Shuttle, Houston: My Life in the Center Seat of Mission Control

In the tradition of Chris Kraft's Flight and Gene Kranz's Failure Is Not an Option, from the longest-serving Flight Director in NASA's history, a revealing look at the high-stakes work of Mission Control that tells the inside story of the Space Shuttle program that has redefined our relationship with space.

A compelling look inside the Space Shuttle missions that helped lay the groundwork for the Space Age, SHUTTLE, HOUSTON explores the determined personalities, technological miracles, and eleventh-hour saves that have given us human spaceflight.

Relaying stories of missions (and their grueling training) in vivid detail, Paul Dye, NASA's longest-serving Flight Director, examines the split-second decisions that the directors and astronauts were forced to make in a field where mistakes are unthinkable, and where errors led to the loss of national resources -- and more importantly one's crew. Dye's stories from the heart of Mission Control explain the mysteries of flying the Shuttle -- from the powerful fiery ascent to the majesty of on-orbit operations to the high-speed and critical re-entry and landing of a hundred-ton glider.

The Space Shuttles flew 135 missions. Astronauts conducted space walks, captured satellites, and docked with the Mir Space Station, bringing space into our everyday life, from GPS to satellite TV. SHUTTLE, HOUSTON puts readers in his own seat at Mission Control, the hub that made humanity's leap into a new frontier possible.