The Voyages of Columbia; The First True Spaceship by Lewis, Richard S - 1984

New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. Second Printing [stated]. Hardcover. Good/Good. Laiying Chong (Jacket Design). [2], viii, [2], 223, [5] pages. Illustrations (photographs and drawings). Space Shuttle Flight Summary. Notes. Index. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Ex-library with usual library markings. DJ is pasted to the boards. Richard S. Lewis had a long career as a journalist. He was Science Writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. He was also Managing Editor and Editor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He has authored a number of books on space and exploration. Traces the development of the space shuttle, describes the political and technological problems the program faced, and looks at future uses of the shuttle. This lavishly illustrated volumes by one of America's foremost science writers presents the whole story of America's Space Shuttle program, from early designs and planning to the four successful operational test flights and the first five operational missions. Filled with the facts and intriguing details that have made America's space program such an awesome and exciting adventure, the book offers every reader a gripping description of one of the great chapters in human history. The author opens this account of the evolution of the first true spaceship by tracing the engineering development of the shuttle in depth, starting with its initial concept as a fully reusable, space-adapted airplane. He then describes how budgetary and political consideration led to the current version, a partly reusable, rocket-boosted glider.