the 1970s. Some time after the summer of 1973 it was reported by Soviet sources in 

connection with the planned operation of long-life orbital stations as "man's highway to space" that it would be 

necessary to have transport ships making regular flights from earth to orbit and back. The favored system, it 

was said, would be an unoccupied first stage and a p iloted stage of aircraft type that could land at an airfield 

upon reentry. A test vehicle was launched in a s eries of glide experiments from a T upolev Tu-95 Bear. In a 

broadcast by Moscow radio on 11 June 1978 it w as stated that the design of the Soviet Shuttle was different 

from the American. The craft would resemble an ai rcraft with d elta wings. I ts r ear p art would car ry t hree 

powerful rocket engines.

Hammel, R.L., Gilliam, A.S., and Waltz, D.M. "Space Processing Payloads—A Requirements Overview." Journal of 

the B ritish I nterplanetary S ociety. 30 ( October 1977) : 363 -77. This article considers t he s pace p rocessing 

applications with regard to the user community offered by the Shuttle. The development of a s eries of lowgravity materials processing experiments, including c rystal g rowth a nd s olids, is d escribed a long w ith th e 
64

program requirements for such research. Spacelab should satisfy many of these efforts in partnership with the 

Shuttle. The authors also review the results of an eight-month study which defines and investigates possible 

space application payloads for the Shuttle, with special attention to payload design criteria, mission planning, 

and analyses regarding costs and scheduling. 

Hoffman, H .E.W. The Spac e L aboratory: A E uropean-American C ooperative E ffort. Washington, D C: N ational 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1981. This short work, a translation of a West German study, reviews 

the history of the European participation in the American Space Shuttle project. Some early work carried out in 

West Germany on the rocket-powered second stage of a r eusable launch vehicle system is cited, in particular 

wind tunnel studies of the aerodynamic and flight-mechanical behavior of various lifting body configurations in 

the subsonic range. Also highlighted is the development of international cooperation in the Shuttle program, 

especially noting West German interest and expertise. Also mentioned is the U.S.'s decision to exclude Europe 

from participating in the design of the orbiter and the booster stage of the Shuttle.

International Cooperation and C ompetition in Space. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on 

Science and T echnology, 1 984. This p ublication contains the proceedings o f hearings on t he s ubject gi ven 

before the subcommittee on Space Science and Applications given 25 July 1984 at the 98th Cong., 2d Sess.

Jastrow, R obert, an d N ewell, H omer E . " The S pace Program and the N ational Interest." Foreign A ffairs. 50 (April 

1972): 532-44. This article is not specifically related to the Shuttle, but it presents an argument in an important 

forum about the nature of the space program and comments on the Shuttle in relation to that program. The 

authors contend that the American space program sprang principally from considerations of national security 

and international prestige. That motivated most of its efforts in the 1960s and informed them since that time. 

They assert that the S huttle is an important step forward because it represents an opportunity to move into 

global service as never before because of its potential to serve the needs of all humankind. While they conclude 

that it will be a cost effective means of reaching space, they argue that "its prime importance lies in the fact that 

space is an arena in which several nations are, or soon will be, engaged. The United States must maintain a 

presence in that arena through a manned flight program to preserve its position as a world power."

Koelle, D ietrich E ., a nd B utler, George V . ed . Shuttle/Spacelab: T he N ew Spac e T ransportation Sy stem and i ts 

Utilization. San Diego, CA: Univelt, 1981. This is a collection of papers relating to the development and uses 

of the Shuttle presented at the American Astronautical Society.

Lord, D ouglas R . Spacelab: A n I nternational Suc cess St ory. Washington, DC: N ational A eronautics an d S pace 

Administration, 1987. Spacelab was the European-developed and U.S.-operated space laboratory carried in the 

cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. This book details the history of this program from its conception, describing 

negotiations an d ag reements f or E uropean p articipation an d t he r oles o f E urope and the U.S. in system 

development, operational capability development, and utilization planning. More important, it reviews the joint 

management structure, coordination process, and the record in solving management and technical questions in 

an international setting. While the Shuttle comes into the book repeatedly as the vehicle carrying this system, 

this book is a chronological account of the Spacelab program from 1967 to 1985. It is filled with illustrations, 

many in color, and while it h as no notes, a list of sources is included, as well as facsimile reprints of many 

important documents.

