Download or read book Calculated Risk written by George Leopold and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike other American astronauts, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom never had the chance to publish his memoirs—save for an account of his role in the Gemini program—before the tragic launch pad fire on January 27, 1967, which took his life and those of Edward White and Roger Chaffee. The international prestige of winning the Moon Race cannot be understated, and Grissom played a pivotal and enduring role in securing that legacy for the United States. Indeed, Grissom was first and foremost a Cold Warrior, a member of the first group of Mercury astronauts whose goal it was to beat the Soviet Union to the moon. Drawing on extensive interviews with fellow astronauts, NASA engineers, family members, and friends of Gus Grissom, George Leopold delivers a comprehensive survey of Grissom’s life that places his career in the context of the Cold War and the history of human spaceflight. Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom adds significantly to our understanding of that tumultuous period in American history. --Publisher
Download or read book Gus Grissom written by Ray E. Boomhower and published by Indiana Biography Series. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected as one of NASA's original Seven Mercury Astronauts, Gus Grissom would go on to become the first man to fly in space twice and later give his life to the NASA space program. This book unearths the story of Indiana's first astronaut by offering a more complete picture of Grissom's life and character and the events that led up to his death. In the most comprehensive biography on the subject yet, Gus Grissom: The Lost Astronaut offers a more personal side and fuller picture of Grissom's life and character. Hours were spent interviewing Grissom's family and friends, who were all more than eager to talk about the astronaut, sharing in the belief that this story is one worth telling to a new generation that knows little about his illustrious career.
Download or read book Gus Grissom written by Carmen Bredeson and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book details the highlights of astronaut Gus Grissom's career and spaceflights. Grissom made history as the second American to travel into space. After two successful flights, Grissom and two fellow astronauts died in a simulated launch of Apollo 1. Up until the Challenger explosion, this was NASA's worst disaster.
Download or read book The Right Stuff written by Tom Wolfe and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2008-03-04 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tom Wolfe at his very best" (The New York Times Book Review), The Right Stuff is the basis for the 1983 Oscar Award-winning film of the same name and the 8-part Disney+ TV mini-series. From "America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek)--a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. " Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.
Download or read book Gus Grissom written by Robert Greenberger and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2003-12-15 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Profiles the Air Force test pilot who became one of the first astronauts and describes his participation in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs as well as his death in a tragic fire during a pre-flight test on the Apollo 1 spacecraft.
Download or read book Eight Years to the Moon written by Nancy Atkinson and published by Page Street Publishing. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Behind-the-Scenes Look At NASA’s incredible Journey to the Moon Space journalist and insider Nancy Atkinson weaves together the riveting story of NASA’s mission to complete “the greatest adventure on which humankind ever embarked.” This incredible account is a keepsake celebrating some of the most important and dramatic events in modern history. Told through over 60 personal interviews and oral histories, as well as personal photographs, this tribute to the men and women who made the Apollo 11 mission a reality chronicles the highs and lows that accompanied the race to the Moon: the devastating flash fire that killed the crew of Apollo 1; the awe of those who saw their years-in-the-making contributions to space exploration blast off from Cape Canaveral; the knuckle-biting descent of Apollo 11 to the lunar surface; a near-catastrophic event on the crew’s flight home; the infectious excitement and jubilation across the world after the astronauts returned safely to Earth. These little-known stories of the dedicated engineers, mathematicians and scientists in the 1960s reveal the “hows” of the Apollo missions and bring to life the wonder and excitement of humanity’s first steps on the Moon.
Download or read book Starfall written by Betty Grissom and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The widow of astronaut Virgil (Gus) Grissom tells the tragic and heroic story of her husband and family caught up in America's race for the moon.
