Into the Black, Rowland White
Into the Black, Rowland White
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Into the Black
The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her

Author: Rowland White, Richard Truly

Narrator: Eric Meyers

Unabridged: 15 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/19/2016


Synopsis

A book “no aviation buff will want to miss” (The Wall Street Journal) and “the perfect tale that educates as it entertains” (Clive Cussler, #1 bestselling author), Into the Black recaptures the historic moments leading up to and the exciting story of the astronauts who flew the daring maiden flight of the space shuttle Columbia.

Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America’s top engineers and pilots. Columbia was the world’s first real spaceship: a winged rocket plane, the size of an airliner, and capable of flying to space and back before preparing to fly again.

On board were moonwalker John Young and test pilot Bob Crippen. Less than an hour after Young and Crippen’s spectacular departure from the Cape, all was not well. Tiles designed to protect the ship from the blowtorch burn of re-entry were missing from the heat shield. If the damage to Columbia was too great, the astronauts wouldn’t be able to return safely to earth. NASA turned to the National Reconnaissance Office, a spy agency hidden deep inside the Pentagon whose very existence was classified. To help the ship, the NRO would attempt something never done before. Success would require skill, perfect timing, and luck.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Into the Black is a thrilling race against time and the incredible true story of the first space shuttle mission that celebrates our passion for spaceflight.

About Rowland White

Rowland White is the author of three critically acclaimed works of aviation history: Vulcan 607, Phoenix Squadron, and Storm Front. All three have been Sunday Times top ten bestsellers. His most recent novel is Into the Black.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Spad53 on February 07, 2025

Into the black by Rowland White This was a surprisingly boring book. First I must say that I’m totally into aviation, but I have rather sharp limits, things like helicopters and space rockets are outside my sphere of interest, Yes I know it’s silly, but there it is. So I tried to broaden my outlook ,......more

Goodreads review by Ben on August 14, 2020

For the dedicated enthusiast. I'm not so interested in the Space Shuttle program, but White still tells a good story. He is completely uncritical of NASA and the program, however. In his eyes, NASA can do wrong. He does not mention any of the big management failures leading to the Challenger disaste......more

Goodreads review by Jade on September 08, 2024

Was really excited to get into this one but somehow it felt like there was something missing, in spite of being constantly bogged down in details/biographies. I didn't find myself mentally engaging with the account until Columbia was actually on its maiden voyage which was a comparatively small sect......more

Goodreads review by K.M. on May 31, 2017

This book is thoroughly researched and I learned several things about the history preceding STS-1. But unfortunately there are large sections of the book where each chapter follows the same structure. This repetitive nature makes the book boring to read. It's as if the chapters were written followin......more

Goodreads review by Nguyen Hoang Phong on November 04, 2017

The subject material is awesome, the amount of technical details is incredible. HOWEVER, the biographies of each and every characters in the book are so detailed and long and detailed and long that you will spend so much time just juggling all these names and profiles and personal stories in your he......more