Lyndon B . J ohnson S pace Center. Spacelab L ife Sc iences 1: F irst Spac e L aboratory D edicated t o L ife Sc iences 

Research. National Aeronautics and Space Administration NP 120, August 1989. This glossy, well-illustrated 

publication d iscusses th e f irst in a s eries o f th ree S huttle m issions d edicated t o s tudying ho w living and 

working in space affects the human body. The document reviews the effects of weightlessness on the body, 

describes some of the major experiments to be performed, and includes a brief description of the crew and the 

program management.
65

Morgenthaler, George W., and Hollstein, M., eds. Space Shuttle and Spacelab Utilization: Near Term and Long Term 

Benefits for Mankind. San Diego, CA: Univelt Inc., 1978. A scientific work, this publication analyzes the uses 

of the Shuttle for microgravity, biomedicine, and other types of research.

Mueller, G eorge F . " Space S huttle—Beginning a N ew E ra i n S pace Cooperation." Astronautics & A eronautics. 

September 1972, pp. 20 -25. This is a u seful a rticle, b ut c hiefly f or its positive a pproach o f t he s ubject. I t 

highlights the multinational promise of the Shuttle and the ready access to space it will provide humanity.

Piotrowski, John L. "The C hallenge i n S pace." U.S. N aval I nstitute P roceedings. 116 (February 1990) : 32-39. T he 

author argues that "the Soviets have an impressive array of satellites, a Shuttle . . . and antisatellite capabilities 

that clearly display their designs for space. The United States needs to develop a space strategy and attain the 

capability to execute that strategy successfully."

Science in Orbit: The Shuttle and Spacelab Experience, 1981-1986. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, 1988. This contains a mission by mission analysis of the scientific experiments conducted in 

the Shuttle between its first orbital mission and the Challenger accident.

Shapland, D avid, an d R ycroft, Mi chael. Spacelab: Research i n E arth O rbit. C ambridge, E ngland: C ambridge 

University Press, 1984. This is a useful discussion of the development and flight of the laboratory built by 

Europeans for use aboard the Shuttle in earth orbit. It charts the twelve-year program of development through 

the first launch on the Shuttle in November 1983. It contains a chronicle of experiments performed in the lab 

and discusses some of the results. The book is highly illustrated with full-color in many places, and is designed 

as a readable work for the general public but without sacrificing detail and accuracy.

Vasil'yev, V ., a nd L eonidov, L . Space T ransport V ehicle: P urpose, R equirements and P roblems. W ashington, D C: 

NASA Technical Translation TT F-14, 26 July 1972. This translation of a Soviet technical paper explores the 

possibility of a manned, winged, reusable space transporter.

Williamson, Ray A. "The USA and International Competition in Space Transportation." Space. 3 (May 1987): 115-21. 

This article is one of several that appeared during the latter 1980s reviewing the problems of competition for 

commercial launches on the Space Shuttle and other lifting vehicles. Williamson examines developments in 

international space transportation from 1982 to 1992 and t he f ailure of U .S. pol icies t o m eet f oreign 

commercial competition in space launches. Two goals have emerged from the U.S. policy debate: to achieve 

assured access to space and to reduce the costs of sending payloads into orbit. Both goals need to be faced 

within the context of a wider commitment by government and private industry to space investment.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 12—The Space Shuttle and International Relations 

 See also Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 16—The Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station

 See also Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 17—The Space Shuttle and the International Space Station
66

CHAPTER 14 

MANAGEMENT AND FUNDING OF THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM

Ames, Milton B. Jr., et al. "Report of the Ad Hoc Subpanel on Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology." September 14, 

1966. Copy in National Aeronautics and Space Administration Reference Collection, NASA History Office, 

Washington, DC. This report, prepared at the behest of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board 

for submission to the Supporting Space Research and Technology Review Panel, discusses the previous studies 

made and assesses future space mission requirements and related launch rates on a p rospective basis for both 

DOD and NASA through the 1980 time period.

Assured Access to Space During the 1990s. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and 

Technology, 1 986. T his l engthy p ublication c ontains t ext o f t he joint hearings on the subject b efore t he 

subcommittee on Space Science and Applications and the subcommittee on Research and Development, held 

23-25 July 1985, 99th Cong., 1st Sess.

Baker, David. "The NASA Budget: Fiscal Years 1979-1980." Spaceflight. 21 (August-September 1979): 338-48. This 

article assesses the effect of the federal budget on the nation and how that relates to the space program. Baker 

pays special attention to the Shuttle program as th e p rimary a ctivity in N ASA. H e c ontends th at m any 

important objectives in s pace s cience an d t echnology planned for the 1 980s will be f rustrated d ue t o t ight 

NASA budgets. He also suggests that more money is required to see the Shuttle program over its development 

hurdles and this will have an added impact on the rest of the NASA effort.

