Inside Mission Control by Wayne Hale

Inside Mission Control by Wayne Hale

NASA's Space Shuttle era lasted from 1972 to 2011, a nearly forty-year window that coincided with Wayne Hale's thirty-two-year career with NASA. During that time, he was a flight controller, flight director, and finally head of the Space Shuttle program. Hale held a role in every aspect of the Space Shuttle program's operations, and collected here are a range of personal stories and reflections experienced during his tenure: from the lighthearted and comical account of the first and only ice cream social in Mission Control during a Space Shuttle flight to the technological marvel of servicing the Hubble Telescope and building the International Space Station. Also covered are some of the darkest moments in NASA history—the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and the management decisions that serve as a caution to anyone involved in high-risk activities. While video and audio from Mission Control presented calm and calculating professionals performing their duties, these were also everyday people with their own fears, anxieties, triumphs, and joys. Hale's indelible descriptions of the events and the people behind them could only be written by a member of the inner circle. Brimming with personality, Inside Mission Control is an intimate, behind-the-scenes account of one of NASA's most important eras, told by a man who grew with the program from beginning to end.

Wayne Hale joined NASA at the Johnson Space Center in June 1978, where he served as a Space Shuttle systems flight controller for fifteen early Space Shuttle flights. From 1988 to 2003, he was a Space Shuttle flight director assigned to a record forty flights. In 2003 following the Columbia accident, Hale joined the senior leadership of the Space Shuttle program office and later became Space Shuttle program manager. In 2008, he became the deputy associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he influenced the formulation of the Commercial Crew Program, which followed the Space Shuttle. Of his many accomplishments, Hale is most proud of overseeing the transformation of NASA Space Shuttle management culture to one that prioritized safety and mission success.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781626713369
ISBN 10	1626713367
Title	Inside Mission Control
Author	Wayne Hale
Series	Purdue Studies In Aeronautics And Astronautics Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Purdue University Press
Year published	2026-11-15
Number of pages	330
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.