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Title: Flight: My Life in Mission Control by Chris Kraft, Chris Kraft ISBN: 0-525-94571-7 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (53 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Comment: Anyone who is familiar with the numerous television documentaries about the early years at NASA knows about Chris Kraft. NASA's original flight controller, Kraft takes the reader on the journey of his amazing life story from a small town in Virginia to the top levels of management at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The reader will come away with an amazing appreciation for the contributions that Kraft gave to this nation as well as the numerous other unsung heroes that helped America get to the moon. As NASA's original flight conroller, Kraft was personally present for the most memorable moments in the history of space exploration including Alan Shepard's first trip into space in 1961 and John Glenn's historic orbital flight in 1962. Kraft takes the reader behind the scenes and shows what was really going on inside NASA that the public never knew about. The story he tells is amazing. The best part of this book is that Kraft acknowledges that the race to the moon was a team effort where everyone including managment, astronauts, mission control and contracters all contributed to this historic effort. Kraft was part of the story from the beginning and anyone interested in the least about the greatest story of the 20th century should and needs to read this fine book. It is well written, candid and an easy read.
Rating: 4
Summary: great overview of the US space program from the beginning
Comment: Chris Kraft has a unique perspective with regards to the US space program in that he got in on the ground floor. The early chapters tell his story of studying to become an engineer, designing planes for WWII, and falling into the company of those who would eventually build NASA into the agency that dominated American life in the 1960's. Unlike some of the books written by the Astronauts, this one provides a "bottoms up" account of the exciting stuggle NASA had on its hands to fulfill JFK's pledge of a safe manned Moon landing by the end of the decade. There have been many books written about the glorious Apollo missions, so I found the time devoted to the Mercury and Gemini missions particularly enlightening. As flight director for those missions, nothing got by Kraft, and he vividly recounts his experiences in text that while technical at times, flows seamlessly thoughtout. For anyone who wants an overview of NASA from the late 1950's until the last Apollo flight, this might be the book for you.
Rating: 5
Summary: Young Guys Take On the World and Win -American Style
Comment: This is a modern and very much an American story where people are given the money and resources and are told to get the job done. This takes place of course at NASA under the intense glare of the international media. It was done under tough working conditions, with many technical and human challenges, with long hours, and tough deadlines to meet.
Sure the Mission Control team headed by Kraft was supported by a cast of thousands and many suppliers, but they (ultimately) had to manage the flights and make the decisions, and do the things that were required to make the operation a success. Only the very best people can lead in this technical environment. They must be the brightest and have the ability to garner respect from their fellow workers. Age is not a factor in selecting the people, those decisions are based on raw talent and drive. In this pressure cooker environment Kraft rose to the top.
That is what this book is about. It is a group of young guys with lots of energy and the smarts have to come up with and execute a winning plan and then solve all kinds of problems with no prior or at least limited experiences.
But Kraft and his team did it with the world watching. This book conveys this great achievement by a young group of managers and engineers.
Four or five stars. Great story.
Jack in Toronto
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Title: Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz ISBN: 0425179877 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 08 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Deke! : An Autobiography by Donald K. Slayton, Michael Cassutt ISBN: 031285918X Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 15 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Last Man on the Moon : Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space by Donald A Davis ISBN: 0312199066 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Apollo 13 : Lost Moon by Jim Lovell ISBN: 0671534645 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew L. Chaikin, Tom Hanks ISBN: 0140272011 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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