Mission: An American Congressman's Voyage to Space

By Bill Nelson, Jamie Buckingham, Bill Nelson, et al.

Book Overview

14th NASA administrator and US Senator Bill Nelson's account of an unforgettable Space Shuttle mission

In January 1986, US congressman and future NASA leader Bill Nelson flew on the six-day mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Nelson conducted medical experiments, including cancer research and the first American stress test in space. Mission is Nelson's account of this journey, originally published two years after the flight and now available in this paperback edition with a new preface.

In this book, Nelson recounts how he was selected as a payload specialist and details his training regimens with the crew for the flight and mission. He describes the experience of launch, living in zero gravity, and returning to Earth. Nelson also addresses the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which happened just 10 days after his own mission ended, discussing its impact on himself and the nation and the changes in NASA mission directives that followed. The book includes Nelson's early perspectives on the goals and principles of the US space program, the value of conducting research in weightless environments, and the necessity of collaborations in developing advanced space technologies.

Mission offers a fascinating window into the Space Shuttle program during the pre-Challenger era. Forty years later, NASA has seen the completion of the International Space Station, long-term partnerships with other national space agencies, and the expanding role of private space companies. Nelson's hopes and predictions in these areas are significant contributions to space history and markers that show how far the space program has come.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 168340551X
• ISBN13: 9781683405511
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: University of Florida Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly Good

I've read a lot of books about the space programs of the world and I figured that this book would be just another average book about the space program, especially when one considers that the author is a United States Congressman, but I was pleasantly mistaken. I was expecting something more like John Glenn's autobiography, but it takes a lot just to figure out what party he belongs to.Unlike a lot of other astronaut biographies which present a lot of information about pre and post flight life, Bill Nelson spends very little time writing about his past and only a brief section about growing up in the area and that his descendents owned the area around the Kennedy Space Center. He devotes a substantial number of pages to, his selection and training, the Challenger accident and about his hopes and dreams for the future of NASA and international cooperation.Bill Nelson's flight was the last space shuttle flight before the Challenger accident. Even though he was only a payload specialist, basically a passenger assigned to run a few experiments, he describes the incredible amount of work that he went through just to prepare for his flight. He describes crew training, physicals, flying in the KC135, which is able to provide about a minute of zero-gravity free fall, simulations and numerous launch scrubs (more than any other shuttle mission to date). He also presents a lot of information about the Challenger crew, one he was almost part of, but due to internal NASA problems he was reassigned to an earlier flight. The book also covers a lot of the behind the scenes actions at the Johnson Space Center and the Kennedy Space Center and he praises many of the unknowns that make the space program works. For example, Jay Greene, Doug Ward, Carolyn Huntoon and George AbbeySince he was originally schedule to flight on the Challenger mission, I found his view on the accident extremely interesting and one, which I have never heard before, and one, which doesn't get much press. While he does attribute the Challenger explosion to the failed Solid Rocket Motor joints, he believes that political problems with the NASA administrator were one of the main causes for the Challenger accident. Specifically, James Beggs, the NASA Administrator was under investigation for over charging the government when he was at General Dynamics (he was later cleared) and he had to take a leave of absence. The Deputy Administrator, a non-aerospace engineer, took over and the author feels that his lack of experience, such as not even attending the liftoff, had a major contribution to the explosion such as not canceling the launch. He believes that James Beggs would not have allowed the launch to occur.This book may not be for everyone, but I think a lot of people will find this book interesting, especially for the behinds the scene descriptions of the space program and the lack of political rhetoric. All proceeds from the book go to charity.