Astronauts Books - Page 5

Schirra's Space (Bluejacket Books)

Wally Schirra, Richard N. Billings

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Irreverent, provocative, and filled with fascinating anecdotes, this autobiography by one of America's first astronauts offers a revealing inside look at the early days of space flight and the men who captured the heart of the nation. Wally Schirra was the only one of the original seven NASA astronauts to command a spacecraft in all three pioneering space program-Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Born to a World War I-ace father and a barnstorming, wing-walking mother, he inherited a love of flying and spirit of adventure that served him well. In this chronicle of an important era in aviation history, Schirra takes us into space on his 1962 Mercury flight that orbited Earth six times and aboard Gemini for the first rendezvous of two manned craft in space. Never reluctant to discuss the problems along with the stunning successes of those exciting, formative years, Schirra openly describes the pressures, tensions, and dangers associated with launch.

Schirra does not confine himself to his days as an astronaut but talks candidly about his entire career as a navy pilot, beginning in 1947 with bi-planes, transitioning to jets for combat missions over Korea, and ending with rockets into space. He also offers his views on the space program today and its options for the future. You don't have to be a space buff or a pilot to enjoy his remarkable story.

DIARY OF A COSMONAUT: 211 DAYS IN SPACE (Air and Space, No 4)

Valentine Lebedev

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Fantastic and epic personal voyage 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is a fascinating and "from the hip" book about what its like to be in a flying tin can for more than half a year. The author gives candid, personal "real-life" views directly from his diary in this very profound book. Within 30 years, humans will be soaring to Mars...from this cosmonaut's frankness we will learn much about the psychology of detachment and coping, leading the way to a better and brighter future for all humankind in space. Highly recommended reading to anyone and everyone!

A tedious and painfully boring depection of life in space. 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This book provides an honest and in depth look into the montony and uselessness of space flight. Written by Russian cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev, the book is comprised of labored and slow moving text which often confuses and loses the reader. Laiden with many pages of technical jargon and unrelated facts, Lebedev's work is most uninteresting and proves to be a tiresome and tedious novel. Written in the format of a diary, the book does contain many personal and candid passages about Lebedev's experience in space; however, Lebedev's openess only serves to show the frivolessness of his long stint aboard the Solyut space station. In the end, the book's most exciting text proves to be Lebedev's diparture from space. The book portrays the wastefulness and uselessness of maintaining a space program of any sort and I would not reccomend reading its pages to my worst enemy.

The Unbroken Chain: Apogee Books Space Series 20 (Apogee Books Space Series)

Guenter Wendt, Russell Still

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Life on the Launch Pad 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Memoirs are in vogue for the pioneers of the space age. In the last few years memoirs have appeared by astronauts Gene Cernan, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra, Alan Bean, Deke Slayton, Alan Shepard, Gene Cernan, Jim Lovell, Apollo flight directors Gene Kranz and Chris Kraft, Marshall Space Flight Center engineer Homer Hickam, Jr., and Lunar Module designer Tom Kelly. This is another memoir from the heroic era of human space flight, but one from a unique vantagepoint. Guenter Wendt was the legendary "pad leader" for all of the human space launches from the first Mercury mission in 1961 through the last Apollo flights.

German born, with a rich accent that remains to the present, as a McDonnell and later North American Rockwell employee Guenter Wendt held responsibility for capsule test, checkout, and launch operations at America's spaceport at Cape Canaveral, Florida. In that capacity he crossed paths with every astronaut and many of NASA's senior officials in a career that ended with his retirement in 1989. This memoir, co-written with Russell Still, is filled with dozens of such stories about those interactions-some classic, many never revealed before, a few embarrassing, even more humorous-about the astronauts, technicians, engineers and other officials Wendt interacted with for three decades.

Wendt describes in this book a relentless pursuit of excellence, safety, and security both for his team and the mission under his care. Astronauts respectfully called him "Pad Fuhrer," a term not always used with affection. Wendt's emphasis on successfully completing the mission, ensuring the safety of the astronauts, and creatively sidestepping bureaucracy earned the admiration of many. His determined approach to the work, and the way in which he took personal responsibility for what happened on his launch pad became legendary along Florida' Space Coast. Many astronauts recall how Wendt strapped them into their capsules, shook their hands, offered words of support, and closed the hatch, the last person seen before their trip into space. In those moments, they were thankful for his abrasive attention to detail and his forceful leadership on the launch pad.

