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Title: Bold They Rise

Subtitle: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986

Author: David Hitt, Heather R. Smith

Narrator: Gary L Willprecht

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

After the Apollo program put 12 men on the moon and safely brought them home, anything seemed possible. In this spirit, the team at NASA set about developing the space shuttle, arguably the most complex piece of machinery ever created. The world's first reusable spacecraft, it launched like a rocket, landed like a glider, and carried out complicated missions in between. Bold They Rise tells the story of the space shuttle through the personal experiences of the astronauts, engineers, and scientists who made it happen - in space and on the ground, from the days of research and design through the heroic accomplishments of the program to the tragic last minutes of the Challenger disaster. In the participants' own voices, we learn what so few are privy to: what it was like to create a new form of spacecraft, to risk one's life testing that craft, to float freely in the vacuum of space as a one-man satellite, to witness a friend's death. A "guided tour" of the shuttle - in historical, scientific, and personal terms - this book provides a fascinating, richly informed, and deeply personal view of a feat without parallel in the human story.

Members Reviews:

good

would have preferred a more technical explanation of designing the shuttle. most of the book focused on the missions.

Fantastic and interesting, start to finish

Essential read/listen for any Shuttle die hard. It ends very abruptly and I wish it had been more technical about the STS early concepts and design process. I'm still hoping for a book that dives even deeper than Bold They Rise. Regardless of what it is not, it IS excellent for people hoping to learn about the more human aspects of creating and operating the now-sadly-retired Space Shuttle Transport System.

The first years of the shuttle in a nice format

Any additional comments?

I have received a copy of this book in audio format by the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

This book narrates the first years of the Space Shuttle program from the point of view of the astronauts.

The program was launched by Nixon wanting to have a different approach to traveling to space, more on a budget and with reusable space crafts. One of the program's goals was to have quite an amount of missions per year, which would reduce the per-mission cost. In the end this cost was not reduced as much as it was expected due to parts that could not be reused. Primarily the space shuttle missions were related to satellite launching and investigation in zero G, but then the intention was making it accessible to people not related to the program. The last part of the book is dedicated to the Challenger, what caused the accident, and how this changed the vision of the shuttle program. The missions were maybe overlooked and lightly taken, and from then onwards things needed to be taken more strictly to avoid future disasters. The story continues in 'Wheels Stop:The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986-2011', which also promises to be an interesting read.

This is quite a long book, over thirteen hours, but it is really amazing. I knew about the shuttle program but I ignored some of the historical details. Here they are all compiled in a nice format that will delight everybody. The book is full of anecdotes told by the astronauts and technicians.