Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
Product ID: 65866300
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This New York Times bestselling memoir of a veteran NASA flight director tells riveting stories from the early days of the Mercury program through Apollo 11 (the moon landing) and Apollo 13, for both of which Kranz was flight director. Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director's role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. Kranz recounts these thrilling historic events and offers new information about the famous flights. What appeared as nearly flawless missions to the Moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses. When the space technology failed, as it sometimes did, the controllers' only recourse was to rely on their skills and those of their teammates. He reveals behind-the-scenes details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success. A fascinating firsthand account by a veteran mission controller of one of America's greatest achievements, Failure Is Not an Option reflects on what has happened to the space program and offers his own bold suggestions about what we ought to be doing in space now. Review: A brilliantly engaging and detailed account of US manned space flight. - This is an excellent book... I am at the moment about halfway through and I find the writing style is clear and flows well. Kranz packs in a lot of information and doesn’t waffle, he just gets on and tells the story. He gives a little information about the various people he encounters as and when they enter the narrative and sets the scene just before recounting a dramatic event. If you want a highly readable account of the US space programme from someone who was making real time decisions at the heart of mission control, Kranz is your man. The book is packed with important detail and plenty of edge of the seat moments. If you are not a ‘space enthusiast’ this will give you a wonderful account of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes within one page-turning book. If you are a ‘space enthusiast’ then this should most definitely be in your library... Review: Great Read - Excellent Book.
| Best Sellers Rank | 55,790 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 6 in History of Engineering & Technology 31 in Scientist Biographies 32 in Engineering Physics |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,869 Reviews |
A**N
A brilliantly engaging and detailed account of US manned space flight.
This is an excellent book... I am at the moment about halfway through and I find the writing style is clear and flows well. Kranz packs in a lot of information and doesn’t waffle, he just gets on and tells the story. He gives a little information about the various people he encounters as and when they enter the narrative and sets the scene just before recounting a dramatic event. If you want a highly readable account of the US space programme from someone who was making real time decisions at the heart of mission control, Kranz is your man. The book is packed with important detail and plenty of edge of the seat moments. If you are not a ‘space enthusiast’ this will give you a wonderful account of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes within one page-turning book. If you are a ‘space enthusiast’ then this should most definitely be in your library...
F**D
Great Read
Excellent Book.
T**D
‘I have slipped the surly bonds of earth’
Based on his experience as a flight director for the American space programme from Mercury through to the Apollo moon landings, Gene Krantz has written a gripping biography of those years. He takes us behind-the-scenes and we see the pressures faced by the controllers and everyone – not just the astronauts – connected with the programme. The resources involved are, quite literally, vast. After 16 successful launches they overcame the death of three astronauts in the pad fire that destroyed Apollo 1. But, despite that disaster, the programme continued and we are given a gripping account of the moon landings, subsequent lift off and rendezvous. There’s also an near-light-hearted summary – remember the film? – of the way in which the astronauts put together that air scrubber using a fan, bits of cardboard and a fair amount of duct tape. But it worked and averted another near disaster. At the end of the book Gene Krantz expresses – strongly – his views about the way in which the United States terminated that particular part of the space programme. But, of course, he was unaware of the way in which projects like the International Space Station and Mars explorations would ultimately follow. And that Russia, China and India would play a major joint role in ongoing space exploration. In the book he also quotes the opening line (the title to my review) of the poem ‘High Flight’, written by the 19-year-old Canadian pilot John McGee, who was killed when his Spitfire 1 collided with a training aircraft close to RAF Cranwell on 11 December 1941. ‘High Flight’ is now the official poem of both the RAF at the RCAF and was quoted by President Reagan in his speech following the Challenger disaster on 28 January 1985. I believe the final few lines of the sonnet epitomise the entire space programme: “Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew — And while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod The high, untrespassed sanctity of space Put out my hand and touched the face of God.”
M**Y
Was a gift
Bought as a gift as husband wanted to read this
B**H
Taking man to the moon from the point of view of a central character
This is a truly inspirational story. Gene Kranz was right at the heart of the Apollo story and he has sufficient technical knowledge to give real insights into how NASA managed to put Armstrong et al on the moon in such a short space of time. Of course there is heroisim in here by virtue of the bravery exhibited by those who were prepared to put their lives at risk in order to achieve the goal set by JFK. Not everyone survived. But for me, the real lessons are about just how much can be achived by a motivated set of gifted individuals with a set of technologies that were at the time in their absolute infancy. I can't believe Health and Safety will ever again permit a story like this to get off the ground, and therefore is likely to remain for ever one of the truly outstanding team achievements of all time. A compelling book.
