posted 11-27-2017 08:22 PM               

This fascinating account documents the earliest discussions by NASA leadership to fly non-professional astronauts onboard the space shuttle, and features the personal accounts of many of the payload specialists who were selected for the missions.

We were fortunate to have the cooperation of many NASA astronauts and payload specialists including Rick Chappell, Michael Lampton, Rodolfo Neri-Vela, Bob Cenker, and Loren Acton. The U.S. Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer program is detailed with the recollections of Gary Payton, Bill Pailes, Eric Sundberg, Brett Watterson, and Frank Casserino.

We were also faced with quite a daunting challenge, given the number of missions on which payload specialists were flown. Hence, we made the decision early on to focus on the missions of the 1980's through STS-51L. This first era of space shuttle missions featured European scientists, guests from France and Saudi Arabia, two Congressional observers, commercial engineers, and the highly publicized, yet ultimately ill-fated Teacher in Space program.

The MSEs operated in near-total secrecy for years as they labored to integrate their highly classified payloads into the orbiter that would launch them. An ambitious plan to launch space shuttles into polar orbit from the west coast would face daunting technical challenges, yet was nearly ready to fly when the Challenger disaster occurred.

This project has been a labor of love for both of us. We’ve tried to document an exciting aspect of the shuttle program while focusing on those 22 payload specialists who were fortunate enough to earn a seat on these early flights. We hope you’ll find it as engaging as it was to write.

posted 12-19-2017 03:53 PM               

The title has also been confirmed with a slight change in the subtitle. The new title is: Come Fly with Us: NASA’s Payload Specialist Program.

We removed the years 1983-86 as we do cover some of the post 1986 missions that carried payload specialists.

posted 02-07-2018 11:09 AM               

Come Fly with Us is the story of an elite group of space travelers who flew as members of many space shuttle crews from pre-Challenger days to Columbia in 2003. Not part of the regular NASA astronaut corps, these professionals known as "payload specialists" came from a wide variety of backgrounds and were chosen for an equally wide variety of scientific, political, and national security reasons. Melvin Croft and John Youskauskas focus on this special fraternity of spacefarers and their individual reflections on living and working in space. Relatively unknown to the public and often flying only single missions, these payload specialists give the reader an unusual perspective on the experience of human spaceflight. The authors also bring to light NASA's struggle to integrate the wide-ranging personalities and professions of these men and women into the professional astronaut ranks.

While Come Fly with Us relates the experiences of the payload specialists up to and including the Challenger tragedy, the authors also detail the later high-profile flights of a select few, including Barbara Morgan, John Glenn (who returned to space at the age of seventy-seven), and Ilan Ramon of Israel aboard Columbia on its final, fatal flight, STS-107.

• Hardcover
  
• ]University of Nebraska Press (Feb. 1, 2019)
  
• ISBN-10: 0803278926
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0803278929

posted 04-25-2018 02:38 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
The MSEs operated in near-total secrecy for years as they labored to integrate their highly classified payloads into the orbiter that would launch them.

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posted 04-25-2018 05:18 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
The U.S. Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer program...

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posted 04-29-2018 03:19 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
But does anyone know what a CHIT is?

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The CHIT resulted in a lot of lessons learned which I originally included in the book, but once we realized we had to cut words, most of it was deleted.

posted 10-07-2018 12:07 PM            

Also quite surprising to see how many small errors are still caught at this stage. I think we have a new appreciation for those who have published books in the past, only to have seemingly obvious errors pointed out by readers. It can be an exhaustive process.

So right now it looks like we're still on track for a February 2019 release, and the next time we see the project, we should be holding a completed hardback book in our hands!

posted 11-26-2018 02:15 PM            

Hopefully, with publication we will be able to share any book signings or talks we can get lined up.

posted 12-26-2018 12:08 PM            

As other forum member writers have shared, it's a very exciting thing to actually hold the completed product in your hands after years of work and all the back and forth that goes into the editing process. The quality is definitely on par with the rest of the series.

These first copies are all spoken for...we've promised signed books for all of the participants who were gracious enough to grant us interviews and other assistance. Hopefully, we'll start seeing them hitting the shelves and Amazon ahead of the advertised date.

posted 12-27-2018 08:01 AM               

John recalled a comment from MSE Eric Sundberg; "There's a lot that we accomplished that is still classified, but once when you get to see it, you're going to be like...Wow!," with his eyes big and his hands waving around.

posted 01-26-2019 12:17 PM            

Tune in online Friday, March 29 at 12:30 Eastern!

posted 01-30-2019 10:41 AM            

I offered him an advance copy of our book, and he graciously offered to have a photo taken with one of the authors.

One observation he made looking at the cover was how unfair it was for the payload specialists to be seated in the middeck with no windows during launch and entry...

posted 02-01-2019 09:12 AM            

We've had several people contact us saying they received Amazon orders yesterday, and we've also found that it is available on Apple Books as well.

While the average reader will certainly gain a new perspective on the formative years of space travel for non-professional astronauts, this community will likely appreciate the story more than most. We certainly hope it is revealing and entertaining, and welcome any comments, criticisms, likes, or dislikes from our readers here.

Also have a look at our Twitter page @CmFlyWithUsBook for continuing new payload specialist stories, book information and announcements to come!

posted 02-01-2019 01:00 PM            

If you PM me I'm sure we can do it TTM. Aside from that, Mel and I will have at least a table, and hopefully a book talk, at Spacefest in August.

We haven't considered bookplates like we did for Footprints in the Dust but we might look into that.

Thanks for following us on Twitter!

posted 02-10-2019 06:24 AM               

I have to confess I'm not reading it in sequence (each chapter is self contained, so it doesn't matter), as I wanted to go straight to the controversial flights of US Senators and the Teacher in Space tragedy. There's lots of new stuff I didn't know, which goes to show how good research always brings to life new facts!

A big thanks to Colin Burgess also. Without his influence at the UNP I don't think any other author would have been given the green light to write a book about such an obscure 'nerdy' topic as the Payload Specialist programme.

posted 03-12-2019 07:01 PM               

Certainly getting the chance to interview or just talk to some of those who have flown into space was reason enough. But on Thursday I am getting what in New Orleans they call a little "lagniappe (something extra)".

I've been invited to the USSRC in Huntsville, Alabama for an Apollo 11 panel discussion (Rhea and Hoot both participating), and a tour of the museum by Dr. Rick Chappell (Spacelab 1 Mission Scientist) and Harry Craft (Spacelab 1 Mission Manager), and many others involved in Spacelab and the Apollo program. This is to be followed by a dinner at Dr. Chappell's house along with some of the panel members.