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An Unlikely Astronaut
Susan Kilrain; Illustrated by Becky Hardy; As told to Francis French
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R513
R426
Discovery Miles 4 260
Save R87 (17%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden was one of the
highest-profile personalities among the Apollo astronauts, renowned
for his outspokenness and potent views but also recognized as a
warm and well-liked person who devoted much of his life after
retiring from NASA to sharing his spaceflight experiences. Worden
had nearly finished writing this book before his passing in 2020 at
the age of eighty-eight. Coauthored with spaceflight historian
Francis French, The Light of Earth is Worden's wide-ranging look at
the greatest-ever scientific undertaking, in which he was
privileged to be a leading participant. Here Worden gives readers
his refreshingly candid opinions on the space program, flying to
the moon, and the people involved in the Apollo and later shuttle
programs, as well as sharing hard-hitting reflections on the space
shuttle program, the agonies and extraordinary sights and delights
of being a NASA Apollo astronaut, and the space program's triumphs
and failures. Worden delves into areas of personal grief that
reveal the noble and truly human side of the space program's
earliest years. He does not hold back when discussing the shocking
deaths of his fellow astronauts in the three major tragedies that
struck the space agency, nor does he shy away from sharing his
personal feelings about fellow Apollo astronauts including Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Worden was known as a charismatic
speaker and one of the most thoughtful Apollo astronauts. His
candid, entertaining, and unique perspective in The Light of Earth
will captivate and surprise.
In October 1968 Donn Eisele flew with fellow astronauts Walt
Cunningham and Wally Schirra into Earth orbit in Apollo 7. The
first manned mission in the Apollo program and the first manned
flight after a fire during a launch pad test killed three
astronauts in early 1967, Apollo 7 helped restart NASA's
manned-spaceflight program. Known to many as a goofy, lighthearted
prankster, Eisele worked his way from the U.S. Naval Academy to
test pilot school and then into the select ranks of America's
prestigious astronaut corps. He was originally on the crew of
Apollo 1 before being replaced due to injury. After that crew died
in a horrific fire, Eisele was on the crew selected to return
Americans to space. Despite the success of Apollo 7, Eisele never
flew in space again, as divorce and a testy crew commander led to
the three astronauts being labeled as troublemakers. Unbeknownst to
everyone, after his retirement as a technical assistant for manned
spaceflight at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1972, Eisele wrote
in detail about his years in the air force and his time in the
Apollo program. Long after his death, Francis French discovered
Eisele's unpublished memoir, and Susie Eisele Black (Donn's widow)
allowed French access to her late husband's NASA files and personal
effects. Readers can now experience an Apollo story they assumed
would never be written as well as the story behind its discovery.
In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and
challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a
titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon.
Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families,
technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and
American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story
of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human
experience and a rollicking global adventure. From the Gemini
flights to the Soyuz space program to the earliest Apollo missions,
including the legendary first moon landing, their book draws a
richly detailed picture of the space race as an endeavor equally
endowed with personal meaning and political significance. Â
Purchase the audio edition.
It was a time of bold new technology, historic moments, and
international jousting on the final frontier. But it was also a
time of human drama, of moments less public but no less dramatic in
the lives of those who made the golden age of space flight happen.
These are the moments and the lives that Into That Silent Sea
captures, a book that tells the intimate stories of the men and
women, American and Russian, who made the space race their own and
gave the era its compelling character. These pages chronicle a
varied and riveting cavalcade of human stories, including a look at
Yuri Gagarin's harrowing childhood in war-ravaged Russia and Alan
Shepard's firm purchase on the American dream. It also examines the
controversial career of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first
woman in space, and the remarkable struggle and ultimate
disappointment of her American counterparts. It tries to uncover
the truth behind the allegations that shadowed Gus Grissom and
Scott Carpenter and then allows the reader to share the
heart-stopping suspense of Alexei Leonov's near-fatal first space
walk. Through dozens of interviews and access to Russian and
American official documents and family records, the authors bring
to life the experiences that shaped the lives of the first
astronauts and cosmonauts and forever changed their world and ours.
Purchase the audio edition.
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