Hallion, Richard P. The Path to the Space Shuttle: The Evolution of Lifting Reentry Technology. Edwards AFB, CA: Air Force Flight Test Center History Office, 1983. An outstanding monograph by one of the leading historians of aviation technology, this study emphasizes the evolution of technology toward the development of a reusable spacecraft . It describes the evolution of the reusable spacecraft concept, emphasizing the work of Eugen Sanger, lifting body studies, and the technological breakthroughs that allowed the Shuttle to be built.
Hallion, Richard P. "The Path to Space Shuttle: The Evolution of Lifting Reentry Technology." Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 30 (December 1983): 523-41. This is a shortened version of Hallion's 1983 monograph by the same title. It describes and shows the evolution of the reusable spacecraft concept, emphasizing the work of Eugen Sanger, the lifting body studies, and the technological breakthroughs that allowed the Shuttle to be built. It is an especially important article because it shows how the technological problems solved in one program were incorporated into the beginnings of the next attempt.
Hallion, Richard P. "The Space Shuttle's Family Tree." Air & Space. April-May 1991, pp. 44-46. This short article, taken from Hallion's discussion of the early history of the Shuttle published in The Hypersonic Revolution, deals with hundreds of paper studies, experiments, and a handful of aircraft that actually flew and were the antecedents of the Shuttle. It traces the general design of the Shuttle from lifting body technology to the actual configuration that was built and launched in 1981.
) that allow it to undergo a controlled descent as opposed to just slamming into the atmosphere. That also involves space-borne manoeuvring ability in order to set up the initial approach in a favourable manner.