Download or read book The Astronaut Wives Club written by Lily Koppel and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-11 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the true story of the women who stood beside some of the greatest heroes of American space travel in this New York Times bestseller that delivers "a truly great snapshot of the times" (Publishers Weekly) that inspired a limited TV series on ABC! As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons. Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage, was the envy of the other wives; JFK made it clear that platinum-blonde Rene Carpenter was his favorite; and licensed pilot Trudy Cooper arrived with a secret that needed to stay hidden from NASA. Together with the other wives they formed the Astronaut Wives Club, providing one another with support and friendship, coffee and cocktails. As their celebrity rose--and as divorce and tragedy began to touch their lives--the wives continued to rally together, forming bonds that would withstand the test of time, and they have stayed friends for over half a century.
Download or read book Lost Spacecraft written by Curt Newport and published by Burlington, Ont. : Apogee Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CD-ROM contains technical drawings and the recovery operations log.
Download or read book Apollo 1 written by Ryan S. Walters and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On January 27, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee climbed into a new spacecraft perched atop a large Saturn rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a routine dress rehearsal of their upcoming launch into orbit, then less than a month away. All three astronauts were experienced pilots and had dreams of one day walking on the moon. But little did they know, nor did anyone else, that once they entered the spacecraft that cold winter day they would never leave it alive. The Apollo program would be perilously close to failure before it ever got off the ground. But rather than dooming the space program, this tragedy caused the spacecraft to be completely overhauled, creating a stellar flying machine to achieve the program’s primary goal: putting man on the moon. Apollo 1 is a candid portrayal of the astronauts, the disaster that killed them, and its aftermath. In it, readers will learn: How the Apollo 1 spacecraft was doomed from the start, with miles of uninsulated wiring and tons of flammable materials in a pure oxygen atmosphere, along with a hatch that wouldn’t open How, due to political pressure, the government contract to build the Apollo 1 craft went to a bidder with an inferior plan How public opinion polls were beginning to turn against the space program before the tragedy and got much worse after Apollo 1 is about America fulfilling its destiny of man setting foot on the moon. It’s also about the three American heroes who lost their lives in the tragedy, but whose lives were not lost in vain.
Download or read book Fallen Astronauts written by Colin Burgess and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-05-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Near the end of the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott and fellow moonwalker James Irwin conducted a secret ceremony unsanctioned by NASA: they placed on the lunar soil a small tin figurine called The Fallen Astronaut, along with a plaque bearing a list of names. By telling the stories of those sixteen astronauts and cosmonauts who died in the quest to reach the moon between 1962 and 1972, this book enriches the saga of humankind’s greatest scientific undertaking, Project Apollo, and conveys the human cost of the space race. Many people are aware of the first manned Apollo mission, in which Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives in a fire during a ground test, but few know of the other five fallen astronauts whose stories this book tells as well, including Ted Freeman and C.C. Williams, who died in the crashes of their T-38 jets; the “Gemini Twins,” Charlie Bassett and Elliot See, killed when their jet slammed into the building where their Gemini capsule was undergoing final construction; and Ed Givens, whose fatal car crash has until now been obscured by rumors. Supported by extensive interviews and archival material, the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of these and other fallen astronauts—including eight Russian cosmonauts who lost their lives during training—unfold here in intimate and compelling detail. Their stories return us to a stirring time in the history of our nation and remind us of the cost of fulfilling our dreams. This revised edition includes expanded and revised biographies and additional photographs.
Download or read book We Seven written by Malcolm Scott Carpenter and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astronauts tell the story of their individual experiences and achievements.
Download or read book Realizing Tomorrow written by Chris Dubbs and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff 2013 Professional Reading List Selection Nearly forty years passed between the Apollo moon landings, the grandest accomplishment of a government-run space program, and the Ansari X PRIZE-winning flights of SpaceShipOne, the greatest achievement of a private space program. Now, as we hover on the threshold of commercial spaceflight, authors Chris Dubbs and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom look back at how we got to this point. Their book traces the lives of the individuals who shared the dream that private individuals and private enterprise belong in space. Realizing Tomorrow provides a behind-the-scenes look at the visionaries, the crackpots, the financial schemes, the legal wrangling, the turf battles, and--underpinning the entire drama--the overwhelming desire of ordinary people to visit outer space. A compelling story of the pioneers of commercial spaceflight--and their efforts to open the final frontier to everyone--this book traces the path to private spaceflight even as it offers an instructive, entertaining, and cautionary note about its future.
