Three Men and a Spaceflight Dream
This is the story of Australia's three astronauts: Dr Philip Chapman, Paul Scully-Power and Andy Thomas. It details the experiences of these three men and their roles in the space programs of the United States and Russia. The book begins with Dr Philip Chapman's involvement as a scientist-astronaut in NASA's Apollo projects of the 1960s, at the height of the space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union. It then tells the story of oceanographer Paul Scully-Power, who in fact became the first Australian to fly into space, and his work studying the oceans from space aboard the "Challenger" space shuttle in the mid-1980s. Finally, there is the story of Andy Thomas, the Australian-born astronaut who flew aboard the NASA shuttle "Endeavour" in the 1990s and spent 141 days living and working aboard the Russian space station "Mir".
'Australia's Astronauts' is both informative and entertaining. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of space and space travel - and the realisation of a dream for three men who had always wanted to fly into space.
