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Summary: Offers one of the most comprehensive coverages available
Review: Collections strong in space science or astronomy will want to include this history of the NASA program and its missions: unlike coffee-table competitors, Dennis R. Jenkins' Space Shuttle offers one of the most comprehensive coverages available, providing a wealth of insights into the politics and science of the NASA shuttle program. Black and white photos throughout.
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Summary: It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
Review: Dennis Jenkins has really outdone himself. "Space Shuttle : The History of the National Space Transportation System" is the single most comprehensive reference on the shuttle. It contains practically anything that anybody needs to know about the shuttle without consulting the shuttle user's manuals. A lot of rare history, drawings, and photographs concerning the early development of the shuttle appear here for the first time. A comprehensive history of the hundred-odd shuttle flights is provided as well. Anyone who reads this book should be able to describe all of the orbiters inside and out. For space enthusiasts, this is not a book that you can afford to miss.
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Summary: It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
Review: Dennis Jenkins has really outdone himself. "Space Shuttle : The History of the National Space Transportation System" is the single most comprehensive reference on the shuttle. It contains practically anything that anybody needs to know about the shuttle without consulting the shuttle user's manuals. A lot of rare history, drawings, and photographs concerning the early development of the shuttle appear here for the first time. A comprehensive history of the hundred-odd shuttle flights is provided as well. Anyone who reads this book should be able to describe all of the orbiters inside and out. For space enthusiasts, this is not a book that you can afford to miss.
Rating:
Summary: It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
Review: Dennis Jenkins has really outdone himself. "Space Shuttle : The History of the National Space Transportation System" is the single most comprehensive reference on the shuttle. It contains practically anything that anybody needs to know about the shuttle without consulting the shuttle user's manuals. A lot of rare history, drawings, and photographs concerning the early development of the shuttle appear here for the first time. A comprehensive history of the hundred-odd shuttle flights is provided as well. Anyone who reads this book should be able to describe all of the orbiters inside and out. For space enthusiasts, this is not a book that you can afford to miss.
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Summary: Extraordinary achievement
Review: Having just spent some time on the subject myself I can say in all good faith that Dennis Jenkins has done a remarkable job of compiling information on America's Space Transportation System. This book stands head and shoulders above anything else I have seen published on this complex subject. Covering everything from the earliest designs of Valier and Sänger up to and including future proposals for liquid boosted versions of the Shuttle, this book has it all. I have been carrying this book around with me for 48 hours straight. Brilliant job!
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Summary: Technically Refreshing
Review: I am an engineer and find the book technically informative. The writings, pictures and diagrams reach just far enough below the surface to make the book very enjoyable. More..more.
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Summary: Awesome
Review: The title of this review says it all. Well put together and puts you right in the seat of the greatest machine in the world. Breaks down the pioneering development of reuseable spacecraft and details the development of the beloved orbiter family. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the space shuttle and our nations great space program. Awesome job!!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: The title of this review says it all. Well put together and puts you right in the seat of the greatest machine in the world. Breaks down the pioneering development of reuseable spacecraft and details the development of the beloved orbiter family. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the space shuttle and our nations great space program. Awesome job!!
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Summary: Valuable resource for understanding the space shuttle
Review: This book is a must-have for the armchair astronaut. The book gives a great history of the development of the shuttle, and a very detailed description of the shuttle systems. If you want to know what really makes the shuttle tick, and know where the systems fit, this is a great book. It has very detailed drawings of components, and system operation explanations. It is not too engineering-ese in that the descriptions are not written in rocket science language, rather, it is written in a way a interested layman could grasp how and why the shuttle systems where brought in to the design.
This book is an absolute must-have for the armchair astronaut.
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Summary: Valuable Resource
Review: This book is a valuable resource for anybody interested in the Space Shuttle Program. Not only does it detail much of the early history of lifting reentry vehicles, it provides a (short) overview of each flight and contains tables that provide just about every detail of the flights (the exact thrust produced by each Solid rocket Booster, the serial numbers of each engine used, the precise amount of liquid oxygen loaded in the External Tank, etc.). One reader noted some discrepencies in launch/landing dates, but the confusion probably arises since Jenkins uses GMT (actually, UTC) times instead of Florida/California times - if the launch or landing was near midnight, then the date might be different in GMT. Although a tad confusing, this is more precise since it eliminates needin to know if the launch site was observing daylight savings time at the momenent.The book is printed on excellent quality paper, is well bound (no dust jacket, however), and the photos are drawings are very well reproduced. The book is highly reocmmended to anybody interested in the Space Shuttle. Please note, however, that the book only covers the first 100 missions (through late 2000), so it does not include the recent Columbia accident.
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