Author
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Topic: Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey (Price)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-04-2010 11:14 AM
Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey 1981-2011 by Luke Wesley Price 2011 will mark the last ever flight of the truly remarkable NASA Space Shuttle.Commemorating 30 Years of Space Shuttle Exploration, this beautifully crafted photography book written and designed by Graphic Artist Luke Wesley Price, comprises some of the most breath taking and awe-inspiring NASA images from the Space Shuttle’s 30 year service history, ever to be published in one impressive collection. To the general public, the Space Shuttle program has become "routine". It seems that, for the Space Shuttle and it's brave Astronauts to win extensive TV or broadcasting coverage, a disaster must occur. At present, the STS Space Shuttle program is winding to a halt. However, by the time you get the chance to own this book, the Space Shuttle program will be all but a memory. My mission, is to make sure it isn't a distant one. This stunning piece of work commemorates 30 years of manned Space Flight aboard an American treasure, a world phenomenon and unquestionably, the most technologically advanced vehicle ever made - The Space Shuttle. This book pays tribute to the 5 space worthy Orbiters built by NASA; Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, and exhibits them in some of the most amazing images you will ever see. From the dangerous blast off sequence; ripping through Earth’s Atmosphere and reaching for the stars, to some of the most vivid on-board mission photographs, such as space walks, extraordinary astronaut maintenance work, docking with the International Space Station and much more, this 200 plus page, 10”x10” Hardbound book is a piece of art you will want to pick up time and time again. The photographs are presented beautifully on high quality photo-grade paper and displayed in a fashion which lets the images do the talking. At the reverse of the book, you will find details on every single STS Space Shuttle mission flown, including launch dates, a documentation of the crew, plus many more special features. - 10x10" Hardback First Edition, Summer 2011
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gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 12-04-2010 12:06 PM
Hopefully not another book that concludes just before the termination of the shuttle program. Will they hold over publication until the last shuttle has landed? Seems pointless otherwise. |
Fezman92 Member Posts: 1031 From: New Jersey, USA Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 12-04-2010 12:53 PM
I agree, they really should include photos of STS-133 and 134 after they are done. |
Greggy_D Member Posts: 977 From: Michigan Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 12-04-2010 02:31 PM
Well, it does appear the book is coming out "Summer 2011", which could technically be early to mid-September. I'm hoping they do include the final flights. |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 12-06-2010 02:26 PM
I am the author/designer of this book, the guys here at collectSPACE were kind enough to inform me of this forum post, so I thought I'd come and say hi.Thanks for your interest so far, it certainly is an exciting project to undertake. Indeed we are waiting for the final missions to launch before we go to print, as we certainly need to pay recognition to the crew of those last flights. There are also some nice little extras in honour of each STS flight included in the book, which I'm sure all fans will appreciate. If those last remaining missions provide any photographs that make the cut, then they will surely be added at the final stages of the book. For this project I have concentrated on producing a beautiful collection of some of the best images that have come out of the STS program. A real showcase of the Shuttles service history. My rule for inclusion into the book, is that it has to be something visually special, something that makes the viewer inspired! This book primarily focus on the beauty of the Space Shuttle orbiters themselves in all their glory! I'm sure this book will be a welcome addition to any collection, but I would also like it to be accessible to people who would perhaps, not have much previous interest or knowledge of space exploration or the Space Shuttle; a real coffee table book that make you want to keep peeking into the pages. |
GoesTo11 Member Posts: 1309 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 06-22-2012 10:55 AM
Is this book still on track for publication? It sounds terrific, but quite a bit of time has slipped by without any updates. Thanks! |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-19-2013 04:36 PM
It is on track, just received confirmation. Material ready to be sent to the printer. It's a limited first edition: 1,000 copies. |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 08-02-2013 01:30 PM
Email received from the author and posted with his permission: This is a select email to those of you showed interest in reserving a copy some time ago.I am please to announce that today, Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey 1981-2011, will go on worldwide sale via our website. This is a Pre-Order and books will ship last week of October. I wanted to give you people who have supported the project the first chance to place your orders before advertising begins. Due to massive popularity of this publication, the run was extended very slightly, mainly to accommodate for press copies and library copies. This First Edition is limited to 1981 copies worldwide. As you can see this is still highly limited. The first 500 copies are hand numbered and signed by the author on a certificate in the front of the book, while stocks last. These are exclusive to spaceshuttlebook.com and won't be available anywhere