Space Shuttle Operator's Manual, Revised Edition

This is a fascinating book with lots of cool illustrations and diagrams. If you have kids, or still are one, buy this book. It's really neat.

I agree with most of the above comments regarding this book, other than the one about NASA propaganda, which I did not see in this book. While, I was skeptical at first when I first ordered it thinking that the book was going to be very basic, I was later very impressed with the detail that the book actualy went into on how the shuttle works and how one lives and works in space. I would caution though, that if you teach from this book that you make sure the shuttle systems and payloads are up to date by checking he Nasa websites. Because of its publishing date, this book does not deal with the Multifunctional Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), or "glass cockpit," that is on the three remaining orbiters. The MEDS system replaced the 32 analog gauges and four cathode ray tube monitors in the old cockpit with 11 state-of-the-art, full-color flat panel displays to reduce the pilot's workload. The first glass cockpit was installed in Shuttle Atlantis in 2000. Since this book was revised in 1988, the MEDS system is not mentioned in it. Also, some of the payloads mentioned in the book are out of date, so before you teach from this book, please make sure that you follow-up and update your teaching material. Overall, well worth the money as a teaching and learning aid.

This is the best book on how to live, work, and live in space. It tells you all about the buttons, the menus, the toilets, the suits, etc. It even has like 7 pages for the launch with the dialogues and everything starting at T-minus 5 hours to T+plus 48 minutes. It has the same for landing, too. It tells you what's inside the shuttle, and where the stuff is located. It even describes certain space missions like Spacelab, and more! If you want to study space shuttles and become an astronaut, this book is a must! I love it! I can't stop putting it down!

This book is the best overview and reference manual on the shuttle. As you can see from the "Look Inside" function, and by the index, it covers the whole nine yards. It focuses specifically on the orbiter, and covers all aspects of shuttle missions from launch to landing.As an aspiring sci-fi writer, I found this book to be the perfect reference. It has raw statistics, such as orbiter length, cargo bay volume, and it even goes over the meals and menus and how they are prepared. It also goes in to the history of the orbiters, and the names of the ever shrinking shuttle fleet.Several sections deal with the now-defunct Spacelab modules. The Spacelab was the shuttle equivalent of a camper shell that sat in the cargo bay. It turned the shuttle into a mini space-station, and had several interchangeable modules. One section was a pressurized module with a battery of experiments, which was connected to the shuttle cockpit. Other sections included a multi-use pallet, and an experimental pallet. This Spacelab was retired in 1997, and has been replaced by the Spacehab modules, which was on the Columbia when it broke-up over Texas.This book is written in the normal "Basic English" of instruction manuals, and can be understood by elementary school children. It also has many diagrams and pictures, which save many thousands of words of descriptions.By the way, this book does explain how the space lavatory. In case you are curious, it is a normal commode with vacuum suction, although I have heard stories that it can smell at times.This book's one weakness is that it is a bit impersonal. If you want to know about the emotions and reactions to life in spaces, another book may be better, such as Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff," of Homer Hickam's "Back to the Moon.". As you read this book, you must supply your own excitement and emotion to this book, since it is an operator's manual. It reads a bit like an encyclopedia, or dictionary, and not a novel.After reading and referencing this book, I felt as if I had been on board!

If you're part of the increasing number of teachers who are involved in space science education, this book is a great candidate for use as a basic text. It consolidates all the information you need to teach about the space shuttle and is particularly useful if your school is involved in space shuttle simulations -- an idea whose time has come. It's amazing how many schools use this book as part of their space science simulation program. You'll find the lift-off scipt, glossary, and detailed diagrams very useful.