5 comments about John Glenn: A Memoir.

1. Excellent biography of a space pioneer. You will enjoy this book, even though the author went to the "dark side" later in life. At least he interjects very little of his liberal bias into the book.



2. Absolutely my hero. I was (-1) when he flew his first flight, and love all of the Mercury Astronauts. John Glenn is the finest example of the GOOD that this country can produce. If there were more men like him, we would be weaned off of oil, and would have maintained our preeminence in the world as a respected country- instead of living off of the labors of our fathers without much contribution. It is interesting that John Glenn is the oldest of the Mercury 7, yet has managed to outlive almost all of them (as of Jan 19, 2008) except for Scott Carpenter!
   
   Please read this book, and discover the possibilities that a disciplined life and an honest-to-goodness sincere human being can give.



3. * There is a great story to be told about John's life and this book does a decent, straightforward job.
   * The writing isn't perfect, but it works...especially in audiobook format, where the author presents the material
   * There are no revalations here. It seems like a Disney version of his life at times, but it is an enjoyable read.



4. A great story and I am glad that I read it. However, my admiration for Glenn would have been far higher had I stopped a hundred or so pages from the end. Getting reacquainted with Glen as a young man, Marine fighter pilot and then astronaut was to see the very best. In addition to all his accomplishments his relationship with his wife was a great tribute to those left behind.
   
   Glenn's story of becoming a Marine fighter pilot through sheer resolve was enlightening. His flying in the Pacific during and after WW2 was an interesting look at the era, as was the description of their flying in China when Stilwell was attempting to get the communists to live up to their agreements. Finally the Vietnam like escape from China by train with Glen and his fellow Marine pilots providing low air cover.
   
   Too soon after the end of WW2 we were back in Korea and Glenn is in the front seat, flying both Marine ground attack aircraft and USAF Sabres. Again Glenn does his tour of duty with the Marines and then arranges to fly Sabres against the Migs.
   
   Within a few years after Korea the Russians were overhead with Sputnik and the world changed again. Glenn's description of the initial testing of the astronauts adds some interesting insights.
   
   Although the book was presumably written in its entirety after his return from space, the man changes with his election to the Senate. Perhaps the changes are even appearing in his post mortem on his campaigns. Most of the blame is shifted away from the leader.
   
   Later as the book covers his years in the Senate the change continues. While he literally demanded that his fellow astronauts give up their road romances because they were both wrong and threatened the public's support of the program. However a few years after hanging out with Bill Clinton the book suddenly offers the standard Clintonian spin that what people do behind their bedroom doors is not public. What is even more amazing is that Glenn seems to gloss over his critical role in protecting Clinton from being removed from office after he was impeached.
   
   Glenn does off the tidbit that while he and John McCain were deemed to not be involved with the Keating scandal, his fellow democrats would not acknowledge that because to release Glenn they would have to release McCain and then they would have only democrats ( Cranston et al) left. Having been advised that Keating was under criminal investigation Glenn ( unlike McCain) maintains a relationship and even hosts a private lunch for Keating in his office. All of this is covered in the book with a little too much self serving cover to earn the respect of the reader.
   
   Glenn the Marine officer would have been outraged if the generals had summoned his career enlisted personnel and asked them why they were complaining about the performance of an airplane made by a friend. Yet Glenn sees none of the destructive impact of 5 senators demanding that a civil servant appear to explain why a major donor is being investigated. A sad transition.
   
   Glenn blames his campaign organization for failing him in his run for the presidency after he was a leading contender among the democrats. If you can't run your own campaign staff how are you going to run the nation?
   
   I agree with the prior writer that Glenn's return to space was a pure and simple reward by Clinton for his having taken the heat. A sad ending to an otherwise heroic life of great accomplishments.
   
   Recommended but be prepared for a letdown at the end.



5. After seeing "The Right Stuff" I became intrigued with the Mercury Seven astronauts and wanted to read everything I could about them and when I saw John Glenn's autobiography I immediately snatched it up and pored through the pages! What a great and exciting life John lived! Poring through the pages I hung on every word and lived his experiences vicariously as he described them...I can only imagine how he felt when he was picked to be one of the 7 Mercury astronauts...He was in a elite group that was beginning to embark on a major adventure into a new frontier...How exciting that must have been! John's book to me was better than the movie..He talks bout his childhood days and test pilot years and ends with a wonderful passage on flying back into space again at the ripe old age of 77..What an inspiring book! If you are looking for inspiration..pick this book up and read about ambition and hard work and focus ande see what all these things can do for your life! John...thanks for being a great role model!