Bell, M.W. Jack. "Advanced Space Transportation Requirements and Options." Journal of the British Interplanetary 

Society. 37 (December 1984): 531-36. The author comments that the United State's space transportation system 

is m aturing a nd s hould r emain o perational f or t he r est o f t he cen tury. T he u se of expendable and semiexpendable elements, the massive sustaining manpower, and the required ground equipment and facilities have 

all contributed to a higher cost per f light th an w as e xpected. B ell a dvocates t he co nstruction o f a n ew 

generation Shuttle that is fully reusable, lightweight, highly reliable, and equipped with long-life hardware. He 

believes these features can be incorporated into a single-stage-to-orbit system. This article characterizes several 

possible c onfigurations f or th is S huttle a nd illu strates s ome d esired f eatures. H e c omments, h owever, that 

Shuttle r equirements a re c onstantly e volving. T he f ollow-on s ystem s hould b e d efined cl early in terms of 

missions and applications w ithin th e l imits o f transportation c osts. H e a rgues, h owever, th at a n ew S huttle 

could not be built until a source of leadership and inspiration to initiate and lead this effort appears. While the 

technology is present, the will and the concomitant dollars are not.

Byrnside, N.C. "Space Shuttle Integrated Logistics: Fact or Fiction?" Unpublished thesis written for Air Command and 

Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, 1979. This paper takes issue with the NASA assessment of the 

Shuttle's in tegrated lo gistics s ystem, co mparing i t t o t he U SAF p rogram f or supply and maintenance of 

weapons systems.

Carrillo, M anuel J . A D evelopment of L ogistics M anagement M odels f or t he Spac e Transportation System. S anta 

Monica, CA: Rand Corp., 1983. This study reviews procedures and sets priorities and policies for the support 

of Shuttle operations.

Covault, Craig. "Space Shuttle Funding Seen at Stake." Aviation Week & Space Technology. 22 S eptember 1975, pp. 

47-50. This article reports on the NASA budget problems associated with the Shuttle as it ran into delays and 

cost overruns in the mid-1970s.

Dawson, Harry S. Review of Space Shuttle Requirements, Operations, and Future Plans. Washington, DC: U.S. House 

of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1984. This report deals with the past and prospects 
67

for the Shuttle during its early operational life. It is optimistic but still not sanguine that NASA would be able 

to m ake i t co st ef fective. T his r eport w as p repared b y the House Subcommittee on Space Science and 

Applications.

Disher, John H. "Space Transportation: Reflections and Projections." in Durant, Frederick C., III, ed. Between Sputnik 

and the Shuttle: New Perspectives on American Astronautics. San Diego, CA: American Astronautical Society, 

1981. pp. 199-224. This article is part of a larger publication focusing on various aspects of the space program. 

A presentation by the director of Advanced Programs for NASA's Office of Space Transportation Systems at 

the AAS, it contains no notes or other scholarly apparatus. It does survey the methods of spaceflight for piloted 

missions since Mercury and describes some of the features of the Shuttle.

General Accounting Office. Issues Concerning the Future Operation of the Space Transportation System. Washington, 

DC: General Accounting Office, 1982. This study attempts to clarify many of the problems that had arisen in 

the Shuttle program, especially its slower than expected mission schedule, and assesses their impact for the 

Congress.

General Accounting Office. NASA Must Reconsider Operations Pricing Policy to Compensate for Cost Growth on the 

Space Transportation Sy stem. Washington, D C: General Accounting Office, 1982. T his r eport t o Congress 

deals with the operational costs of the Shuttle and calls for a review and repricing of services provided to users 

of the system.

General A ccounting O ffice. Space Shuttle: External Tank P rocurement D oes N ot C omply w ith C ompetition i n 

Contracting A ct. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1988. This report examines whether NASA 

complied with the Competition in Contracting Act for the manufacturing and fabricating of external tanks for 

the assembly of solid rocket boosters. It finds several deficiencies in the NASA approach.

General Accounting Office. Space Shuttle Facility Program: More Definitive Cost Information Needed. Washington, 

DC: General Accounting Office, 9 May 1977. This study looks at the costs of ground support systems and 

criticizes NASA for not managing the support program as carefully as thought advisable. It argues that the 

commitment and current estimates of NASA a re n ot s ufficiently s upported b y d ocumentation, a nd th at the 

facilities of the agency needed for the program have not been accurately determined. It asked that Congress 

require NASA to provide more definitive information from which the progress of its major facility acquisition 

programs could be measured and assessed.

