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Humanitya's first reusable spacecraft and the most complex machine ever built NASAa's Space Shuttle debuted with great promise and as a dependable source of wonder and national pride. But with the Challenger catastrophe in 1986 the whole Space Shuttle program came into question as did NASA itself so long an institution that was seemingly above reproach. Wheels Stop tells the stirring story of how after the Challenger disaster the Space Shuttle not only recovered but went on to perform its greatest missions. From the Return to Flight mission of STS-26 in 1988 to the last shuttle mission ever on STS-135 in 2011 Wheels Stop takes readers behind the scenes as the shuttlea's crews begin to mend Cold War tensions with the former Soviet Union conduct vital research deploy satellites repair the Hubble Space Telescope and assist in constructing the International Space Station. It also tells the heart-wrenching story of the Columbia tragedy and the loss of the magnificent STS-107 crew.As complex as the shuttle was the people it carried into orbit were often more soa"and this is their story too. Close encounters with astronauts flight controllers and shuttle workers capture the human side of the Space Shuttlea's amazing journeya"and invite readers along for the ride.A