5 comments about The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight.

1. I am an admirer of this fascinatingly readable, lucid and scholarly book, with some very interesting stories of intriguing people. However I found a much superior assessment of the "Mercury 13" program in Burgess and French's book Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S). In one extraordinary chapter, they capture the true cultural, historical and social context of this program far better than this entire book-length treatment. They also contrast the Soviet women in space program against American efforts far better.
   
   Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book as a very interesting read into a fascinating time in American history, and congratulate the author on her impressive research, including the fullest personal interviewing with the original candidates ever undertaken.



2. "We seek only a place in our Nation's space future without discrimination. We ask as citizens of this Nation to be allowed to participate with seriousness and sincerity in the making of history now... We offer you thirteen women pilot volunteers." Jerrie Cobb, pilot and space enthusiast, in her testimony to Congress
   
   "I believe that we should give serious consideration to the inclusion of women among our future astronauts." Congressman Ken Hechler
   
   "Let them vote. Let them wear pants. Let them shoot pool. But please, Mr. Vice President, don't let them get into space." Dallas Times Herald science writer
   
   "Another question that I am frequently asked is this...'Do you ever plan to use women astronauts in your program?' Well, all I can say is that the male astronauts are all for it... we're reserving 110 pounds of payload for recreational equipment." Wernher von Braun
   
   "Lets Stop This Now!" Vice President Lyndon Johnson, on NASA testing women astronaut candidates.
   
   
   This is a well-documented, and depressing, book on the exclusion of women as potential US astronauts in the early decades of the US space program. Martha Ackmann has revealed the underbelly of a male-dominated NASA program, and its impacts on the hopes and dreams of qualified women who craved to be allowed to serve their country and blast into space.
   
   My heart bleeds for Jerrie Cobb and the loss of her dream. I nominate Ms. Cobb for the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her dedication.
   
   After reading Ackmann's book, I think you will agree. My only complaint is that the passion of the times is lost in Ackman's dry, academic writing style (too often, it was distracting). I thank her, however, for pulling the history of the Mercury 13 together.



3. The book does a poor job depicting a key part in women's history. The history itself is not boring or confusing at all. In fact the story of the Mercury 13 women is very interesting and should be taught to everyone. Reading this book is a tiresome and irksome task for even an veteran reader. Martha Ackmann mutilated a historical event. She turned an epic struggle into a unrecognizable, confusing, monster of a book that the average person cannot clearly and decisively comprehend.



4. "The Mercury 13" is an amazing story of how [discrimination] in the early years of the American space program shut women out. We should be ashamed that the Soviet Union had a woman in space decades before Sally Ride finally broke the gender barrier in the U.S. Martha Ackmann is to be congratulated for bringing the stories of these incredible and patriotic women to light.



5. Research, research, research...

   Ms. Ackmann has really done her homework on all the players involved in the Mercury 13 or FLAT (First Lady Astronaut Trainee) program. She did extensive personal interviewing with the surviving women of the program, and it shows.

   Her writing gets you "into" the story and you won't want to put it down.
   A classic example of truth being stranger than fiction. Now that we have the luxury of time to look back on these events, besides blaming the social conditions of the times, possibly this book can now serve as a benchmark of lessons learned and hopefully not to be repeated.

   Highly recommend for every parent of girls and boys. Read it to your kids, and help them understand what happened.

   Check this book out, now.

   As an archive Librarian I have a great appreciation for the work that went into this book. It is a GREAT READ! And you won't be disappointed.

   Remember....all others came after this one.

   Enjoy!

3 comments about A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space.

1. This book is written by the mother of the Late Christa McAullife.It was a wonderful book!Interesting and a inside look at the excitement they felt being chosen then the tradgedy they felt after the Loss of her.It basicly is a bio about Christa.



