After the excitement of the first Moon landing, the U.S. space program took an ambitious new direction closer to home: NASA’s Space Shuttle program promised frequent access to Earth orbit for medical and scientific breakthroughs; deploying, repairing, and maintaining satellites; and assembling a space station. is the as the world's first spaceplane debuted. Showcasing over , this book traces the growth of the Space Shuttle from The photographs offer windows into designing the first reusable space vehicle as well as the construction and testing of the prototype shuttle . They also show the factory assembly and delivery of the Space Shuttle , preparations at the major NASA field centers, and astronaut selection and training. Finally, the book devotes a chapter to each of the first four orbital missions, STS-1 through STS-4, providing an for each flight. Mostly selected from J. L. Pickering’s personal archive, , the high-quality photographs in this book are paired with veteran journalist John Bisney’s The book also includes images of NASA and shuttle contractor booklets, manuals, access badges, and press kits, as well as a foreword by Robert Crippen, the pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight. re-creates the excitement of an era in which the possibilities of space exploration seemed limitless.