Selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of shuttle astronauts, Mike Mullane completed three missions and logged 356 hours aboard the Discovery and Atlantis shuttles. It was a dream come true. As a boy, Mullane could only read about space travel in science fiction, but the launch of Sputnik changed all that. Space flight became a possible dream and Mike Mullane set out to make it come true. In this absorbing memoir, Mullane gives the first-ever look into the often hilarious, sometime volatile dynamics of space shuttle astronauts - a class that included Vietnam War veterans, feminists, and propeller-headed scientists. With unprecedented candour, Mullane describes the chilling fear and unparalleled joy of space flight. As his career centred around the Challenger disaster, Mullane also recounts the heartache of burying his friends and colleagues. And he pulls no punches as he reveals the ins and outs of NASA, frank in his criticisms of the agency. A blast from start to finish, Riding Rockets is a straight-from-the-gut account of what it means to be an astronaut, just in time for this latest generation of stargazers.
Riding Rockets
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"It has been suggested that NASA should send a poet into space to properly describe it, but I'm happy to report that is no longer required. Mike Mullane is a poet-astronaut who in this marvelous book allows those of us who never got there to see, hear, feel, even taste the wonders of the high frontier of space. "Riding Rockets" is the story of space-age America in all its glory and folly as seen through the eyes of a remarkable writer, who has brilliantly captured the triumphant and tragic years of the space shuttle era. You may think you don't care about space or astronauts, but trust me, make an exception for this memoir. Quite simply, "Riding Rockets" soars."
-- Homer Hickam, author of "Rocket Boys"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By John Boyes
Format:Hardcover
There are a good number of astronaut biographies available. Inevitably there is fair amount of repetition sometimes straying towards telling you what SHOULD have happened rather than what DID happen. But Mike's book is different. This is the story of what it's all about being an astronaut: nuts and bolts, human weaknesses, bureaucracy, chauvanism, fear, elation, reality. But above all the need to fly into space. If you were to read only one astronaut biography, then this should be it.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've been waiting for this book since I was a kid watching the first landing on the Moon on TV. It is something completely different from what I read till now about the space program. To say that Mike Mullane is the Bill Bryson of space travel is to underestimate him. You will not only appreciate the story, the inside view on the US space program (including the permanent mismanagement). You will also learn about a real dream love: the one with his wife, Donna. What is really outstanding in Mike is the chase for the "ultimate honesty". He constantly refuse the "politically correct" approach and goes straigth to the core of our relations to space travels, dreams, technology, relation with... women, with his boss and with... the girl of his dream, in this case another Astronaut tragically dead in the Challenger accident. The last pages in particular are surprisingly good and poetic. I would never expect something like that from a funny book like this.
Thanks, Mike, for your honesty.
Thanks, Mike, for your honesty.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Hurst
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mullane has written an engaging memoir detailing his time as a mission specialist in the first wave of Space Shuttle astronauts. It's a very partial account - Mullane retired from NASA in 1990 and two of his three missions remain classified - but the description of his training and first mission is gripping and gives a good insight into the post-Apollo US manned space program.
The book makes clear just how experimental the Shuttle program was, and the description of its continual near-misses is chilling. While there is no technical coverage of the Challenger accident, the human cost is addressed in depth and Challenger marks a divide between the lighter, optimistic first half of the book and a darker second half. The latter takes shape around a critique of NASA management and what Mullane presents as the consequent inevitability of disaster in the shuttle program. The Columbia accident is referenced only in passing, coming as it did over a decade after Mullane's retirement.
In general tone, if not in scope, the book is reminiscent of Andrew Chaikin's `A Man on the Moon', and Mullane writes well (or has help from someone who writes well). The single jarring caveat is his unashamed and often triumphant chauvinism. In Mullane's eyes, the only worthy career is military service and while he acknowledges a growing respect for the civilian astronauts, his heart isn't in it and his prejudices are never far from the surface. He even tempers his bitterness towards the `part-timers' - payload specialists and passengers - to cheer Senator Jake Garn, a passenger on STS-51-D, for having `actually done something in his life besides lawyering'. (The `something' being flying tankers for the Navy and the Utah Air National Guard.... Read more ›
The book makes clear just how experimental the Shuttle program was, and the description of its continual near-misses is chilling. While there is no technical coverage of the Challenger accident, the human cost is addressed in depth and Challenger marks a divide between the lighter, optimistic first half of the book and a darker second half. The latter takes shape around a critique of NASA management and what Mullane presents as the consequent inevitability of disaster in the shuttle program. The Columbia accident is referenced only in passing, coming as it did over a decade after Mullane's retirement.