2. Unlike most books about Christa McAuliffe this one discuses Christa's life before the selection as teacher in space as well as after the selection process and it is written by the person who knew her like no one else, her mother. We learn of Christa's childhood and her spirt and joy that stayed with her during the course of her whole life. Nothing could take this away from her and with it she enriched and touched the lives of every student she had. Corrigan's book using letters and family history paints a touching portrait of Christa no one else could. Everyone should read this book and it will uplift you farther than you ever thought possible and give you a whole new out look on teachers and what the power they have to uplift. No matter what your backround is you will benefit from having read this book.



3. This book is honest and touching. Rarely do we receive the privelege of being allowed into the heart of a mother who has lost a son or daughter. So much is learned from Corrigan's novel.

5 comments about Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon.

1. As a keen observer of the space program from Mercury through Apollo, I was very impressed by the scholarship and professionalism of this book. Although I have researched many of these incidents, this book provided details that I had never seen. Congratulations on an excellent tribute to these brave individuals.



2. I'm keeping it short and sweet - If you want to know about the "unsung heroes" of the early space programs in the USA and former USSR, pick this book up and read it - you will see who these men really were, and how any one of them (Americans) could have been first on the moon, instead of Neil Armstrong.



3. Another excellent book from Mr. Burgess. I especially enjoyed the great level of detail in this book. Mr. Burgess even provides the astronauts' mothers' and wives' maiden names, their childhood addresses and many obscure yet interesting facts about their early careers. It was also interesting to learn how many of the astronauts had interacted with each other in the years before they joined NASA. While you know the eventual outcome of each chapter, I still found myself hoping it would somehow turn out differently.
   
   I had just started working for McDonnell Aircraft on Gemini 9 a few months before the crash of See and Bassett into the Gemini manufacturing building in St. Louis. This book clarified several details of the accident that had become fuzzy over the years.
   
   The epilogue was of interest to learn how many of the relatives and colleagues have moved on.



4. I read this book about three years ago, and enjoyed learning more about Elliot See, Ted Freeman, C.C. Williams, Ed Givens, Charlie Bassett, and Roger Chaffee. I didn't know that Freeman graduated from Annapolis in the same class as Ross Perot (1953), and I didn't know that both See and Chaffee were both Eagle Scouts. See is often noted as a "civilian", but he was a Navy Reservist, and stayed that way throughout his time in the Astronaut Corps.
   
   It was nice to learn about the Russian Cosmonauts, since I was familar with the deaths of Vladmir Komarov and the Soyuz 11 crew only. However, I was disappointed that Robert Lawrence was omitted. Lawrence was a MOL astronaut who was killed in a plane crash in October 1967. MOL was cancelled around the end of 1968. There were two other former MOL astronauts who were killed in plane crashes, but not while they were part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project.
   
   The gravesites of Freeman, Williams, Chaffee, See, and Bassett can be found at Arlington National Cemetery. A few years ago, I found them and put flags on their graves. There's also a section of the Electrical Engineering Building at Texas Tech University named for Charlie Bassett. The library in Clear Lake is named for Ted Freeman. Colleagues of Freeman and Bassett have said that these men would most likely have had moon missions if they had not succumbed to early deaths. Buzz Aldrin dedicated his first book Return to Earth to Charlie Bassett, saying "to Charlie..whose place I took."



5. If you grew up in the 1960s and could name every astronaut and recount the details of each Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo mission (or, if you didn't), this outstanding work is a very important milestone and accurate record that enables us to remember the sacrifices made to reach the Moon. In great detail from the impressive research conducted by the authors, this book provides very rare insights into the lives of Astronauts Freeman, See, Bassett, Grissom, White, Chaffee, Givens, Williams, and the cosmonauts from the former Soviet Union. The book also dispels some rumors with respect to the accidents that took the lives of these skilled pilots and astronauts, as many of those rumors have been reported, merely repeated, and accepted in other accounts unfortunately as facts.
   
   Thank you for reminding us of a time when America tackled a monumental challenge, and allowing us to be more fully grateful for the lives lived and lost so that we could meet that national challenge and extend the spirit of exploration to the heavens.

5 comments about The Real Space Cowboys (Apogee Books Space Series).

1. Because of a personal and a friendship with someone who knew most of the guys, I can honestly say Buckbee was/is right on..I've read most of the books out on the guys, and this one shows a different side of them, dedicated and close nit...Something rarely found in a group this size...
   A darn good comfortable read, worth your time...



