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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik 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 whizz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedures 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".
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 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 Apollo 1 tragedy and the leader of the "tiger team" that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts.
Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in Apollo 13, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book Failure Is Not an Option. 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 honours 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 Apollo 13 and wanted more, Failure Is Not an Option will fit the bill. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
At some time in the hours that followed that terse announcement from Apollo 13, many of us in NASA's Mission Control Center wondered if we were going to lose the crew. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At some time in the hours that followed that terse announcement from Apollo 13, many of us in NASA's Mission Control Center wondered if we were going to lose the crew. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a joy for anyone remotely interested in the US space program. Kranz, a key member of mission control throughout the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs talks frankly about the people and technology directly involved in man's journey to the moon. Never getting loaded with technical jargon, Kranz has blended his personality into this hi-tech story to create an accessible and heart-warming read. His account of the fire of Apollo 1 is searingly painful for it's simplicity, the excitement of being Flight Director for the Apollo 11 moon landing like a beautiful scent wafting up from the pages of this book.
How wonderful also for him to acknowledge the invaluable role played by his wife, when so many other marriages in this stressful time were failing.
I agree wholeheartedly with the reviews on the back of this book - it is a very welcome addition the lore of manned spaceflight. A must for all those interested in this topic.
How wonderful also for him to acknowledge the invaluable role played by his wife, when so many other marriages in this stressful time were failing.
I agree wholeheartedly with the reviews on the back of this book - it is a very welcome addition the lore of manned spaceflight. A must for all those interested in this topic.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I have read a lot of books about Apollo but this is the one i keep turning back to. Gene Krantz is simply a fascinating figure and his job in Mission Control the most exiting there was - Period.... Krantz writes with the passion that is burning within every good engineer and he writes in an easily readable style, yes there are a lot of tecnical "mumbo jumbo" in the book but the story is easily understood nevertheless. If you only want to read one book about Apollo it should probably be "Apollo, the Race to the moon" by Murray/Cox but when you've read that one and gotten hooked, this one would be am obvious number two.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Gene Kranz was one of the original band of NASA flight directors, some readers may remember he was played by a white waistcoat-wearing Ed Harris in the film about Apollo 13. This book is for those of us that are slightly geeky with regards to the Space Race in as far as this is a technical and detailed account of what took place in the Mission Control Room while the mission was in progress. It is not a riveting read by any stretch of the imagination but it does offer the interested reader another take Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Gene Kranz is unashamedly patriotic and God-fearing with a slight propensity to describe almost all of his colleagues as all American heroes. Nevertheless, afficionados of this era of space exploration will find a lot in this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
failure is not an option
Excellent book, takes you through the American space program from the view of mission control showing the many difficulties that were overcome.
Published 1 month ago by Mo
SIMPLY - A 'MUST HAVE'
If you love the space program or the potential of the human condition, then there can be no better inspiration than Gene Kranz. Read more
Published 1 month ago by B.A.ROBERTS
Hoax is still a possibility
I bought the book because I wanted to read the memoirs of someone so closely involved with the Apollo Moon landings.
I found the book most interesting and well written. Read more
I found the book most interesting and well written. Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. N. Burns
Failure is not an option
If you're interested in the space race and the practicalities of pushing science, engineering, decision making and human endurance to the limits, this is the book for you. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dud
Wonderful, what a man.
I am in awe of this man. It is a pitty we do not have world leaders of this ilk.
Published 10 months ago by Ivan
Brilliant Perspective
A great read. Going through the account of NASA prior the Mercury days and detailed accounts for the Apollo era. Read more
Published 12 months ago by cashy89
extremely interesting is an understatement
i bought my copy from the space centre in the usa, this is a really interesting book, if like me space still interests you after all this time some of the detail of the early... Read more
Published 23 months ago by P. barton
Fascinating
A fascinating account of Gene's involvement in the space programme starting with joining the Space Task Group and the early days of NASA. Read more
Published on 13 April 2010 by David
Apollo told from the controllers console
Gene Kranz' book reads like a crime story. It is among the best and most exciting book I have read until now on the US Space program. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2009 by J. T. Hoeg
Superb
As a young boy I watched the unfolding drama of the NASA missions and in later years have read and watched as much as possible on the subject. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2009 by Mr. R. J. Deacon
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