In general tone, if not in scope, the book is reminiscent of Andrew Chaikin's `A Man on the Moon', and Mullane writes well (or has help from someone who writes well). The single jarring caveat is his unashamed and often triumphant chauvinism. In Mullane's eyes, the only worthy career is military service and while he acknowledges a growing respect for the civilian astronauts, his heart isn't in it and his prejudices are never far from the surface. He even tempers his bitterness towards the `part-timers' - payload specialists and passengers - to cheer Senator Jake Garn, a passenger on STS-51-D, for having `actually done something in his life besides lawyering'. (The `something' being flying tankers for the Navy and the Utah Air National Guard.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By aster girl
Format:Paperback
If you enjoy reading NASA's stories of manned space exploration that are primarily focused on the Apollo program hopefully you will also enjoy this book which will give you an insight from the point of view of one man's personal experiences inside NASA during the 70s,80s and early 90s.
It gives fascinating detail of how the astronauts cope with daily routines that on earth are relatively simple to achieve but became a different matter inside the space shuttle. The book does not give a large amount of information on the technical layout or functions of the shuttle or even for the astronauts' training program, but it is very entertaining, easy to read and actually gives an idea of what it was like for an exclusively male's world to have to cope with the introduction and intergration of women to their workplace-space.
It gives fascinating detail of how the astronauts cope with daily routines that on earth are relatively simple to achieve but became a different matter inside the space shuttle. The book does not give a large amount of information on the technical layout or functions of the shuttle or even for the astronauts' training program, but it is very entertaining, easy to read and actually gives an idea of what it was like for an exclusively male's world to have to cope with the introduction and intergration of women to their workplace-space.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Nic Percival
Format:Hardcover
This is a wonderful book.
The next nearest 'Deke', is very good.
Mike Mullane pulls out all of the stops. If I have a criticism it could be that he almost seems to push himself as definitely *not* the NASA puppet. Well, I'm sure he's not.
I think this is an honest work, Mullane's references to (for example) Judith Resnik really weighed on my heart. I hadn't shed a tear for Challenger for a long time.
There's fascinating stuff about how Mullane learns how not to be a sexist pig (read it!), how he learned how wonderful his wife is. There's a lot about the terror of a shuttle launch, (Space Truck? Dangerous experimental spaceplane?), pointing out the problems of that vehicle and management difficulties.
Just read it. There are amazingly honest references to emotional issues. Physiological issues (how do you pee (etc)in space?), what happens when the space toilet breaks?
The next nearest 'Deke', is very good.
Mike Mullane pulls out all of the stops. If I have a criticism it could be that he almost seems to push himself as definitely *not* the NASA puppet. Well, I'm sure he's not.
I think this is an honest work, Mullane's references to (for example) Judith Resnik really weighed on my heart. I hadn't shed a tear for Challenger for a long time.
There's fascinating stuff about how Mullane learns how not to be a sexist pig (read it!), how he learned how wonderful his wife is. There's a lot about the terror of a shuttle launch, (Space Truck? Dangerous experimental spaceplane?), pointing out the problems of that vehicle and management difficulties.
Just read it. There are amazingly honest references to emotional issues. Physiological issues (how do you pee (etc)in space?), what happens when the space toilet breaks?
This is good. I've read loads of space-related bios and they often seem full of irrelevent 'pre-space' detail. The 'pre-space' detail here is fascinating and is very relevant to what comes
later. 10/10.
Nic
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reach for the stars
Having been brought up in the days of Mercury, Gemeni and Apollo I bought this book with a certain amount of trepidation as i knew little about the shuttle programme. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Esiotrot
5.0 out of 5 stars
very interesting
This book is so good if you want a real insight into NASAs astronaut programmes. The process of being an astronaut in the 1980s is described in great detail, along with the moods... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Carys Evans
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good read
As an ex-military airman myself, albeit in a much smaller unit than Mike, I could relate to his humour and viewpoint. Read more
Published 2 months ago by JAFO
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating
A look at the NASA space program from the inside. Unmissable! Trenchant (and unexpected) views from an astronaut that must have embarrassed the Agency.
Published 3 months ago by G. Owen
4.0 out of 5 stars
The funny and tragic tale to make you angry.
For lovers of space this book is a must read, telling the tale of the first astronauts to ride the shuttle, and the incompetence that put their lives at risk on a daily basis. Read more
Published 3 months ago by privatepetexxx
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but flawed ...
The author of this book makes a very big and near continuous point about wanting to be an astronaut from a very early age and how much he admired and studied the Apollo... Read more
Published 9 months ago by P. White
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Space book I have ever read!
A fabulous book about the Shuttle program and the ins and outs of what went on behind the scenes. Mike Mullane gives you a great look into the space program, and he really gives... Read more
Published 9 months ago by pilotboy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read
Just finished it. Yes it's a little boyish but a fascinating inside into the real world of Space Shuttle astronauts - put it on your Christmas list!
Published 11 months ago by Charlie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unputdownable
I love reading about space, and have a huge interest in the shuttle, and the Apollo programme, though I am no expert. This book is Mike Mullane's amazing tale, warts and all. Read more
Published 11 months ago by moondolly
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ego, allied with male chauvinism and Judy, Judy, Judy!!
This is billed and reviewed quite often as "the best book about the Space Programme". If it is I shan't bother reading the others. Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. Brooks
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