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  <title><![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond (Thorndike Paperback Bestsellers)]]></title>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[While the astronauts were getting the glory of magazine covers and trips to the White House, members of the ground crew in Houston were quietly keeping the space program in motion.  Gene Kranz, perhaps best known for serving as Flight Director during Apollo 13, was a sharp, well-respected manager an...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16334265">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[This is one of those books where the title is wholly appropriate. You'll remember the phrase &quot;Failure is not an option&quot; from the movie Apollo 13, when a white-vested and wigged Ed Harris is barking to his ground controllers about how they will bring this crew home alive. The second part of...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79187547">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[I love space.  I think everything about space travel is super cool, and we should totally be spending more time and energy (and scarce federal dollars, yes) to be doing cool things with NASA.  So my boyfriend bought me this book for my birthday.  It's an account of all the missions of the Mercury, G...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64095403">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[I am a space junkie.  Two of my favorite movies are <em>Apollo 13</em> and <em>The Right Stuff</em>.  It only made sense to read Gene Kranz's book.  I enjoyed reading his history and his perspective of the history of NASA, but he is a technology guy, and his writing is a little too technical for me.  I read this one ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45787099">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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  <read_at>Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 04 06:27:52 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Sep 14 17:04:36 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[After reading Chris Kraft's book, Flight, I knew I had to read Gene Kranz's point of view.  This became even more true when I walked into the room that will be mission control for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (the mission on which I worked) and saw his signature (he also wrote a message: &quot;SDO...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19433222">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">47</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
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  <date_added>Tue Mar 11 10:48:44 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 11 11:21:07 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is the story of NASA's Mission Control from it's birth until the early 1990s.  The focus is not on the celebrated astronauts.  This is about the engineers, technicians and aviators on the ground who made some of America's greatest accomplishments happen.<br/><br/>Gene Kranz was himself an acc...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17517295">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jun 22 11:34:59 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jun 22 11:38:00 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[A key insider's view of the US Space Program from the early days to the end of the Apollo space program. Kranz's straightforward style is professional, forthcoming and passionate about the importance of space program. His chapters on Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 are especially noteworthy.  <br/><br/>Oh...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60655469">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Mon Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Aug 31 21:46:49 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Apr 20 18:52:59 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Ultimately this book was just OK...I was very interested in reading about the early NASA programs from the perspective of someone on the ground instead of one of the astronauts, and it definitely delivered in that regard.  <br/><br/>Kranz details his whole career at NASA from its start to its peak...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31697620">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
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  <date_added>Thu Apr 03 17:51:06 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Apr 03 17:51:06 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I'm the daughter of a space guy... Dad worked on the Lunar Rover and various Apollo mission components as part of Boeing in Seattle.   As a child of the 60's, we were rousted out of bed many an early morning to watch a &quot;shot go up&quot;... and every time it was a thrill.  Apollo 13 was somethin...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19408256">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jul 05 17:13:53 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jul 05 17:15:26 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I am a little biased on this, but it was a great history lesson on what it took to build the Apollo program.  What struck me most (since I am living this part now) were the comments when the flight controllers knew that there were only a few missions left to go to the moon and then there would be a ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62259484">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
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  <read_at>Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 11 14:08:00 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jul 10 15:35:59 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I really enjoyed reading this book.  Ever since I saw the movie &quot;Apollo 13&quot;, I've been interested in the history of space flight and the great heroism portrayed in that movie.  What I found out reading this book was that the whole space program from the beginning was filled with heroism an...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29874012">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29874012]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29874012]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>63162054</id>
    <user>
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    <name><![CDATA[Dave]]></name>
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  <isbn>0425179877</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780425179871</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">47</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
  </title>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <date_added>Sun Jul 12 11:11:18 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jul 12 11:12:25 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Excellent. Being somewhat of a space-buff, there were elements from the book with which I was already familiar. There were some elements  &amp; stories which I had not previously heard that were absolutely mind-blowing and inspiring. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63162054]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63162054]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>50325943</id>
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    <id>2149570</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Armen]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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  <average_rating>4.08</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <date_added>Tue Mar 24 14:42:45 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 24 14:44:53 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is one of the best books I have ever read.   a real tour de force of how the US space program evolved.   It covers all of NASA's highs and disasters in the race to the moon.  ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50325943]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>45090176</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jason]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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  <average_rating>4.08</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Sun Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2005</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Feb 01 18:46:19 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Feb 01 18:48:01 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Gene Kranz is pretty much as close to my hero as I consider one. A normal, mild-mannered American, who just happened to help get us to the moon and back again.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45090176]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>25281337</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Melissa]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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  <average_rating>4.08</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>170</ratings_count>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <read_at>Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jun 23 22:56:14 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Sep 10 07:04:40 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Wow - what a book. Kranz goes on a bit here and there, lots of lists of names - but I liked how he did that - carefully giving credit to everyone (at least, I assume everyone)involved in various efforts. <br/>In todays world, it seems a rarity to find that kind of environment - where hard work (as ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25281337">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25281337]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25281337]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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  <average_rating>4.08</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2000</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Everyone]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 25 19:55:32 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Nov 25 19:57:48 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is exceptional. It is a book that all American school children should read.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38667648]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38667648]]></link>
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[The Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era has captured my imagination like few other subjects.  There was no precedent for manned spaceflight...no templates, no past experiences, no helpful advice from previous generations.  The engineers, pilots, and controllers just figured it out and made it happen.  While t...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26633829">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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  <date_updated>Tue Jan 27 10:07:24 -0800 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Excellent case study in leadership under remarkable conditions.]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[It was great to learn many new things about the space program as well as get to know the men that made it happen, both the astronauts and the controllers. I recommend this book and any current and would be space cadets.]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond]]>
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    <![CDATA[In 1957, the Russians launched <em>Sputnik</em> and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, &quot;Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along.&quot;<p>  Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the <em>Apollo 1</em> tragedy, and the leader of the &quot;tiger team&quot; that saved the <em>Apollo 13</em> astronauts.<p>  Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <em>Apollo 13</em>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em>. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched <em>Apollo 13</em> and wanted more, <em>Failure Is Not an Option</em> will fill the bill. <em>--Stephanie Gold</em> </p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[Gene Kranz was a tough cookie while asending the ladder to be the senior controller at NASA during the Apollo era.  His tales of the behind the scenes grief and anguish following delays and tragc losses, and the elation he expresses when describing the successes the agency experienced throughout the...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7956648">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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