City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Shuttle, Houston, my life in the center seat of Mission Control, Paul Dye

eng

contains biographical information

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

Shuttle, Houston

Paul Dye

my life in the center seat of Mission Control

A compelling look inside the Space Shuttle missions that helped lay the groundwork for the Space Age, Shuttle, Houston explores the determined personalities, technological miracles, and eleventh-hour saves that have given us human spaceflight. Relaying stories of missions (and their grueling training) in vivid detail, Paul Dye, NASA's longest-serving Flight Director, examines the split-second decisions that the directors and astronauts were forced to make in a field where mistakes are unthinkable, and where errors led to the loss of national resources and more importantly one's crew. Dye's stories from the heart of Mission Control explain the mysteries of flying the Shuttle, from the powerful fiery ascent to the majesty of on-orbit operations to the high-speed and critical re-entry and landing of a hundred-ton glider. The Space Shuttles flew 135 missions. Astronauts conducted space walks, captured satellites, and docked with the Mir Space Station, bringing space into our everyday life, from GPS to satellite TV. Shuttle, Houston puts readers in his own seat at Mission Control, the hub that made humanity's leap into a new frontier possible

Introduction -- Prelude: The last time -- Chapter 1: The most complex flying machine ever built -- Chapter 2: Spaceflight 101 -- Chapter 3: Being a flight controller -- Chapter 4: Getting selected - the chosen few -- Chapter 5: Becoming flight -- Chapter 6: Plan, train, fly -- Chapter 7: Shuttle Mir -- Chapter 8: SRTM and the mast -- Chapter 9: Life in Mission Control -- Chapter 10: Return to flight -- Chapter 11: Thirty-year learning curve -- Chapter 12: Leadership in a high-risk business -- Index