Wendt's memoir is replete with good-natured stories, and some that are not so good-natured, many of which are the stuff of legend. It should come as no surprise to anyone that many astronauts had a wild, devil-may-care side to their personalities. From Gus Grissom's sexual peccadilloes to Alan Shepard's practical jokes to John Glenn's stuffed shirt persona that wasn't, Wendt adds several wild new chapters to the antics of the astronauts.

Editorial Review:

Guenter Wendt's autobiography is a ground shaking document of the glory days of manned spaceflight, told from the perspective of the launch pad.

Footprints: The 12 Men Who Walked on the Moon Reflect on Their Flights, Their Lives, and the Future

Douglas MacKinnon, Joseph Baldanza

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

TELLS ABOUT ALL MOONWLKERS 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book tells the reader a little about all 12 men that walked on the Moon, and their reflections of their experience, their lives a little, and how Project Apollo and being an astronaut changed their lives forever! Could read 1000 books like this one, and never get tired of it

first real look at moonwalkers, and their lives 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

this was, to my knowledge, the first book done on all 12 moonwalkers,/together, and which tells about the men, their respective missions,and rest of lives,upto late 1980's!what they achieved as astronauts,men, and how they ended upin later life! interesting!

Even more interesting 17 years later 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book was written to go with the 20th anniversary of the first landing, and has interviews with 11 of the 12 moonwalkers. Neil Armstrong did not participate, so the authors included excerpts from the public record on Armstrong. Obviously, no book like this can be written today, as some have died. The authors are fortunate to have done this project then, as Jim Irwin was gone before the 25th.

I strongly recommend serious Apollo fans include this in their reading list. Most likely, though, you'll never be able to, as my guess is the book did not sell well and has mostly disappeared. Grab it if you see a copy. The casual space reader would be better served by others in the excellent collection of narratives and autobiographies.

The timing of the book makes for good copy years later. The American glow from the moon landings was long gone, with no follow-up toward permanent work toward the moon. The shuttle had its history of delays, and the Challenger disaster a couple years earlier had prompted re-examination of the role of space and NASA's priorities. The space station was still in the future, and the Soviets were actively working toward a permanent presence in space. Mars looked like a feasible goal that might prompt a serious commitment by now.

The astronauts talk about all of those topics and more, with excellent perspective and their own biases. Their predictions vary widely. There is no mindless optimism - these are serious guys concerned about the future. Many of them offer suggestions for revitalizing the space program and/or what its priorities should be.

The section for each astronaut has some basic bio information and a summary of his role in the space program and what happened in the years since. The bio material about who got what flights reminds the reader of the twists and turns that deviated from the projected crews (e.g., Bean owes his flight to the death of CC Williams). Then it's straight Q&A. Thus, the typical narrative content and weaving of a story is not here, which is what makes this different. What comes through for each astronaut is often what you might have expected. However, there is often a telling detail that I hadn't heard elsewhere.

One point several agreed on is that landing the LM was a lot simpler than night landings on a carrier.

Buzz Aldrin talks about his struggles after returning to earth, his relationship with his father, and re-hashes the decision of who went first. Jim Irwin talks mainly about religious aspects, as does Edgar Mitchell, along with his psychic work that became his focus post-Apollo.

Shepard declines again to say whether he would have overridden the abort on Apollo 14. Mitchell says they would have. Shepard said "The Right Stuff" movie was OK, but "did a disservice to a lot of people" in how they were portrayed. Conrad agrees ("it was terrible"), while liking the book a lot. The thought of Conrad and Tom Wolfe together makes me smile.

Aldrin says he wouldn't trade being on the first (short) mission for one of the last missions with the additional time on the moon, and debunks the story that he gave his second wife a piece of the moon.

