false 141499 2 In 1957, the Russians launched <I>Sputnik</I> 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, "Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along."<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 <I>Apollo 1</I> tragedy, and the leader of the "tiger team" that saved the <I>Apollo 13</I> astronauts.<p> Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in <I>Apollo 13</I>, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book <I>Failure Is Not an Option</I>. 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 <I>Apollo 13</I> and wanted more, <I>Failure Is Not an Option</I> will fill the bill. <I>--Stephanie Gold</I> 2110725 1 5 2000 Failure is not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond (Thorndike Paperback Bestsellers) total:166|5:56|4:75|3:29|2:6|1:0| 166 679 269 48 4 1 true false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Feb 25 12:52:42 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 12:55:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 10:23:45 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 16:31:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Feb 08 19:30:20 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 19:30:20 -0800 2009 Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff. 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 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 06:27:52 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 17:04:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Mar 11 10:48:44 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 11:21:07 -0700 2008
Gene Kranz was himself an acc...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 11:34:59 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 11:38:00 -0700 2009
Oh...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 31 21:46:49 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 20 18:52:59 -0700 2009
Kranz details his whole career at NASA from its start to its peak...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Apr 03 17:51:06 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 17:51:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 17:13:53 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 17:15:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 11 14:08:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 10 15:35:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 12 11:11:18 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 11:12:25 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Mar 24 14:42:45 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 14:44:53 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun Feb 01 18:46:19 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 18:48:01 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 22:56:14 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 07:04:40 -0700 2008 In todays world, it seems a rarity to find that kind of environment - where hard work (as ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 25 19:55:32 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 19:57:48 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jul 08 07:16:57 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 09:13:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Jan 27 10:07:24 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 10:07:24 -0800 2009 3 4 0 false false Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 11:17:58 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 15:25:59 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 17:36:13 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 17:39:35 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 11 15:22:41 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 15:46:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2105338