“Before Lift-Off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew” by Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.

“Before Lift-Off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew” by Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr. • Hardcover • First Edition, 1987 • Johns Hopkins University Press • 288 Pages Condition: Excellent ————————————- Winner of the Eugene Emme Astronautical Literature Prize from the American Astronautical Society. ————————————— For eight days in October 1984, seven men and women orbitied the Earth on Space Shuttle Mission 41-G. The mission had begun a year earlier with the selection of its crew. Before Lift-off is the extraordinary day-to-day story of these astronauts' training and flight. Professionals say it is “as close as most of us will ever come to flying on the space shuttle.” New Yorker writer Henry Cooper obtained unprecedented permission from NASA to follow the 41-G crew from its formation through the completion of its mission. He was even given access to the heart of the training program: the crew's sessions in the shuttle mision simulators. This is more than a chronical of different phases in an astronauts' learning process. Before Lift-off tells the true, and very personal, “behind-the-scenes” story of these men and women, and this extraordinary time of their lives. ——————- “The making of a space crew―a fascinating story masterfully told.” — Michael Collins “His vivid account is poignant in the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger explosion, as it captures the exuberance that existed before the terrible disaster. Highly recommended.” — Thomas J. Freiling