General Accounting Office. Space Transportation System: Past, Present, Future. Washington, DC: General Accounting 

Office, 27 M ay 1977. This lengthy 86-page study assesses the status of NASA's Space Shuttle development 

program, focusing on its proposed policy for charges to users and offering several options to Congress on the 

question of production of orbiters in fiscal year 1978. It details the advantages and disadvantages of starting the 

production of a third orbiter in FY 1978 and of delaying funding of the remaining two proposed orbiters.

General Accounting Office. Status and Issues Relating to the Space Transportation System. Washington, DC: General 

Accounting Office, 21 April 1976. This study assesses NASA's Shuttle development plan and concludes that it 

could result in increased costs, schedule d elays, an d p erformance d egradation t hat w ere n ot o riginally 

envisioned. The d evelopment p lan, r evised a s t he p rogram f ell b ehind s chedule a nd t ook f unding c uts, 

embodied such factors as reduced testing, compressed schedules, and concurrent development and production. 

The study also asks, but does not truly answer, whether th e Shuttle system fulfills the s pace transportation 

needs of the United States.

Grey, J erry. " Case f or a F ifth S huttle an d M ore E xpendable L aunch V ehicles." Astronautics and A eronautics. 19 

(March 1981) : 22 -26. T his ar ticle as sesses t he ar gument i n f avor o f a f ifth orbiter to increase th e S huttle 

capability as well as the development of an expendable launch vehicle for use in handling many unmanned 
68

missions. The article is prophetic in that, while it was opposed to NASA policy at the time, at least in terms of 

expendable vehicles, it says that the United States should not allow the Shuttle to dictate its entrance into space. 

This was a position especially popular after the Challenger accident.

Hale, C arl W . "Pricing of N ASA S pace S huttle T ransportation S ystem Cargo." Engineering Economist. 24 ( Spring 

1979): 167-97. This complex article discusses the system of charges and payment for the launch of satellites 

and the execution of experiments by the Shuttle once it became operational. In this program, commercial firms, 

research institutions, and governments paid NASA for the deployment of their assets in space.

Hechler, K en. Toward t he E ndless F rontier: H istory of t he C ommittee on Sc ience and T echnology, 1959-1979

(Washington, D C: U .S. H ouse of R epresentatives, 1980) . T his book c ontains the b est acco unt t o d ate o f 

Congressional wrangling over the Shuttle and demonstrates the bipartisan nature of both Shuttle support and 

opposition.

Hosenball, S. Neil. "The Space Shuttle: Prologue or Postscript?" Journal of Space Law. 9 (Spring-Fall 1981): 69-75. 

This article treats the d evelopment o f t he S huttle as a m ethod f or eas y acces s t o s pace, f ocusing o n t he 

problems an d p otential o f s pace co mmercialization, t he l egal issues of orbiting civilians, and associated 

questions. A s m ight b e e xpected, it is he avy o n p olicy a nd l egal q uestions a nd s hort o n t echnological 

discussions.

Mandell, Humboldt C., Jr. "Assessment of Space Shuttle Cost Estimating Methods." Ph.D. Diss., University of Colorado

at Denver, 1983. This scholarly work reviews the methodology for arriving at costing of Shuttle components. It 

is a complex study, without a good story line to it, but it is integral to understanding the development of the 

Shuttle, especially in v iew of th e cost-effective strategy of funding that NASA was forced to pursue in the 

program.

Mandell, H umboldt C ., J r. " Management an d B udget Lessons: The Space Shuttle Program." NASA S P-6101 ( 02), 

Autumn 1989. pp. 44 -48. A condensation of Mandell's P h.D. d issertation, th is a rticle a ssesses th e S huttle 

management program and offers several recommendations. Among the most important is a co ncern that the 

program planning process is essential, requiring long and realistic planning and budget forecasting. Mandell 

also found that NASA needs to pay more attention to the budgeting process to ensure that sufficient funding is 

available during peak periods of a program, and must not accede to the demands to underestimate costs to sell 

the program to Congress. He concluded that NASA has a top-heavy management approach with too many large 

program offices at various levels of organization.

Menter, Martin. "STS—Legal Connotations." Akron Law Review. 13 (Spring 1981): 629-647. A really fine rundown on 

the legal aspects of the Shuttle: accident liability, international law, and space territorial integrity.

Mueller, George E. Address on the Space Shuttle before the British Interplanetary Society, University College, London, 

England. August 10, 1 968. C opy i n N ational A eronautics an d S pace A dministration R eference C ollection, 

NASA Hi story Of fice, Washington, DC. T his p resentation, m ade b y N ASA's A ssociate A dministrator f or 

Manned Space Flight, may well have been the first public presentation of the Shuttle concept to a scholarly 

community. It set up the rationale, technological choices, and planning activities taking place at NASA for the 

development of the Space Transportation System.