Download or read book Disaster Strikes written by Jeffrey Kluger and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelve thrilling and terrifying space-mission failures, told by the bestselling author of Apollo 13! There are so many amazing, daring, and exciting missions to outer space that have succeeded. But for every success, there are mistakes, surprises, and flat-out failures that happen along the way. In this collection, bestselling author and award-winning journalist Jeffrey Kluger recounts twelve such disasters, telling the stories of the astronauts and the cosmonauts, the trials and the errors, the missions and the misses. With stories of missions run by both Americans and Russians during the height of the space race, complete with photos of the people and machines behind them, this book delves into the mishaps and the tragedies, small and large, that led humankind to the moon and beyond. Praise for Disaster Strikes!: * "A thrill ride punctuated with spectacular failures--but also spectacular successes." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review * "The [is] text versatile, efficiently functioning as a collection of short reads or a balanced, book-length narrative . . . Always fascinating, at times unsettling, and highly recommended for elementary and middle school collections." --SLJ, starred review "Each compelling episode is crafted as a self-standing adventure, with an opening hook and a satisfying close, making this an excellent source for readalouds for middle-school classes as well as a pleasure for independent readers." --BCCB "Kluger manages to combine suspenseful storytelling with scientific writing, showcasing the successes of the programs alongside the failures that ended in death or near misses for astronauts. Even students who claim that they don’t like to read will find these 'you-are-there' moments totally engaging." --SLC
Download or read book Mercury Rising John Glenn John Kennedy and the New Battleground of the Cold War written by Jeff Shesol and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War—a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival—and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."
Download or read book Apollo Pilot written by Donn Eisele and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 1968 Donn Eisele flew with fellow astronauts Walt Cunningham and Wally Schirra into Earth orbit in Apollo 7. The first manned mission in the Apollo program and the first manned flight after a fire during a launch pad test killed three astronauts in early 1967, Apollo 7 helped restart NASA's manned-spaceflight program. Known to many as a goofy, lighthearted prankster, Eisele worked his way from the U.S. Naval Academy to test pilot school and then into the select ranks of America's prestigious astronaut corps. He was originally on the crew of Apollo 1 before being replaced due to injury. After that crew died in a horrific fire, Eisele was on the crew selected to return Americans to space. Despite the success of Apollo 7, Eisele never flew in space again, as divorce and a testy crew commander led to the three astronauts being labeled as troublemakers. Unbeknownst to everyone, after his retirement as a technical assistant for manned spaceflight at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1972, Eisele wrote in detail about his years in the air force and his time in the Apollo program. Long after his death, Francis French discovered Eisele's unpublished memoir, and Susie Eisele Black (Donn's widow) allowed French access to her late husband's NASA files and personal effects. Readers can now experience an Apollo story they assumed would never be written as well as the story behind its discovery.
Download or read book Gemini Flies written by David J. Shayler and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-04-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. With just a handful of years to pull it off, NASA authorized the Project Gemini space program, which gathered vital knowledge needed to achieve the nation’s goal. This book introduces the crucial three-step test program employed by the Gemini system, covering: The short unmanned orbital flight of Gemini 1 that tested the compatibility of launch vehicle, spacecraft and ground systems. The unmanned suborbital flight of Gemini 2 to establish the integrity of the reentry system and protective heat shield. The three-orbit manned evaluation flight of Gemini 3, christened ‘Molly Brown’ by her crew. A mission recalled orbit by orbit, using mission transcripts, post-flight reports and the astronauts’ own account of their historic journey. The missions of Project Gemini was the pivotal steppingstone between Project Mercury and the Apollo Program. Following the success of its first two unmanned missions and the exploits of Gus Grissom and John Young on Gemini 3, NASA gained the confidence to plan an even bolder step on its next mission, as described in the next book in this series on Gemini 4.
