Author Description

This volume, like the others, not only focuses upon the individual missions within the decade but also upon key challenges facing human space exploration at specific points within those years - from the problems of simply breathing and eating in space to the challenges of venturing outside in a pressurized spacesuit, the development of newer and better space toilets, and the difficulties of locomotion on the Moon. The Eighties was a time when traveling into space far more commonplace. Examining in detail the American and Soviet fronts, Ben Evans gives a comprehensive analysis of the varying fortunes of the U.S. space shuttle in the Eighties, including its early test flights and commercial flights, its problems, the 51L tragedy and its aftermath, and the resumption of operations with STS-26. The U.S. story ends with STS-37 in April 1991. In the Soviet sphere, two pivotal space station efforts - Salyut 7 and its succesor, Mir - are considered, showing how they were alike and different.