in the future. If you would like to hold onto your reservation, please visit the website and place your order asap to avoid disappointment. If you are interested in the first 500 signed editions these may not be around for long and I wanted to offer them to you guys first, as you have been supportive all along. The books are sent from the UK, so we have strived to keep shipping costs down as best possible for our US and EU customers. We are in fact swallowing half the shipping cost here, in order to get you guys a good deal as shipping can be costly. I'm sure you will find this acceptable. The book is sturdy and quite heavy, and the detail on finish is fantastic. We strived to make this a beautiful coffee-table/art book that is a little more special than other books. I hope you guys and girls enjoy it. Please visit the brand new website for details/new images from the book and to place an order. Thanks for your kind support and keep the legend alive. |
Tom Member Posts: 1597 From: New York Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-03-2013 08:03 AM
I believe the amount of books produced is 1981. I placed my order yesterday. |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 08-27-2013 01:13 PM
Books are ready for shipment at end of October. This is a limited first edition of 1981 copies worldwide, plus a "first 500 copies" option that is hand numbered and signed, available only from here. It is a beautiful coffee table book, which presets some amazing images in a fantastic way, I hope some you may find this project interesting. I have worked on the project for 4 years and it has been a blast! As you may or may not know, NASA's shuttle images aren't all in the best of conditions, but we have done great things with some of NASA's most creative pictures to clean them up and fix them for this book. NASA's image have been a great help along the way and the project has gained support from personal heroes of mine such as John Glenn and Bruce McCandless! We've gone to great lengths to bring you this book the way we wanted it and spared no cost in production. Hope you all like. |
OWL Member Posts: 175 From: United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 10-19-2013 11:06 AM
Having met the author, Luke, at Space Lectures' event last Saturday I had the privilege of taking an in depth view of his superb book. It is a stunning visual feast of the entire history of the space shuttle taking in all five orbiters and every mission. Luke has obviously spent a great deal of time and creative energy compiling the definitive photographic history of the space shuttle programme.The photos have been carefully selected and formatted on to high quality gloss paper coupled with descriptive text with each photo. The book is the space shuttle comparable to Michael Light's "Full Moon" photographic history of the Apollo moon landings. Well done Luke for producing this stunning book. |
GoesTo11 Member Posts: 1309 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 10-19-2013 01:57 PM
Copy #99 reserved. Can't wait to see it! |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 10-22-2013 09:46 AM
Because of Challenger? |
GoesTo11 Member Posts: 1309 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 10-22-2013 10:11 AM
Yes. Not just as a "tribute." My second in-person shuttle landing was Challenger's first, STS-6. |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 10-22-2013 10:29 AM
I reserved #135 because... well.. it was the final flight. |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 10-22-2013 11:10 AM
Thanks to all the people who came and checked the book out at the Alan Bean event in Pontefract, UK, was great to meet so many people.All orders begin shipping tomorrow, we've got lots to get through here, but we shall get these out to you right away! Thanks again for all the great feedback and I hope you all enjoy what I've put together here. I always intended this to be something a little more special than the usual and a visual experience people would want to keep revisiting. |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 10-25-2013 02:52 PM
A nice little article on NBC News today... |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 10-29-2013 10:04 AM
Copy landed today (10/29). Beautiful book. |
lordolsen Member Posts: 112 From: Denmark Registered: Jun 2010
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posted 10-29-2013 04:19 PM
#85 landed in Copenhagen in Denmark this morning. This is a great book. A work of love!Thanks for the book! |
gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 10-31-2013 04:43 AM
There was always a risk that this was going to be "just another shuttle book" ... but it's not. Beautifully selected shots and quality production. The bespoke packaging is a nice touch. Very pleased to have this in my collection. |
keith.wilson Member Posts: 87 From: Callander, Stirling, Scotland Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 11-01-2013 11:59 AM
If you are interested in spaceflight you will have seen lots of books covering the Space Shuttle program... but if you want to see the very best collection of images of the shuttle in action then this quality book is the one to get. The book oozes with quality - from the paper, the production, the layout to the choice and quality of the images. The focus is on the machinery rather than the astronauts which is no bad thing. The Space Shuttle is one beautiful spacecraft and this book shows it in all its glory from pre-launch to post landing. Highly recommended tribute to the 30 year Shuttle program. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-04-2013 11:34 AM
Copy no. 102 arrived here late last week. I've only had time so far to quickly flip through the pages, but as others have said, the book is a stunning visual tribute to the space shuttle program. The photos are well chosen, capturing the splendor of the spacecraft and its different phases of flight. Congratulations Luke, on the release. It was definitely worth the wait... |