Conrad sadly recalls the winding down of his career in NASA ("I would have had a very tough time staying there, living under the damn ground rules by which those guys had to build the Shuttle").

Mitchell's section is the longest and most philosophical, getting into man as a non-linear computer and what happens when a person dies.

Bean recounts the funny story that's in "From the Earth to the Moon" where Conrad says, "Look, I don't want anybody having to take a crap on the moon....". I liked Bean's comments about the crew as a team, and the whole space program as a team. He always comes across as a good guy. Bean also did the illustrations for the book.

Irwin talked a bit about the medical issues on the moon and his problems since then, all the sadder given his early death. Regarding the white "Genesis Rock": "the green rock that we brought back has an approximate age of about a half a billion years older than the white rock. So, really, the green rock should have been called the Genrics Rock, rather than the white one."

Schmitt on the Challenger: "Christa McAuliffe knew exactly what she was doing. She knew what the risks were. The first teacher that went west in covered wagons probably didn't make it either. NASA just didn't know how to handle it."

Scott gets asked a question I had never thought of before this book. What should happen to the landing sites when we go back some day? His interview has an excellent mix of about 90 questions.

In 1989, John Young thought he might get another shuttle flight or two. Never happened. Young also said the best book by an astronaut up to that time was "The Quiet Sun" by Ed Gibson.

Charlie Duke covers his religious conversion and work with Jim Irwin, et al. He and Young claim to have the land speed record on the moon in their excursions with the Rover.

Always-interesting Gene Cernan shines here, too. "100, 200, 300 years from now if you look back at the time it takes between when we first went and when we go back to the moon, even if it's fifty years, it's going to be just a blip in history. So, I'm not bitter because I know it's going to happen."

On a minor note, the book has too many typos for my taste.

P.S. My copy of the book is signed by Shepard, Bean, Cernan and author MacKinnon.

The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters: Over 50 True Accounts of Triumph and Tragedy in Space, Taking You Right Inside the Capsule Cockpit and Beyond

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Editorial Review:

In the words of those who trod the void and others based at mission control, here are more than fifty of the greatest true stories of suborbital, orbital, and deep space exploration. From Apollo 8's first view of a tortured landscape of craters on the "dark side" of the Moon to a series of cliff-hanger crises aboard space station Mir, The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters offers moments of extraordinary heroic achievement as well as episodes of terrible human cost. High points include the classic, nail-biting account of abandoning Apollo 13 on the way to the Moon and Jerry Linenger's panic attack during a space walk where he was "just out there dangling."

For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey Of A Mercury Astronaut

Scott Carpenter, Kris Stoever

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not just about Mercury... 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

M. Scott Carpenter and his daughter Kris have certainly written a fascinating biography that is unlike most others I have read about astronauts. For starters, it is written mostly in the third person. I asked Scott about that recently and he said that was a decision by Kris to do that. I must say, it was risky to go that route with an autobiography. But from the standpoint of what the story was trying to tell, I think it was worth the risk since this is more then just a biography about Scott as it discusses his early life, his relatives and the early developments of the Mercury space program. As such, you get so much more here then just the life story of a Mercury astronaut.

Carpenter's life was certainly an interesting one. Born in New York, he moved back to Colorado as a very young child with his mom while she battled the effects of TB (a battle which she fought for far longer then anyone would have predicted as she didn't die until after Scott's Mercury flight). His father remained apart from his life for the most part as he spent his childhood being raised by his grandparents on both sides of his family. A well grounded education, coupled with living a very healthy youth in Colorado produced a smart individual with the body of an athlete who could have done anything in life he wanted when WW2 provided him with the calling to join the military. Unable to see combat in the big war due to delays in his flight training, Scott's flying talents didn't get utilized until Korea when he was part of a P2V Neptune patrol bomber unit. Later, he became a test pilot until a lucky set of circumstances landed him in a prime spot as one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. But then again, that is still just the beginning of the story.