National R esearch C ouncil. Assessment of Constraints on Spac e Shut tle L aunch R ates. W ashington, D C: N ational 

Academy P ress, 1983. T his i s a de tailed s tudy of the a bility o f N ASA to launch the S huttle in th e tim ely 

fashion promised to meet mission requirements. It surveys everything from the orbiter to the launch facilities to 

arrive at conclusions that point toward fewer launches per year than earlier anticipated. One of the important 

concerns of this report was the shutdown of the Shuttle production line and the hazards it had for the system's 

cost-effectiveness.
69

Office of Technology Assessment. Reducing Launch Operations Costs: New Technologies and Practices. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1988. This study reviews the practices and potential for 

cutting the cost of shuttle missions.

Office of Technology Assessment. Round Trip to Orbit: Human Spaceflight Alternatives Special Report. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1989. A detailed assessment of the state of the human 

spaceflight program and the Shuttle effort. It lays out well many of the issues affecting space policy at the end 

of the 1980s, e.g. whether to continue with the Shuttle in essentially its present form with minor improvements, 

to make major modifications, to develop a n ew launch system, or to develop and fly more unmanned launch 

vehicles.

Pace, S cott. " US S pace T ransportation Policy: History a nd I ssues f or a N ew A dministration." Space P olicy. 4 

(November 1988): 307-18. The newly elected Bush administration faced complex questions on the future role 

of the United States in space, and tough decisions on how to pay for it. Pace comments that decisions made 

now on space transportation will have an important affect on U.S. space leadership in the next decade. He 

describes t he h istory an d cu rrent s tate o f s pace t ransportation p lanning, an d considers key issues that will 

confront the Bush Presidency. In this process the Shuttle emerges as both the cause and the effect of policy 

formulation.

Perrow, Charles. Complex Organizations. (New York: Random House, 1979). A general study, this work investigates 

the management of sophisticated organizations such as NASA, and offers some general insights into the way in 

which the Shuttle program was handled.

Pross, Mark A. "The National Aerospace Plane." GAO Journal. Winter 1988-1989. pp. 54-59. This article describes the 

NASP program and its goal "to develop and then demonstrate in a manned experimental flight vehicle—the X30—the technologies necessary for future operational hypersonic airplanes and/or single-stage-to-orbit space 

launch vehicles that could deliver payloads into orbit more quickly, reliably, and inexpensively than today's 

Space Shuttle."

Review of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Report for NASA Fiscal Year 1990 Authorization. Washington, DC: 

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 1990. This work publishes the 

hearings of the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications held on 28 September 1989 concerning the 

NASA budget.

Rubenstein, S .Z. " Managing P rojects— An I ndustry V iew." in Issues i n N ASA Program and Project M anagement.

Autumn 1989. pp. 13-23. This article reviews the fundamentals of program management ala management 101, 

but it offers some specific lessons for the Shuttle program. It emphasizes learning from past successes and from 

past mistakes. It advocates the use of technology to ensure good communication between workers at all levels 

and tries to find a way to insulate people responsible for programs from the problems of micro-management 

made possible by the rapid communications medium.

Scheffer, J im. " Shuttle S etbacks C hallenge E ngineers' I ngenuity." Space W orld. M ay 1980, pp. 14 -19. T his a rticle 

explains better than most the reasons behind the delays in the Shuttle's development.

Shaver, R.D.; Dreyfuss, D.J.; Gosch, W.D.; and Levenson, G.S. "The Space Shuttle as an Element in the National Space 

Program." T he R and C orporation, O ctober 1 970. D ocument i n t he N ASA H istorical Reference Collection, 

NASA History Office, Washington, DC. This report concentrates on the economic justification and potential 

funding problems of the Space Shuttle. The authors expected that by 1990 the Shuttle would cost $75 billion to 

$140 billion while saving only $2.8 billion in space transportation costs. They predicted that satellite redesign 

to make optimum use of the Shuttle might result in further savings of $150 million to $200 million per year. 
70

The report emphasizes that, due to the complexity of U.S. space transportation needs, criteria other than cost 

should be used to evaluate the space transportation system as then conceived.

Shuttle Derivative Vehicles Study: Operations, Systems, and F acilities. Seattle, WA: Boeing Aerospace Corp., 1977. 

This study deals with an assessment o f unm anned c argo l aunch ve hicles us ing s olid r ocket b oosters t o 

determine (1) vehicle concept definition, operations, and facility requirements, (2) advanced technology areas 

which have potential payoff in reducing operating cost, and (3) an implementation plan for a low life cycle cost 

system.