2. -
   I checked this book out from the local public library and decided it was good enough (3.5 stars) to want to own a copy for myself. The book is an interesting read if you are really big-time into the early U.S. space program. The videos on the DVD are very dated, but considering the topic is the early days of space flight, what would you expect? The "Gotcha!" videos were probably hilarious to NASA employees in the early 60s, but fall short now.
   
   I saved by buying "used - like new" from an Amazon Marketplace seller. I trust Amazon (and the Amazon Marketplace) for nearly ALL my book and video purchases.
   
   WARNING: The DVD that I received with the "used" book was a single-sided DVD-R (recordable) rather than a commercially-produced double-sided DVD-ROM (like the book from the library contained). The content was the same (with a slightly different menu, of course), but by fitting it on a single-sided disc it probably suffered a little file compression (reduction in quality). Considering the age of the videos, this is probably not really an issue.
   
   A BIGGER concern, however, is that some DVD players, particularly older ones, have trouble with DVD-R discs, and DVD-R discs are more easily damaged and have a shorter life-expectancy than standard commercially-produced DVD-ROM discs.
   
   I don't know if all the Amazon Marketplace sellers' copies of this book have DVD-R discs or just the one I chose, or if the publisher has switched to DVD-R in later printings of the book, or whatever, but keep this in mind if you have compatibility issues with DVD-R discs. It was not really an issue for me, but it might be for you...
   
   The book is still an interesting read. The videos are really just a nice plus. Enjoy! Keep the dream alive!



3. This book is a real tribute to the Mercury 7, as well as the millions of men and women who took the United States up into space. It traces the various steps of the astronauts from their fighter pilot days, until the days they flew the rocket ships into orbit and beyond. The book also contains numerous and interesting photos from that early era of manned space flight.



4. I was lucky enough to hear Ed speak while I was attending Teacher Space Camp and was totally sucked in by his incredible backstories of the original astronauts and the "US Space Race". If you have any interest in the space program, this is a must read. Ed and Wally do a great job in letting you know the men behind the legends and just how much fun they really are (were).



5. This book is a valuable and interesting contribution to the early history of the United States space program. Probably due to the close involvement of the primary author with Wernher von Braun, there is an unexpectedly high proportion of the book devoted to those aspects of the space program related to Huntsville and the von Braun team's efforts there. This is not at all apparent from publicity releases about the book, or even from the cover of the book itself. While there is significant information contained in the book about the Mercury astronauts, its greater contribution is in its Huntsville-related content, which has not received such a degree of attention in most similar publications. Those who were involved in the program at Huntsville in those early days will find the book especially appealing.

5 comments about Countdown: An Autobiography (Silver arrow books).

1. A very well written book by a very intelligent man. However, I am not a corporate manager or am I interested in corporate management. The first half the book was very good; about growing up, West Point and NASA but the second half of the book was Mr. Borman blaming the unions for the failure of Eastern Airlines. I don't care about the failure of Eastern Airlines and I don't buy a book written by a great astronaut to find out why it failed. I buy books by astronauts to learn about the trials, tribulations and successes in one of the greatest eras of American history, early space exploration. I don't feel this book was an autobiograhy of an astronaut but the purging of a very bitter and disallusioned man after a failure of grand proportions. If you want to learn about the problems of management versus unions this would be a great read, if not, stop at the begining of the Eastern Airlines debacle. Mr. Borman was and is an American hero who should be celebrated for what he gave his country but nobody cares about Charlie Bryan. I had to constantly keep reminding myself this book was written in 1988, not 1968 or 2006. My copy of this book is an Easton Press Limited Edition gold bound series, numbered and autographed by Mr. Borman. I will always cherish this book but I will not read it again.



2. An interesting tale from beginning to end. This is a frank account of Mr. Borman's life in and out of the astronaut business and beyond. About half of the book is Borman's life before and during his tenure in the space program, the rest is his experience with Eastern Airlines which is very interesting. The tale of how the unions destroyed one of the largest U.S. air carriers is sad but perhaps the perspective of Borman is a little bit skewed. This book however is still a good read.