GoesTo11 Member Posts: 1309 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 11-06-2013 08:27 PM
In addition to copy #99, I also bought a non-numbered copy from Amazon. By coincidence, both arrived on Monday.First of all, I can only echo others' sentiments on the sheer quality of this book. The photo selection, reproduction, layout, materials, binding, packaging... all top-notch. For those still on the fence about purchasing a copy, it might be more useful for me, by way of review, to elaborate on what this book is and what it isn't. Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey is not a linear history-in-pictures of the Shuttle program... it's more of a celebration, and a beautifully executed aesthetic study of the machine itself. After a prologue, the volume is presented in four parts depicting the phases of a Shuttle mission: Preparation, launch and ascent, on-orbit, and return to earth. Within each section are photographs of each phase from throughout the program. All the iconic images are here, from Columbia on the pad, floodlit at night before STS-1, the first launch and touchdown at Edwards, Bruce McCandless flying free with the MMU... all the way to Paolo Nespoli's shot of Endeavour docked with the ISS and the last launch and landing, with hundreds more less-seen but well-selected and stunningly presented photographs depicting both the Shuttle's staggering complexity and almost stately beauty. Yeah, I said "beauty." Anyone who browses through this book and sees a "flying brick" doesn't get it and never will. Indeed, aside from the terrific production, I think what most pointedly makes this "not just another Shuttle book" (as a previous poster put it), is that it is focused entirely on the machine itself. The only astronauts' faces to be seen herein are those of the STS-74 crew peering out at Mir through the flight deck overhead windows. There are no shots of crews in Hawaiian shirts "surfing" in microgravity, or batting M&M's across the cabin into each other's mouths. Don't get me wrong, that stuff tickles me as much as anyone here, but it's simply outside the purview of this book. On a related but vastly grimmer note... I mentioned iconic images earlier. There are at least two that you will not see yet again between this book's covers, those of the destruction of Challenger and Columbia. Luke Wesley Price dedicated this volume to the fourteen souls aboard those two final missions, but saw no need to include their final moments in his visual narrative. I believe that this is entirely consistent with this book's purpose. Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey is not an elegy but a visual celebration of a truly revolutionary technological achievement, and it is a magnificent visual tribute to the efforts — and sacrifices — of those who made it happen. |
crash Member Posts: 318 From: West Sussex, England Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 11-07-2013 05:09 AM
My copy was waiting for me when I got home from a work trip. What an absolute delight to open the package and find a bespoke box containing the best space shuttle book I have seen. It oozes quality even before you open the printed box and continues to the last page. A fitting testament to the hard work that Luke has put into it and a suitable tribute to the Space Shuttle Program. Well worth waiting for and I highly recommend it to others. |
space4u Member Posts: 323 From: Cleveland, OH USA Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 11-07-2013 04:11 PM
Copy No. 108 arrived here in Cleveland and like the others above it was well worth the wait. I have been playing a game while looking at the outstanding photos...trying to see if I know the mission BEFORE reading the caption. Try it! |
Tom Member Posts: 1597 From: New York Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-10-2013 11:21 AM
I received Copy #91 this week. This, in my opinion, is the ultimate (photographic) souvenir of the shuttle program.After gazing through these magnificent photos, I took the time to see which flights were represented. - Seven missions are illustrated in the "pre-Challenger" era.
- Nineteen flights used for the "post Challenger to Columbia" era.
- And, of the 22 "post Columbia" missions flown, 20 are illustrated in this book.
Fantastic job, Luke... couldn't ask for more! |
Dietrich Member Posts: 67 From: Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 11-10-2013 03:52 PM
I agree to all positive comments given by other readers. I received the book a few days ago and I appreciate the very good selection of known and unusual photos as well as the focus on the Space shuttle itself as a machine.However, I see one major drawback in the production: many photos are presented over two pages such that the binding fold in the center between both pages disturbs the possibility to enjoy the complete photo. For example pages 120-121 show the shuttle docked to the ISS with the earth and black sky in the background. But the ISS is merely visible since it vanishes in the fold of the binding. I will never understand why that is not considered in the book making-process. The general layout of the book reminds me of "Full Moon", but that book uses fold-outs for large panoramic photos, which can be laid flat to look at. I do not buy a signed book and then cut the spine to get loose leaflets which can be laid flat for looking at. All the photos in the NBC news review linked to above suffer from this issue. This shuttle book is much too good to suffer from such a drawback, so I would appreciate a new issue which solves this distracting problem. Nevertheless, this book is worth its price. The printing on heavy paper is also a big plus. |
tegwilym Member Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-10-2013 06:49 PM
#95 arrived last week. I've flipped through it a little. Very nice, thanks Luke!