R**N
Great Service
Great book arrived on time and in good condition
H**U
Another one you won't put down
Another one of those books you read quickly because you can't put it down. The book starts where he finds himself out of work after the Korean war, right through his NASA career and after the final Apollo mission. It's mainly told from the viewpoint within mission control, explaining some of the technical aspects of the various missions, some of the controls in the spacecraft and control centres, the colourful characters in the various departments, mission simulations, faults and problems and a view of the astronauts' and families side of things. I don't know if Kranz uses a ghost writer or did it all himself, but the writing is very easy to absorb, is written in a natural flowing manner and explains technical or unusual words in a sensible way that doesn't condescend or patronise the reader.
A**R
Absolutely Brilliant
Eugene Kranz is an unsung hero. Maybe most people are familiar with Ed Harris's portrayal of him in Apollo 13 but the man was around from the beginning of the space programme. We've already forgetten, all too easily, what an astonishing achievement NASA completed with the space programme in terms of technology. We forget also that the staff there literally invented the rules as they went along. But apart from all the engineering and science, there is the incredible way that they stood up to the pressure not just on the Apollo 13 mission but in other situations. In the thick of it all is Eugene Kranz. These days people in the UK are stupid enough to vote Queenie and Robbie Williams as the most important Britains ever. As an antidote read this and focus on someone who deserves our admiration.
り**う
読み応え有り
ジーン・クランツ氏は映画アポロ13でエド・ハリス氏が好演し、偉大なリーダーとして存在を知りました。本書は、ヒロイズムに彩られた単なる成功体験では無く、クランツ氏本人による、アメリカ宇宙開発の黎明期から黄金期に至るまでの、数々の試行錯誤や苦い失敗、職場の人間関係も垣間見え、苦悩や喜びの記録が本人の言葉で淡々と回顧された良書である。
M**A
Toll
Das Buch wurde in einem Film erwähnt. Das Buch hat meine Erwartungen übertroffen. Abgesehen davon, das es ein Stück Raumfahrtgeschicht erzählt und eine Fülle von Hintergrundinformationen und Einblicke in die Geschichte des Raumflug liefert, gibt es einen Einblick in die Führungsstruktur, das Leadership und das Teamwork das dahinter steckt. Die damaligen Stars (wir wollten damals alle Astronauten werden) treten in den Hintergrund. Man bekommt deutlich gezeigt wieviel Manpower nötig war (- und ist- ), um die paar Leute in den Weltraum zu befördern. Wie viele faszinierenden Persönlichkeiten mit genialen Ideen, Wissen, Können und Risikobereitschaft unter einen Hut gebracht werden mussten. Wie man mit (auch katastrophalen) Fehlern umgeht und daraus lernt. Was in Mission Control abgelaufen ist, wie optimiert und knapp im entscheidenden Moment die Kommunikation abläuft - Dinge die man damals im Fernsehen nicht vermittelt bekommen hat. (Astronaut? Mission Control! Das wäre mein Platz gewesen) Das Buch vermittelt nicht trockene technische Fakten. Wer sich dafür interessiert ist hier nicht richtig. Wer sich für die Geschichte hinter der Geschichte interessiert, findet hier ein spannendes Buch und wer sich für die Führung eines Unternehmens oder Kommunikation interessiert, für den gibt es Einblicke in den Führungsstil von Gene Kranz. Wie man Wissen und Können mit der geeigneten Führung zum Ziel führt - einfach faszinierend und bei bei meiner Arbeit sehr hilfreich. Mir persönlich hat der Schreibstil von Gene Kranz zugesagt. Die Art, wie er die Dinge auf den Punkt bringt, gefällt mir. Die Erzählungen privater Ereignisse lockern das ganze nett auf. Trotz 400 Seiten war ich mit dem Buch superschnell durch. Damit ich immer wieder darauf Zugreifen kann, habe ich mir auch die Kindle Version gegönnt. Die Bestellung und Lieferung bei Amazon perfekt wie immer. Fazit: Einer meiner besten Käufe bisher - eigentlich würde ich gerne 10 Sterne vergeben.
A**O
Great reading!!!
Epic story, couldn't stop reading until the end.!!
E**A
Content is so great, book quality is so bad
The book quality is not good, not worth the money, but the content is so great.for the content 5 star,for the quality 1 star.
J**A
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