A Passion for Space ― Adventures of a Pioneering Female Nasa Flight Controller

Marianne Dyson tells the story of the first five space shuttle flights from the personal perspective of mission planning and operations in Houston at the Johnson Space Center. Based on firsthand experience as well as original sources such as journals and NASA weekly activity reports, this is an eyewitness retelling of the inside workings of Mission Control. The book contains historical details about astronaut and flight controller training that exemplify both the humor and serious aspects of space operations, including the almost unknown fire in Mission Control during STS-5 that nearly caused an emergency entry of the shuttle and yet was completely downplayed by NASA. The story begins with the inspiration of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and follows the challenges of pursuing a science career as a woman in the 70s and 80s, when it was far from an easy path. Dyson became a space shuttle flight controller at a time when women were making the first inroads into flight control, a previously male-dominated profession. Written by an insider with a unique personal perspective and credentials to match, this a must-read for anyone interested in the institutional culture at NASA during the space shuttle era.

Marianne Dyson was inspired by Apollo to become one of the first women flight controllers for NASA during the early space shuttle program. She has an undergraduate degree in physics and enjoys sharing her passion for space at schools, museums and conferences. She has served as a technical reviewer for Scholastic, Enslow, National Geographic and Hampton Brown. Her children’s books have won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Golden Kite and the American Institute of Physics Science Writing awards and have been translated into multiple languages and excerpted for use in numerous state reading tests. A frequent contributor to Ad Astra, the magazine of the National Space Society, her science articles and science fiction stories for adults and children have appeared in national magazines and anthologies. She is currently coauthoring a children’s book about Mars with Buzz Aldrin for National Geographic.