3. One reason I picked up Countdown at Half-Price Books was because I remember Frank Borman doing commercials for Eastern Airlines when I was a kid. Although I expected more of his book to be about the Apollo days, I was by no means disappointed. This book is actually three books: One about Borman at West Point, the other about Borman in the Air Force, and the one about Borman at Eastern Airlines. The one I liked the best was about Eastern Airlines.

   Like Frank Borman, I am an engineer myself (I grew up on NASA's back gate) and I really enjoyed his "tell it like it is" and get "back to basics approach" at Eastern. When Borman became President of Eastern in 1975, he got rid of the private jets, the fancy cars, the plush office furniture, and said "get to work." He also streamlined the middle-management and got rid of the "deadwood" and implemented a lot more "common sense." He thought Eastern buying SST's would be ludricrous on the Miami to New York route (because they would have to begin descent too soon), got rid of planes that were fuel inefficient (especially after looking at maintenance logs and finding that repairs were costing three times of what new planes were), and I don't know of any corporate president that had enough class to negiotiate leasing four Airbus aircraft at no cost. Leasing Airbuses was an awesome and risky move that paid off. Several airlines today use Airbus (Northwest, USAir, United) and Borman helped pave the way for America to buy these. Being a pilot and an engineer, Borman would even fly some of these planes himself. These are three examples of why engineers today are needed in higher management positions.

   Borman also made the people of Eastern unite after he became President. He would visit them at airports and fly on planes with them, looking at "lets all work together and accomplish the mission. We have to earn our wings every day." Borman was always honest with his fellow employees about what was going on (no bulls--- )and followed through with "Duty, Honor, Country". Eastern Airlines profited more from 1976 to 1980 under Borman's leadership. What killed Eastern in my opininion was Airline Deregulation and the unions fighting against Eastern, primarily the IAM. Borman tells much of this story.

   One thing that threw me off as I read this was how many airlines were in business when I was a kid that aren't there anymore (Braniff, Piedmont, Pan Am, People's Express, Air Florida, etc.) I know Braniff was an example of executives taking care of their own interests (fancy cars, meals, penthouse office suites,etc.) Frank Borman always had his head and his heart in the right place -EASTERN. I learned a great deal from Countdown-we need more executive officers like Frank Borman.




4. I have yet to see a better and more credible depiction of the upside/downside of astronaut persona. In his modest and understated way Frank Borman describes his career through the military, the astronaut program, and the private business sector. A genuinely honest man who embodied the best values of middle America, Borman commanded two of the most visible and critical flights of the early manned space program: the epic endurance flight Gemini 7 in 1965 and the stunning circumlunar Apollo 8 adventure of Christmas Eve 1968. Widely respected in NASA and government circles, he was selected to lead the investigation of the Apollo fire which killed his comrades Grissom, White, and Chafee. He was, in every respect, an upright military man who embraced the challenge of the space race with dogged tenacity.

   So why, with every page, does the reader feel like he is moving inexorably toward a train wreck? Perhaps because Borman's candor compels him to chronicle the downside of his single-minded determination and doggedness. It is hard to say if the author intended to give us this psychological two-edged sword, or whether it is simply the fruit of honesty. In either case the clues are there: with every career choice, with every renewed commitment to NASA, Borman etched his name on the honor roll of American space heroes. And, in the process, insulated himself from family and society, with painful consequences.

   Borman's personal world begins to unravel, ironically, at the time of his greatest triumph, the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. His wife Susan, already stretched thin by years as a dutiful military wife in the spotlight and totally unnerved by the Apollo 1 fire, drifted into the murky world of alcoholism. Borman admits that, totally absorbed as he was with the Apollo Program, he was completely out of touch with her drinking, relieved that at least his wife was not using prescription tranquilizers, then in vogue among astronaut wives. [Andrew Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon" describes Susan Borman's problems during Apollo 8 in much greater detail than Borman could bring himself to describe.]

   Sadly unaware of the unfolding tragedy at home, Borman retired from the Air Force and proceeded to make the grand-daddy of all bad career choices, particularly considering the choices at hand. It is not clear from the text whether the author truly understood the complexities of Eastern Airlines' financial difficulties, or the character of the people he would need to do business with. Borman does concede that he knew next to nothing about unions, which would be his undoing at Eastern along with deregulation and a sagging economy. Despite his earnestness and hard work-and no one worked harder-the book ends at February 23, 1986, the night of the Eastern bankruptcy, a broken ex-astronaut crying in his wife's arms.