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sev8n Member Posts: 233 From: Dallas TX USA Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 11-14-2013 12:19 PM
I received my copy yesterday and I am quite impressed with the quality of printing/layout and the selection of photographs. I was up late into the night poring over every page.I'd also like to comment on the packaging. I ordered this book along with another unrelated title through amazon.com. Both books were shipped together in one box. The other title was loose in the shipping container and sustained minor corner dents and dust cover scratches. The Luke Wesley Price book was absolutely pristine, the book itself sealed in shrink-wrap and then enclosed in its own sturdy protective box. Kudos on both your book and your choice of packaging. |
JBoe Member Posts: 959 From: Churchton, MD Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 12-25-2013 09:23 AM
Luke, I just wanted to let you know I received your book for Christmas from my wife! Your book is stunning and amazing and came in a great box! |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 01-09-2014 09:28 AM
It's been a busy time over the last couple of months trying to get all the books out to everyone all over the world!The response to the book and the work I have put into this project has been overwhelming and I thank you all for your kind words. It's not easy doing something on this scale completing off your own back, but I am happy I saw the project through to the end! I hope you see this book as something maybe just a little more "special" than your average space book... that's what I intended right down the the design, production and last details. The book is now mostly sold out worldwide with very very limited copies left. I have kept some signed copies back so I can attend the Space Lecture event on April 12th (thanks to Ken Willoughby and Andrew McDermott). It would certainly be nice to meet the legendary Ken Mattingly. Thanks for everyone's support on collectSPACE! See you soon. |
Rick Mulheirn Member Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-09-2014 01:47 PM
Luke, will you sign copies of your book when you are in Pontefract? |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 01-10-2014 06:57 AM
Rick, yes I can.The ones I bring to Pontefract will most likely be what's left of the limited (first 500) copies. These have a certificate in the front which is hand numbered out of 500 and pre-signed by myself. I can always additionally sign no problem of course if you wish or if i have standard copies etc. |
JBoe Member Posts: 959 From: Churchton, MD Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 01-10-2014 04:50 PM
Any chance of conducting a visit to the DC area? Would love to have you sign the book if you do any book signing stateside. |
space shuttle book New Member Posts: 9 From: Essex, United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2013
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posted 01-13-2014 05:27 AM
I'd love to come to the USA with the book some time soon, hopefully this can be done some time. |
JBoe Member Posts: 959 From: Churchton, MD Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 01-13-2014 04:46 PM
Luke, that would be great! Maybe you could setup at the National Air and Space Museum here in DC. |
heng44 Member Posts: 3386 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 01-15-2014 06:15 AM
I received the book yesterday and it is truly 'beautiful'. A word that can also be found in many of the photo captions... |
Jon Long Member Posts: 10 From: Michigan, USA Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-03-2014 11:00 AM
Just wanted to make it known that Mr. Price and his new book "Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey 1981-2011" are a true class act.The quality of the book and packaging are truly special. As a collector, I value these attributes very highly. Luke has put together a terrific book and the attention to detail throughout is excellent - from the high resolution vibrant photos, to the solid book binding and construction it is obvious a great deal of care went into this production. The custom outer box is a very nice touch and provides excellent protection to all four corners and edges of the book. Luke's customer service has been top notch as well - when my first copy (a signed, numbered below 100 edition) arrived with a few dings in it from the shipping monkeys, Luke graciously sent me another brand new copy straight from the UK - also signed, with an even lower number than the one I had, for FREE! I have no association with Luke in any way, other than being a satisfied customer. It makes me happy when people really stand behind their work and provide quality customer service, so I feel compelled to tell others! Thanks Luke! |
robert_l Member Posts: 168 From: Dundee,Scotland Registered: Jul 2008
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posted 03-25-2014 02:54 PM
I got a copy at Autographica and the book is breathtaking. Having lived through the entire shuttle program, this book is fantastic. Thanks again. |
minipci Member Posts: 365 From: London, UK Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-26-2014 04:36 AM
I too got a copy (#358) at Autographica. It is a wonderful book, and I recommend it to anybody out there who has yet to purchase it. |