Rating: 
Summary: A Awe Inspiring Walk Through The Past 20 Years
Review: Opening this book took me back to that Sunday morning back in 1981 when as a space addicted 16 year old I watched the television in amazement as STS 1 took to the skies for the first time. The book provides a wonderful walk through all that has happened in the two decades that followed. The short remarks of so many who have flown on the shuttle provide remarkably vivid insights into what most of us can only dream of experiencing. A terrific selection of photographs makes this a must have for any fan, young or old, of the space shuttle program.
Rating:
Summary: The Compleat Space Shuttle
Review: Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years is the best book on the shuttle program yet. Yes, it has beautiful [and in some cases, unpublished] photos. Yes, it has all the details you need to know to follow a shuttle mission from training to landing. But the best part of this book is that it contains the shuttle experience in the words of the astronauts themselves! The book contains paragraph to essay length quotes from the shuttle astronauts organized into different chapters each concerning a different aspect of a shuttle mission. This book is a cousin to the beautiful and now out-of-print The Home Planet [1988], although the quotes in that book were never longer than a paragraph. To top it off, Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years is published by DK Publishing, a company especially good at this type of book. Throw in a lower than normal price for a coffee table-style book and you can't miss. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book gives you KNOWLEADGE with great photo and captions with all!!Just order this book to find out what I am talking about!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful picture book of space
Review: This book has awe-inspiring photos in full-color and many that are full-page. It's an oversize book so you get some huge photos of space! You'll see the astronauts floating around and doing their work, too, but the best photos are of the earth and its amazing beauty when seen from a distance. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is, like a lot of high-quality picture books, the text isn't the best. Some of the astronauts are good writers and write great entries about how being in space changed them - made them appreciate life more, and so on - but other entries are dry and could have been edited out. Also, the astronaut writing the page has their photo somewhere in the book, but not on the same page as their writing. It's hard to keep track of who wrote what unless you take the time to flip back and forth to the index, look up the astronaut's photo, and compare that to their writing. The actual shuttle itself and how it works is not covered much until the final couple pages which do include a good graphic about the shuttle's parts.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Photography, Nice Snippets from Astronauts
Review: This book includes wonderful photography of the shuttle and space and earth as seen from the shuttle. It also has short little snippets from the astronauts about their experiences. These range from the mundane to the humorous to the inspirational.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Bit Of Work
Review: This book provides an informal study of the NASA space shuttle program,
based on tales and interviews with shuttle crew and framed with tons
of (mostly) NASA photographs. Given that definition, it is a fine piece of work, very spiffily laid
out and entertaining. However, I have to warn that somebody
who wants to get the nitty-gritty details about the shuttle program
isn't really going to get them out of this book, though there is an
appendix that does give a tidy little survey of the topic. The
essays are basically independent anecdotes only loosely organized
into themes. As this book is clearly meant for casual reading, that can hardly
be regarded as a criticism, and there is a much more detailed
book available on the shuttle program for the technical reader
(though I haven't read it yet). And even the technical reader will find interesting things in
the stories -- my favorite is the tale of how rats quickly adapt
to zero gee and even seem to enjoy it -- and nobody could complain
about the sparkling photography -- one of my favorites is an
amusing picture of Mission Specialist Janet Kavandi looking
fashion-model pretty while being fitted up in a space suit. A few
of the stories seem a bit over-earnest, but that's what happens when
you stick a mike in someone's face and ask them to say something. In sum, however, this a very good book. I give it four stars
instead of five simply to warn that more technical space
enthusiasts might not be happy to shell out the money for it as
they might feel it lacked meat, though I believe almost every space
enthusiast would enjoy paging through it.
Rating:
Summary: Pure magic
Review: What a great book. It's emotional, awe inspiring, and an absolute pleasure to read. We so often hear our Astronauts talking about the technical side of their work, but rarely do we get a look at the human side. If you ever wanted to know what it feels like to be on a shuttle, or just get a sense of the exhilaration of space flight, buy this book. It features short musings from many of the shuttle program's astronauts, and includes some of the most beautiful photos from the program's 20+ years. It's a shining example of how great our nation's space program is, through the eyes of our brave astronauts. Any fan of the space program should definitely add this book to his or her coffee table!
Rating: 
Summary: The First 20 Years or The Most Recent 20 years?
Review: Why is the book called The First 20 Years when it's about the years 1981-2001. Maybe is should be called The Most Recent 20 years?
Rating:
Summary: As close as you can get to flying yourself!!!
Review: With the words of those who have flown the Space Shuttle over the past 20 years, and stunning NASA photography, the reader is taken on a litterary flight to orbit. Not a dry technical account of stats and flight info, but the actual experiences of the 70+ astronauts that lead the reader from training, launch, on-orbit, visits to MIR and the International Space Station, reentry and landing. The editorial staff of Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine have joined the league of authors/ astronauts Michael Collins and Jim Lovell and historian Andrew Chakin for their ability allowing readers to take flight through the pages of their books.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking photos! Great anecdotes!
Review: Wonderful. Not a dry science book, but human and very real stories from the shuttle crews of the last 20 years... their favorite and most memorable moments and photos. It reads like diary entries, or postcards home. Very real and human descriptions, not dry. It captures the wonder and excitement of the program in a way nothing I've ever read has, and gave me a real insight into some of the aspects of daily life on the shuttle, the real fears, the fun, the stress. Also nice to see women astronauts! What an inspiration! Buy this book for your daughters!
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