   It is a troubling ending. It is also a reflection of the conundrum of the race to the moon. The United States would never have overtaken the Russians in the space race without men like Borman who sacrificed everything for the goal of national success. But this work reveals another side of the space race: how the race to the moon collected men like Borman, took those assets of steely self-determination, and turned them against the astronauts themselves. This is a cost of the Apollo Program that is rarely discussed, and we, like the dazed author at the end of the book, have to decide for ourselves if the cost was worth it.

   This philosophical twist, perhaps unexpectedly, is the author's biggest contribution to space literature. Borman's account of his missions reveals little new material, and he remains too private a man to titillate the reader with his uncensored thoughts about, say, Jim Lovell, with whom he spent an eternity in the closest of quarters. As a narrative of the race to the moon, this is a superficial work from one so intimately connected to the space program. But my guess is that Borman's real interest in writing his autobiography was less about space hardware and more about figuring out just what the hell happened to him.




5. Borman's "Countdown" tells the riveting tale of his boyhood, his Air Force days, his immense contributions to the space program, and his airline career. His participation in the Apollo 1 fire investigation and subsequent Senate testimony were instrumental in getting the moon program back on track, for to everyone concerned - astronauts, Congressmen, and the press - Borman's integrity was unquestionable. This comes across immediately to the reader through Borman's narrative, but not through self-serving "Boy Do I Love Me" puffery. Indeed, Borman's sincere modesty immediately reassures the reader that this is a man who lives the motto "To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth".

   Some of the ugly, goofball politics of the time come up as Borman and his crew are humiliated by Cornell students egged on by none other than Carl Sagan. I never really thought much of Sagan before reading Borman's book, and I think far less of him now; though in the interest of fairness I will say that Sagan's motivations were more selfish than political (he always objected to the expense of manned spaceflight, and instead advocated unmanned exploration as the best way to obtain the hard science he insisted on - this came up in a lecture Sagan gave in Seattle shortly before his death while undergoing cancer treatment), he comes across as the petty, self-serving geek he really was, not the "Mr. Friendly Scientist" he portrayed himself as in his works. Borman and his men deserved far better.

   The wanton destruction of Eastern Airlines by the active sabotage of the Machinists Union is also well documented. Borman's no-nonsense, high-speed, low-drag leadership style was lost on the proto-human union bosses. It's really too bad Eastern went under, but having read what was truly going on, I now know that it wasn't Borman's fault. It speaks volumes for Borman's character that despite some bitterness and finger-pointing on his part (though his points were well-made), he accepts responsibility for his mistakes and shortcomings in the loss of Eastern, displaying the same integrity with which he has led all of his life. It's a really good book by a fine man. As another reviewer said, we desperately need more men like him. Sadly, in this politically correct, touchy-feely age, Borman's kind are a vanishing breed, and his book answers the question that titles this review. The battle to save Eastern was foretold decades ago by Ayn Rand. Borman didn't want to shrug, but was forced to. I hope the Machinists are happy now.

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

1. I am an admirer of Weitekamp's excellent work at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum as Curator of the Social and Cultural History of Spaceflight. Which is why I found this book a little puzzling, as it failed to give an adequate degree of social and cultural context to the area she is discussing. The book collects together all of the facts, and isn't inaccurate. However I found a much superior assessment of the "Mercury 13" program in Burgess and French's book Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S). In one extraordinary chapter, they capture the true cultural, historical and social context of this program far better than this entire book-length treatment. They also contrast the Soviet women in space program very well.
   
   Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book as a very interesting read into a fascinating time in American history, and congratulate the author on her great research.



2. The First Women in Space Program of the 1960's is an endeavor that has become all but forgotten in American history. That is until Margaret A. Weitekamp's recent book about the subject came along.
   
   During the 1950's, there was massive resistance in U.S. government circles against any kind of a space program. There were, however, visionaries such as William Randolph "Randy" Lovelace II who promoted the benefits of a strong space program. It was not until after both the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957 coupled with the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960 that a strong American space program came into existence.
   
   Since the Kennedy Administration refused to countenance the idea of a women in space program, it was up to the likes of Lovelace & famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran to start a private program towards that goal. Another prominent woman in the U.S. aviation industry to support Lovelace's program was Jerrie Cobb who had passed all of the tests that had been administered to the NASA astronauts, but who had been passed over simply because she was a woman.
   