Space Shuttle 1975: Status R eport for the Committee on Science and Technology. Washington, DC: U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, February 1975. This publication reports on the status 

of the Shuttle program before the 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 

Space Shuttle 1976: Status R eport for the Committee on Science and Technology. Washington, D C: U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, October 1975. This publication also reports on the 

status of the Shuttle program before the 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 

Space Shuttle 1977: Status R eport for the Committee on Sc ience and Technology. Washington, D C: U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1976. This publication reports on the status of the 

Shuttle program before the 94th Cong., 2d Sess. 

Space Shuttle 1980: Status R eport for the Committee on Science and Technology. Washington, D C: U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, 1980. This publication reports on the status of the 

Shuttle program before the 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 

Space Shuttle and G alileo Mission. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, 1980. This contains 

the hearings before a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, 96th Cong., 1st Sess.

Space Shuttle A ppropriations f or Fiscal Year 1979 . Washington, DC: U.S. H ouse of Representatives Committee on 

Appropriations, 1978. This contains the hearings before the Committee of Appropriations, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 

on the Shuttle.

Space Shut tle M ain E ngine D evelopment P rogram. Washington, DC: U.S. S enate C ommerce, S cience, an d 

Transportation Committee, 1978. This is the report of a hearing on the Shuttle's engine development difficulties 

before the 95th Cong., 2d Sess.

Space Shuttle Program: Cost, Performance, and Schedule Review. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives 

Committee on Science and Technology, 1984. This is a transcript of the hearings held before the subcommittee 

on Space Science and Applications of the 98th Cong., 2d Sess.

Space Shuttle Reprogramming. Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, 1978. Text of the hearings on 

the subject between the subcommittee on HUD-Independent Agencies for the 95th Cong., 1st Sess.

Space Shuttle-Skylab 1973: Status R eport for the Committee on Science and Astronautics. Washington, D C: House 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, January 1973. This publication relates hearings held on this subject by 

the 93d Cong., 1st Sess., and reached several conclusions about the viability of the program. It recommended 

that the project proceed. 

Space Shut tle-Skylab: M anned Spac e F light i n the 1970' s Status Report f or the Subcommittee on NASA Oversight. 

Washington, DC: House Committee on Science and Astronautics, January 1972. This publication contains text 

of hearings held on this subject by the 92d Cong., 2d Sess., and reached several conclusions about the viability 
71

of the program, recommending that the project proceed. 

Space Shut tle, Spac e T ug, A pollo-Soyuz T est P roject-1974. W ashington, D C: H ouse C ommittee on Science and 

Astronautics, February 1974. Report of h earings h eld o n t his s ubject b y t he 9 3d C ong., 2 d. S ess., w hich 

reached several conclusions about the viability of the program. Recommends that the program continue, noting 

the adequate funding for FY75 was critical to its success.

Space T ug-1973—Impact and M anagement of Space Tug D evelopment P rogram. W ashington, D C: U .S. H ouse o f 

Representatives Committee on Science and Astronautics, September 1973. Based on hearings during the 93d 

Congress, 1 st S ession, t his d ocument d eals w ith t he p roposed space tug as a part of the Shuttle p rogram. 

Congress asked for (1) a determination and finding of the role of the space tug in the Shuttle program; (2) the 

fiscal impact of the space tug on the overall manned spaceflight program; (3) the operations impact of the space 

tug on the latest proposed NASA mission model; (4) the operations impact on the project cost-per-flight of the 

Shuttle; (5) the ascertainment of the DOD role in the development and use of the tug; and (6) NASA's and 

industry's progress i n co nceptual d esign o f t he s pace tug ve hicle. I n c oncert w ith t he a bove go als, t he 

subcommittee held hearings with NASA, General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, Martin Marietta, 

and Grumman. As contained in the body of the hearing, NASA presented an overview of the role of the space 

tug program with neither conclusions nor recommended approaches.

Stevenson, A.E. "The Space Shuttle and Congress—A National Commitment." AIAA Student Journal. 17 (Winter 1979-

1980): 4-8. As the principal element of the reusable space transportation system, the Shuttle will remain the 

main o bjective o f t he U .S. s pace p rogram f or t he n ext t wenty y ears. T his paper analyzes various factors 

affecting t he d evelopment o f t he S huttle p rogram w ith p articular reference to budgeting requirements and 

respective co ngressional a ctions. A mong th e d evelopment p roblems th at r equired a dditional f unding w ere 

failures in the main e ngine c omponents, p articularly t urbopumps, d uring gr ound t ests a nd d elays i n t he 

installation of the reusable surface insulation.

