Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

David Hitt (Author), Heather R. Smith (Author), Gary L Willprecht (Narrator),

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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.

Listening Length

13 hours and 15 minutes
Author

David Hitt, see all
Narrator

Gary L Willprecht
Audible release date

Feb. 7 2017
Language

English
Publisher

University Press Audiobooks
ASIN

B0725MHVBZ
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	13 hours and 15 minutes
Author	David Hitt, Heather R. Smith
Narrator	Gary L Willprecht
Audible.ca Release Date	February 07 2017
Publisher	University Press Audiobooks
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0725MHVBZ
Best Sellers Rank	#109,090 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #259 in Astronomy & Space Science (Audible Books & Originals) #317 in Computer History & Culture (Audible Books & Originals) #386 in Physics (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

48 global ratings

5 star		77%
4 star		10%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Scott Bishop

Fills in some gaps if you've read other Space Shuttle books

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 19, 2014

Prior to reading this book I had also read Mike Mullane's Riding Rockets, Jerry Ross's Spacewalker and Truth, Lies and O-Rings, as well as watched When We Left Earth, so I was already quite familiar with the early history of the Space Shuttle program. It was because of that familiarity that I found this book so enjoyable. Bold They Rise gives a detailed accounting of each of those early missions and includes some excellent interviews with the astronauts that flew them. Some of this was information I already knew but a lot of it was either new or it was a different astronaut's perspective on events.
I would not recommend this book as the first Space Shuttle book a person should read because they might find it a little dry and uninteresting. But if you've read other Space Shuttle books and still want more then this is excellent addition to your library.

Helpful

Jan

a good historical review of the early STS years

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 5, 2014

Printing not as clear as one would expect. but, a good historical review of the early STS years.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

eric mc

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

A very good overview of the first 5 years of Shuttle operations.

Kevin Conway

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

Item as described, many thanks.

One person found this helpful

Leon A Daniels

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

Reasonably good

One person found this helpful

Gary Milgrom

Excellent History of the Early Space Shuttle Program

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

Bold They Rise does a unique job of painting the background and emotions of the times during various eras of the Space Shuttle. It focuses on the shuttle's operations by cherry-picking missions concerned with different aspects of the shuttle's capabilities.

It opens with chapters on the design and construction. These are very well done and I was surprised to learn that the thermal tiles used on the orbiter were related to tiles used on NASA's Saturn 1 booster. I've read a lot about these tiles and was surprised to find something new in this book, which is not based on engineering or the TPS itself.

These chapters are followed by the early test flights and then the early operational flights. The book again does a good job of painting the background stories to developing the shuttle, it's remote arm and other parts as an integrated working machine, and you feel immersed in the nuances of the program as it matures.

The program goes from strength to strength, but towards the end of the book you feel something new and different - risk. At first I did not understand why the writers covered missions that never launched, but after reading about plans for polar orbits or a liquid fueled booster in the payload bay, you get a good sense of the cannot-fail attitude that wrongly filled NASA at that time. They were not paying attention to the risks piling on top of other risks, and we all know that tragedy was just around the corner. The flight of 51-L is covered as well as can be, given that many entire books have been written on all aspects of this accident.

My overall thought - a very enjoyable history of the early shuttle program and great companion piece to Rick Houston's Wheels Stop, which together form a complete history of NASA's wonderful Space Shuttle.

9 people found this helpful

Terry S

Entertaining, Well-Written, Accurate and Informative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

I read pretty much every spaceflight book published. My spaceflight library contains hundreds and hundreds of volumes, and yet I still nearly always buy any and all new books on the subject. Sure, I know spaceflight history and technology like the back of my hand by now (especially as a retired aerospace engineer/manager), but I find that most new books still offer me some learning opportunities.

“Bold They Rise” is a case in point.

First, it’s a volume in the University of Nebraska’s superb “Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight” series. Every volume in this series is a real gem. I consider some of them to be the best written to date on their particular topic. Second, to potential readers who might think everything that CAN be written about the early Space Shuttle flights has already been written—well, I say give “Bold They Rise” a try.

Authors David Hitt and Heather R. Smith provide a rare and valuable perspective on the Space Transportation System’s design, development, testing and operations between 1972 and 1986 by liberally mining the vast treasure trove of NASA oral history interviews archived at the Johnson Space Center. As such, they focus much more than most other Shuttle histories on the human elements of the program rather than the types of technical minutia that make space geeks salivate. As one of those aforementioned geeks, I initially thought I might find “Bold They Rise” less engaging than the usual engineering-oriented tomes that I eagerly devour. But I was wrong.

I didn’t do a word count, but I estimate about half of the text in “Bold They Rise” is italicized quotes from oral history transcripts, complete with occasional misstatements, errors and folksy language. Between the quotes, the authors insert their own comments and background data to put the quotes into their proper technical and historical contexts. The technique works like a charm. It gives the book a conversational, fast-paced narrative that should make it accessible to anyone interested in the subject.

I enjoyed “Bold They Rise” immensely,” and it is now part of my permanent spaceflight library. You should add it to yours as well.

4 people found this helpful

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Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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