   In the end, Lovelace's program came to naught due to a lack of funding, but the memory of it lives on in this splendid work.



3. Margaret Weitekamp's book addresses a long-forgotten but recently rediscovered chapter in American history. At the height of the Space Race's Cold War fervor, a mix of private and public figures made several initial moves in the direction of introducing women to America's space program. None of these women ever really got close to becoming an astronaut due to an array of institutional and cultural constraints to their progress. They have been both lionized and marginalized by different camps over the last 40 years, with distortions and half-truths from every side. Weitekamp's book finally cuts through the clamor. It gathers an enormous array of rare and forgotten documents and details, along with oral history from the women themselves, to weave an authoritative narrative of the events. It should earn its place as a definitive work in this area.
   
   Weitekamp's writing is precise and well-documented, with all the attention to sources and structure that academics need to be kept happy. Her focus is on gender (as befits the subject), but her work gradually yields a subtle examination of the perspectives, motives and positions of the women who confront its cultural manifestations. Like all good history, this reads like a movie waiting to happen. Jackie Cochran is the most intriguing character of the lot, with her political savvy and daredevil streak taking her from setting records on the tarmac to meetings in the Oval Office. Jerrie Cobb, the more public face of the original group of women at the climax of these events, suffered from a political naivety, but came to see the structural impediments to women perhaps more clearly than anyone. Easily the best piece of social and cultural history I've read this year.

1 comments about Neil Armstrong - A Giant Leap for Mankind (Biography).

1. Anything about Neil Armstrong, whether one of many Apollo video documentaries, or even an extremely rare TV interview, like '60 Minutes' did a couple years ago, is apt to be spellbinding. You just cannot do justice to a historical account of man's quest to fly without including Neil Armstrong. This mere snipet of a biographical book at only 63 pages probably gives "just the facts" as Neil's own autobiography, 'First Man' is likely a more detailed account of his entire life. I can never get enough of this genuine real life American hero's life story.
   
   Neil Armstrong experienced and accomplished more spectacular feats of aviation and aerospace in just one decade (the 60s) than any other hundred hotshot test pilots probably ever did (or will). Even Chuck Yeager must be in total awe of Armstrong's breakthrough historical achievements.
   
   Mr. Armstrong is not only the essence of the "right stuff", but arguably the best of the best, if not one of the most daring aviators ever born. For only ten bucks you can have some fascinating insight in to Neil's life and a memento in the form of this book of what shall always be remembered as a National Treasure. BRAVO!

5 comments about Almost Heaven: Women On The Frontiers Of Space.

1. I am one of those who suffered through reading an error-filled hardback copy of this book, and was immensely pleased to see a paperback edition come out with major revisions and corrections. So, firstly - avoid the hardback, read only the paperback edition.
   
   This is an intriguing book with a lot of interesting things to say about women in the space program, both in the past and in the present. A good amount of accurate social context is given, making it stand out from some other books on the subject. There are still some subjective judgements made that I disagree with, but that of course is the author's opinion and perogative, and Kevles' arguments are always interesting.
   
   It still doesn't beat my all-time-favorite when it comes to the subject of American and Russian women hoping to fly in space in the 1960s. That book is the excellent Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S), which in two great chapters blows away all the competition.
   
   Nevertheless, read this book too for some interesting - and sometimes surprising - insights.



2. 
   I've just read the paperback version of this book, with all the comments people posted here about errors in the hardback printed out and by my side (thank you for posting them). It looks like they were all fixed for the paperback edition - great to see when a publishing house takes notice like that.
   
   The revised paperback version of this book is an excellent, absorbing read which I highly recommend!



3. Kevles is a remarkably good writer. Both this book and "Naked To The Bone" are amongst the best in making science writing accessible, readable, and relevant to social mores. She's damn good.
   
   But I ended up throwing this book across the room a few times in frustration. The fact checking was, frankly, lousy. There were so many elementary mistakes (the date of the Apollo 11 moonlanding wrong in a SPACE book, fer crissakes?) that it ruined an otherwise compelling read.