Toner, Mi ke. "It's Pay Off or Perish for the Shuttle." Science Digest. May 1985, pp. 64-67, 87-88. This article is a 

critical assessment of the S huttle p rogram w ritten n ot lo ng b efore th e loss o f Challenger. I t n otes th at th e 

Shuttle has proven to be neither cheap nor reliable, both primary selling points, and adds that the American 

public h as been hornswoggled. Toner adds that the " concept of cost recovery i s o ne of t he legacies of the 

budget-conscious age in which the Shuttle program was conceived. After spending $24 billion to go to the 

moon, Congress wanted the Shuttle to pay its own way." That is a tall and ultimately an unfair order. NASA, 

the author concludes, made a b lunder by accepting the cost effectiveness line instead of making the Shuttle a 

national resource.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 13—Management of the Space Shuttle Program
72

CHAPTER 15 

JUVENILE LITERATURE

Baker, David. I Want To Fly the Shuttle. Vero Beach, FL: Rouke Enterprises, 1988. This is a children's book on the 

Shuttle, describing how astronauts are chosen and trained and what it would be like to fly a mission. It is part of 

the "Today's World in Space" series of books t hat ar e s hort, h ighly i llustrated acco unts o f v arious s pace 

exploration activities.

Barrett, Norman S. Space Shuttle. New York: Franklin Watts, 1985. This short work introduces the orbiter, what it is 

like inside, and what the crew does. It was written for a juvenile audience.

Barrett, N orman S . The P icture World of Space Shut tles. N ew Y ork: F ranklin W atts, 1 990. A c hildren's book, this 

heavily-illustrated work describes how a Shuttle works and describes various missions.

Biel, Timothy L. The Challenger. San Diego, CA: Lucent B ooks, 1990. T his book examines the Challenger from a 

scientific and historical perspective and discusses its effect on the Shuttle program. The book was written for 

young readers but does have a bibliography and index, as well as a good feel for the tragedy of the mission but 

a generally positive view toward continued space missions.

Branley, Franklyn M. Columbia and Beyond: The Story of the Space Shuttle. New York: Collins, 1979. This book, 

while written for a young audience, contains a useful general discussion of the Columbia orbiter, the space 

laboratory that fit into the cargo bay, Spacelab, and several of the experiments being developed for the Shuttle.

Cave, Ronald G, and Cave, Joyce. Space Shuttle. New York: Gloucester Press, 1982. This book, for a young audience, 

describes the general development and use of the Shuttle.

Chester, Michael. Let's Go on a Space Shuttle. New York: Putnam, 1975. This book, written for children, describes the 

Space Shuttle and suggests that in the future it will be routinely used to transport people and equipment to and 

from space, bring data to Earth, and rescue and repair other spacecraft.

Civil Air Patrol. Space Shuttle: A Space Transportation System Activities Book. Washington, DC: Center for Aerospace 

Education Development, n.d. This is a children's book, mostly for coloring, but with puzzles and descriptions 

of the Shuttle and what it will do for space exploration.

Coombs, Charles I. Passage to Space: The Shuttle Transportation System. New York: William Morrow, 1979. This is 

yet another of the run-of-the-mill books written for youth describing the construction, launching, reentry, and 

versatility of the Shuttle as the first reusable spacecraft.

Cross, W ilbur. a nd Cr oss, S usanna. Space Shuttle. Chicago: C hildren's P ress, 1985. T his i s a nother c hildren's book 

about the Shuttle.

Culper, F elix, an d P eterkin, Mi ke. The I nfinite B eyond. N ew Y ork: W arner J uvenile B ooks, 1 989. T his i s a young 

children's pop-up book about the Shuttle.

Dwiggins, D on. Flying t he Spac e Shut tle. N ew Y ork: D odd, M ead, 1985. T his i s w ritten f or a y oung a udience, 

describing the history of the Shuttle, its uses, how it works, and the details of a typical flight.

Dwiggins, D on. Into t he U nknown: The St ory of Spac e Shut tles and Space Stations. San Carlos, C A: G olden G ate 

Junior Books, 1971. This 80-page book, designed for young readers, describes the planning and building of the 

experimental space station, Skylab, and the potential of Space Shuttles for interplanetary travel.
73

Fichter, George S. The Space Shuttle. New York: Franklin Watts, 1981, 1990 rev. ed. This is a short book written for a 

youthful audience that describes the conception of the Shuttle, its construction, its functions, and its potential 

for space travel.

