posted 02-12-2013 10:40 AM               

Astronaut Don Thomas grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As a kindergartner, he watched Alan Shepard become the first American in space. He witnessed the historic careers of fellow Ohioans, John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, rocket to the moon. Thomas wanted to do what they had done.

In the Footsteps of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn is the story of the dedication and hard work that eventually made Thomas an astronaut who logged more than one thousand hours in space. Even more, the book is a firsthand account of the all-Ohio shuttle mission highlighting the state's contributions to NASA space program.

Written in an engaging manner, the book is a must for those who want to feel what it was like have a dream and make it a reality.

Donald A. Thomas is the director of the Willard Hackerman Academy of Mathematics and Science at Towson University. A veteran astronaut, he joined NASA in 1988 as a materials engineer for the Space Shuttle Program. In 1990 he was selected to be a mission specialist astronaut in NASA's thirteenth group of astronauts.

He is a veteran of four space shuttle missions and has logged over one thousand hours in space. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Case Western Reserve University, and his master's and doctoral degrees in materials science from the School of Engineering at Cornell University.

• Hardcover: 128 pages
  
• Publisher: University Of Akron Press (October 1, 2013)
  
• ISBN-10: 1937378721
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1937378721

posted 09-11-2013 08:13 PM               

The desire to beat gravity is a Buckeye tradition. After all, Orville and Wilbur Wright were Dayton, Ohio, boys who went to Kitty Hawk in 1903 to get things off the ground. When space became the next frontier, John Glenn, who was born in Cambridge, Ohio, on July 18, 1921, became the first American to orbit the earth in his Friendship 7 spacecraft. A Wapakoneta, Ohio, resident, Neil Armstrong, born in 1930, followed in the footsteps of Glenn by being the first human to step onto the moon’s surface during the summer of 1969.

Don Thomas, a Cleveland native, saw other Ohioans in space and set his sights on becoming an astronaut. After years of hard work and dedication, he became part of the 1995 All-Ohio space shuttle Discovery mission. Orbit of Discovery provides a first-hand account of this mission. Written by Thomas with the assistance of journalist, Mike Bartell, the book is a lively and entertaining must read for individuals who want to experience a ride into space.

Orbit of Discovery is augmented with a foreword by astronaut and Senator John Glenn and an introduction by Senator George Voinovich.

posted 11-19-2013 04:07 AM               

Don's book, Orbit of Discovery, will be published by the University of Akron Press and will be available in December 2013. The book chronicles Don's second flight which was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission was noteworthy for being declared "The All-Ohio Space Shuttle Mission" and is also remembered as "The Woodpecker Flight".

posted 12-04-2013 08:28 PM               

According to a newspaper article:

"I went to school in Colorado, so I had to drive through Ohio back and forth. I guess that's my connection to Ohio, but it is an honor to be a member of the Ohio family."

posted 12-21-2013 02:11 PM               

It was personally delivered by Don himself as a gift to my wife and I at our home here on the Florida Space Coast! He told us during his visit and dinner together that it was one of only three books signed by him, inscribed to us both, while in the state of Florida, thus far.

There is a forward by astronaut pioneer and former U.S. Senator from Ohio, John Glenn, along with a nice tribute to Neil Armstrong.

Thomas had invited the first lunar explorer, another Ohioan astronaut, to attend his third shuttle launch in April 1997.

The "First Man," along with his wife Carol, had accepted and were able to visit with Don and his wife, Simone, the day before the launch.

From the book, "Neil and Carol couldn't have been nicer. When it was time for them (the Armstrongs) to leave (from crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center), Neil wished me a great flight. I asked him how long are you going to be in Florida? He looked me straight in the eye and, with a slight grin, replied, "How long are YOU going to be in Florida?" I was so flattered that he was planning to stay as long as it took to get us (the STS-83 crew) off the ground."

posted 01-20-2014 09:11 PM               

The beauty of this book is that Thomas takes us through virtually every aspect of being an astronaut and flying on the shuttle, with wonderfully descriptive narratives on day-to-day living aboard a space shuttle - even including such little known facts as the selection of their daily wake-up music. I particularly loved the story of their pre-launch T-38 flight from Houston to KSC, during which they diverted to Orlando Airport due to torrential rain, and had to hire a van and drive down to the Cape to complete their delayed journey, even having to pay road tolls along the way. Talk about "Trains, Planes and Automobiles"!

posted 02-21-2014 12:11 PM               

Listen to astronaut Don Thomas talk about his new book "Orbit of Discovery: The All Ohio Space Shuttle Mission" and his visit to the Great Lake Science Center.