4. I am surprised just how much is wrong in this book. I am even more puzzled by the unquestioning support given to it by luminaries such as John Klineberg and Mary Ellen Strote. While a writer on health and fitness topics should not be expected to have a thorough knowledge of space history and know how many errors this book contains, I would have thought that Klineberg, former director of Loral and the Goddard Space Flight Center, would have read it a little closer and spotted the many errors. It's puzzling to see how many glowing reviews this book is receiving despite its deep flaws.



5. Let me start by adding that I just received my copy of this amazing story a couple of weeks ago, and was awed by it. Quite a wonderful read about a most amazingly hidden aspect of the space program.

   Okay, several have previously stated that there are no major technical errors in the book. On page 46, when describing Skylab, she notes that the pace station was 17 cubic feet, divided into two separate levels. Since the trunk of my Jetta is 13 cubic feet, I decided to check this out with NASA. Skylab had a habitable volume of 12,700 cubic feet. That is a major error that can not go unnoticed.

   If this book is republished, I hope this type of minor error gets corrected. If not, poor editing will continue to diminish an otherwise important topic and marvelously crafted tome.

5 comments about I Touch the Future...: The Story of Christa McAuliffe.

1. this book was excellent. informing readers of the tragedy of that cold day in January in 1986 when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded killing all 7 on board. for me, it taught me a lot about the disaster and the months leading up to it. i was born in 1986, 9 months after the explosion and until recently, i had no knowledge of it. then i heard that the first teacher to go into orbit was on that flight and she had 2 kids and a husband, it prompted me to read this book. at first glance, i thought, ok, they're going to tell me that she won a contest, she did some training, and she went up in the shuttle. but the author went in depth so much more and explained the hardships the children faced, after learning their mother would be gone for months at a time. and he explained the exhausting life Christa McAuliffe lived prior to lift-off. I reccommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good and fact-filled book now and then. and for those of you who witnessed the explosion 14 years ago, that should make this book all the more important to you. email me comments or suggestions: rogcha_22@hotmail.com



2. Having experienced the disaster as a middle school student, I have only just begun to research Christa and her glorious rise as an educational icon. As someone who aspires both to be an astronaut and a teacher, I wept at the epilogue. Simply put, Christa was far from normal and average--she worked herself very hard and never seemed to complain.

   Hohler did her justice in this chronicle of Christa's final field trip. It should be required reading of all students who wish to make something of their lives.




3. In the book" I Touch the Future..The Story of Christa McAuliffe"we the readers get to have a closer look at the Challenger tragedy and see just what a tragedy it truly was. Anyone who saw the disaster as it happened probably already had developed an interest in Christa McAuliffe because she was an ordinairy person doing something most of us will never do,and mourned her death.But for those of us who are to young to remember the explosion and the loss of the Challenger crew,( I was only about three years old when it happened) we have to rely on books and old news segments to tell us about this tragedy, and I would have to recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Challenger and Christa McAuliffe. Robert T. Hohler shows the reader all about Christa's training ,homelife and also a clearer view about what her crewmates were like, something we know almost nothing about. I only wish the author could've wrote the biographies of all of Challenger's passengers as well.Read this book so you won't be like me: Not knowing anything about such an important part of history until it's victims had been dead for a decade.



4. This book by Robert Hohler is a well-written, very personal look at the life of a very special woman whom most of us only had a chance to know from a distance. From her childhood to the last few days of her life, Christa McAuliffe was constantly giving gifts of love, insight, advice, friendship and understanding to her family, friends, and students, and the last few months of her life to the rest of the world as well. I Touch The Future gives us all a chance to realize what a huge loss we were dealt on January 28, 1996. If only someone would write equally good biographies of the rest of the Challenger astronauts, we could all realize the full extent of this tragedy.



5. This book is one of many that have touched the hearts of millions with the life of a historical role model. From the day of her birth to the day of the fatal teacher-in-space flight, this book shows the climaxes and downfalls of Christa McAuliffe's wonderful life. We find that through tough childhoods, even the most ordinary person can turn into the most respected role model in the nation. I suggest reading this book if you were at all inspired or touched by the 1986 space shuttle tragedy. You will always remember her touching moments as a child, her fantasitic teaching career for the future of many kids, and her sad ending of her young life. Please read this book as a motion of kindness and rememberance for this wonderful role model for thousands.