Fox, Mary Virginia. Women Astronauts: Aboard the Shuttle. New York: J. Messner, 1984. This book, written for the 

youth market, describes the June 1983 flight of the Space Shuttle with emphasis on the experiences of Sally 

Ride, the first American woman to fly in space. It also includes brief biographies of the eight women Shuttle 

astronauts.

Friskey, Margaret. Space Shuttles. Chicago: Children's Press, 1982. This is one of the many general books on the Shuttle 

written for children, well illustrated but otherwise pedestrian. It describes the operation and uses of a reusable 

system.

Jay, Michael. Space Shuttle. New York: Franklin Watts, 1984. Written for children, this book explains how the Shuttle 

works and describes a Shuttle trip from lift-off to touchdown.

Lewis Research Center. Launching a Dream: A Teacher's Guide to a Simulated Space Shuttle Mission. Cleveland, OH: 

Lewis Research Center, 1989. This publication was designed as a NASA educational publication for the use of 

teachers. It describes the Shuttle and a typical mission, as well as providing several resource activities for the 

students.

McCarter, J ames. The Spac e Shut tle D isaster. New York: Bookwright P ress, 1988. T his s hort book , w ritten f or

juveniles, discussed the disaster that destroyed the Challenger, the history and possible future of Space Shuttles 

and the efforts of NASA to correct deficiencies in the system.

McDonald, Suse. Space Spinners. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1991. This is a children's novel about two 

spiders who sneak aboard the Space Shuttle so that they can be the first spiders in orbit and to spin a web in 

space. Has some interesting discussion about the problems of spinning webs in a weightless environment.

McDonnell, Janet. Space Travel: Blast-off Day. Elgin, IL: Child's World, 1990. A children's book, this work describes 

the Shuttle and its mission profile.

Moche, Dinah L. If You Were An Astronaut. New York: Golden Book, 1985. This book, written for children, contains 

photographs and a simple text describing the activities of astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle.

Moore, Patrick. The Space Shuttle Action Book. New York: Random House, 1983. This book, describing the Shuttle for 

children, features pop-up and pull-tab gimmicks to follow the Shuttle on a mission from launch to landing.

Petty, K ate. Space Shut tle. N ew Y ork: F ranklin W atts, 1 984. T his is y et a nother c hildren's b ook a bout th e S huttle, 

illustrated with color and describing in general terms the Shuttle's design and performance.

Redmond, Marilyn. Henry Hamilton in Outer Space. Gretna, LA: P elican Pub., 1991. This is a delightful children's 

book about Confederate ghost Henry Hamilton. A sequel to Henry Hamilton, Graduate Ghost, this fictional 

work has Henry on vacation in Florida where he stows away on the Shuttle and haunts the astronauts in orbit.

Ride, Sally, and Okie, Susan. To Space and Back. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, 1986. This book, written for 

younger readers, describes the experiences of space flight by the first American woman in orbit.

Ross, Frank X., Jr. The Space Shuttle: Its Story and How to Make a Flying Paper Model. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and 

Shepard Co., 1979. This book is generally useful, e ven i f i t i s de signed f or c hildren a nd l eaves o ut m uch 
74

technical information. It c ontains a n in troduction to th e S huttle, its h istory, th e c onstruction o f its m ajor 

systems, a profile of a typical mission, and what the orbiter might mean to the future of space exploration. Then 

it provides detailed instructions on the construction of a model of the spacecraft from paper which can fly on a 

string or in free flight.

Steinberg, Florence S . Aboard the Space Shut tle. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

1980. Designed for school classes to familiarize them with the Shuttle and its mission. Well-illustrated and 

written in a catchy style, it is a good example of the public relations material put out by the agency.

Taylor, L.B., Jr. Space Shuttle. New York: Thomas Crowell, 1979. This book describes the reasons for and the design 

and operation of NASA's Space Shuttle and discusses who will be flying it and the benefits to be derived from 

its operation. It is a short work, and has been oriented toward a juvenile audience.

The Space Shuttle Adventure. Los Angeles, CA: Cheerios and Rockwell International, 1985. This is a short, 25-page 

booklet describing the Shuttle and its mission for young readers. It was put together as a promotional handout 

to capitalize on the popularity of the Shuttle.

Vogt, Gregory. The Space Shuttle. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. This work discusses experiments proposed by high 

school students that have been performed aboard Skylab and gives advice to those interested in similar space 

research co mpetitions for the Shuttle. It does include b ibliographical r eferences a nd an index. The book is 

definitely designed for a teenage audience.

 Link to Part 2 (1992–2011), Chapter 14—Juvenile Literature about the Space Shuttle