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In THE NEW GUYS, Bagby tells their full stories for the first time in a propulsive narrative that reads like a novel. In writing the book, Bagby researched oral histories, congressional hearings, investigative reports, and much more. But she also had exclusive access to and the cooperation of three of the first American women in space-Kathy Sullivan, Anna Fisher, and Rhea Seddon-as well as the first African American men to fly, Guy Buford and Fred Gregory. The astronauts in the class of 1978-which also included Sally Ride-broke barriers, became iconic household names, and ushered in the Shuttle program that remains the most difficult undertaking in the history of NASA. They lost their friends in the Challenger and Columbia disasters and forever altered the way humans think of space travel. The result is a remarkable story as nuanced and vibrant as its cast. Running parallel to their story is the extraordinary four-decade-long history of the shuttle itself. Conceived in the 1960s, the space shuttle was an ambitious new vehicle that would launch like a rocket, haul like a truck, and land like a plane. It would be NASA's most ambitious technical achievement. The New Guys pioneered the Space Shuttle Program, which defined a generation of space travel and helped build a dream of a new American century in space that brings all of the human race along.