Scott's Aurora 7 flight is told in the first person and it gives a full description of what happened in orbit from his perspective as well as discussing some technical problems that weren't fully understood until after the flight (such as a fault with the attitude control system on the spacecraft, which resulted in a higher fuel useage when operated in automatic mode). To me at least, this description coupled with information printed in other sources paints a much more accurate picture IMHO of what happened to get Scott about 200 miles off course then what has been described in other early biographies about the space program. It just goes to show it is always a good idea to get the story from more then one viewpoint.

Not too much is discussed about Scott's work on the Sealab project (certainly not in the depth that Mercury was discussed). But it is mentioned since that more then anything seemed to have more to do with his not flying another space flight then what happened on Aurora 7 (read it and make your own conclusion). Scott certainly has a unique perspective among other astronauts from the Mercury days and it seems to me that if he were a lot younger and flying shuttle missions, he might make a perfect mission specialist, even though he could certainly fill the role of a commander or a pilot as well.

Probably the most insight I got from this book was a looking into the life of a military family from the 1950s, while they were trying to raise three young children. Those readers who have been in similar situations (regardless of the branch of service) will probably recognize the situations where the wife tries to raise the children at home in base housing while the husband is off to some of the most interesting duty stations in the world and dealing with his own set of challenges as an officer in the Navy. It certainly shows that the plights of military families are by no means unique (and my mom had similar tales to tell from her days as an Army wife while Dad was off on TDY assignments).

Throw that same family into the media circus known as the Mercury program and things get a bit more interesting. At that point the families that were hoping to live a private life, raising kids and serving their country got thrusted into almost a rock star status. They had more money as a result, but not every change was good and marriages tended to suffer as a result (Scott's marriage was no exception).

So if you are just looking for something that JUST talks about an astronaut's experiences in the Mercury program, this book probably isn't for you. Granted you do get a lot of useful Mercury information, but in addition you get an almost complete tapestry on what made Scott Carpenter tick and the lives he touched. You won't get the cliches of "Duty Honor Country" either. We all know that astronauts are patriots, but the book doesn't rub the reader's nose in it. Probably the closest I can compare this book to in terms of other astronaut bio reads is the Neil Armstrong biography "First Man". But both books are unique in their perspectives.

For the sheer enjoyment I got reading this book, I do give it five stars. I agree it isn't a read for everyone. But if you don't go in with any preconceived notions, then it makes for a much more enjoyable read.

My own copy is the original hardcover, but the most recent printing of the book includes a special epilog chapter which talks a bit about a similarity of emotions that were experienced during the reentries of Aurora 7 and STS-107. The outcomes of the two were very different, but people who weren't alive during the Mercury program don't remember that there was a bit of public uncertainty that existed when Scott's spacecraft landed long with low fuel. Mercury control had more data, but the press and the general public didn't know much at all. Fast forward to February 2003 and a similar uncertainty fell over the public when Columbia didn't arrive at KSC when it should have and nobody knew anything until the first footage of its breakup appeared on national TV. In terms of the Carpenter biography, this epiloge doesn't seem like a good fit. But, by using one experience to shed emotional light on the other, it does help showcase what families of astronauts feel and experience when loved ones take the ride into space knowing full well that they may not come back alive. As such, it is helpful to get the family perspective as well.

Editorial Review:

In 1962, an anxious nation watched on live TV as astronaut Scott Carpenter's Aurora 7 capsule malfunctioned during reentry. Only his courage and skill saved the day. But instead of praise for having the "Right Stuff," Carpenter drew criticism for "botching" an otherwise flawless mission and overshooting his landing zone. Although a mechanical glitch was responsible, Carpenter-the "free spirit" of the Mercury Seven-never flew into space again. But his days as a daring, pioneering explorer were far from over...

Carpenter overcame tremendous adversity to go from small-town boy to Navy test pilot, Mercury astronaut, and undersea explorer. Now, writing with his daughter, he breaks his 40-year silence to set the record straight about the Aurora 7 mission, the often ruthless early years at NASA-and the rugged upbringing that produced the man John Glenn has called "one of America's modern heroes."

Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program (Gender Relations in the American Experience)

Margaret A. Weitekamp

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

On June 17, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Curiously, unlike every previous milestone in the "space race," this event did not spur NASA to catch up by flying an American woman. Though there were suitable candidates-two years earlier, thirteen female pilots recruited by the private Woman in Space program had passed a strenuous physical exam and were ready for another stage of astronaut testing-American women would not escape earth's gravity for another twenty years.

In Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, Margaret Weitekamp shows how the Woman in Space program -- conceived by Dr. William Randolph Lovelace and funded by world-famous pilot and businesswoman Jacqueline Cochran -- challenged prevailing attitudes about women's roles and capabilities. In examining the experiences of the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (as the candidates called themselves), this book documents the achievements and frustrated hopes of a remarkable group of women whose desire to serve their country fell victim to hostility toward such aspirations. Drawing from archival research and interviews with participants, Weitekamp traces the rise and fall of the Woman in Space program within the context of the cold war and the thriving women's aviation culture of the 1950s. Weitekamp's study sheds light on a little-known but compelling chapter in the history of the U.S. space program and the rise of the women's movement in America.

A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space

Grace George Corrigan

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Most people remember where they were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, just as they remember how they felt when humans first set foot on the moon. Elements of both reactions are present in the story of Christa McAuliffe, the energetic young schoolteacher chosen to be the first civilian to go into space—and who died with her astronaut companions in the Challenger explosion of January 28, 1986.

In this straightforward memoir, McAuliffe's mother, Grace George Corrigan, makes it very clear just who and what the nation lost in the Challenger tragedy. The product of family history, notes and letters, and the commemorative efforts to honor her daughter, A Journal for Christa provides a very personal biography of a remarkable young woman.



Christa McAuliffe's story is solidly American—the eldest child of a close Catholic Massachusetts family, and a dedicated Girl Scout, she came of age in the turbulent sixties and early seventies and became a schoolteacher and mother. Generous, outgoing, funny, and beloved by her many friends and students, she was little known beyond her personal circle until selected by NASA to be the first civilian sent on a space mission as the "Teacher in Space." Whether or not the selection was a publicity stunt, Christa McAuliffe may have proved more than NASA bargained for. Honest, direct, and outspoken, she was impatient with the stultifying ceremonies of the government bureaucracy and did not hesitate to speak out on behalf of the constituency she felt she had been selected to represent: American public schoolteachers and the children in their classrooms.

Sojourner: An Insider's View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission

Andrew Mishkin

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Andrew Mishkin, a senior systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a leader of NASA's robotic program, delivers an insider's look at the Mars Pathfinder probe that electrified the world's imagination.

122 million miles away from her controllers, a sophisticated robot smaller than a microwave oven did what had never been done before-explore the rocky, red terrain of Mars. Then, six-wheeled Sojourner beamed spectacular pictures of her one-of-a-kind mission back to Earth. And millions of people were captivated.

Now, with the touch of an expert thriller writer, Sojourner operations team leader Andrew Mishkin tells the inside, human story of the Mars Pathfinder mission's feverish efforts to build a self-guided, offroading robot to explore the surface of the Red Planet. With witty, compelling anecdotes, he describes the clash of temperamental geniuses, the invention of a new work ethic, the turf wars, the chewing-gum solutions to high-tech problems, the controlled chaos behind the strangely beautiful creation of an artificial intelligence-and the exhilaration of inaugurating the next great age of space exploration.

Sky High: Stories of Survivial from Air to Space

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As proven by Wild Blue, Adrenaline's first collection of airborne adventures, the best writing about flying includes all the elements of great drama: mortal danger, high stakes, and individuals with not much more than their wits to rely on. Clint Willis's latest collection, Sky High, raises the stakes even further with a greater focus on the men and women who fly in space. From smashing the sound barrier to the struggles required to get a man into orbit (and then back again), from the first trips to the moon to today's space station pioneers and paying passenger astronauts, Sky High includes great writing by and about those who have been among the boldest explorers of the past century. From those who led the way (Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong) to world class writers and journalists (Norman Mailer to Bryan Burrough) to lesser-known authors, Sky High gives readers more of the aeronautic thrills that made Wild Blue take off. "Try Adrenaline Books.... In three years, this 20-volume anthology series has earned a cult following."—ESPN the Magazine