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Author
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Topic: What is your favorite spaceflight book?
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ringo67
Member Posts: 179
From: Seekonk, Mass., USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 09-26-2010 11:24 AM
   
I hate to seem like I'm parroting everybody else, but Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon" and Collins' "Carrying the Fire" have my vote."Carrying the Fire" was the first "adult" book I ever read and I fell in love with it. I think I read it, and then went back and read it through again. Still sets the standard for astronaut biographies. I've read "A Man on the Moon" through about four times, I think in 11 years. I remember finding it in 1999 and getting sucked in by the detail. This book is what re-ignited my love for NASA after a lull of a few years. Also, the last time I read Chaikin's book, I read it along with David Harland's "Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions." As I read about each mission, in Chaikin's book, I would read the corresponding chapter in Harland's book. I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about the geology of the moon. |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 04-25-2017 10:26 AM
quote:
Originally posted by DChudwin:
[b]Early-Apollo: "If the Sun Dies" by Oriana Fallaci...
A book about her is due this October, "Oriana Fallaci: The Journalist, the Agitator, the Legend." |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-25-2017 11:15 AM
It depends on the time period. If you're talking about childhood, the hands down choice would be the Dr. Seuss classic "You Will Go to the Moon," by Mae and Ira Freeman. The narrative is based on the then-vision of Wernher von Braun involving a revolving space station and a large landing vehicle. Robert Patterson's illustrations are based on the art work of Willy Ley. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 04-25-2017 03:28 PM
John Noble Wilford's "We Reach the Moon." |
jiffyq58
Member Posts: 218
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Jun 2011
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posted 04-25-2017 06:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Dixon:
John Noble Wilford's "We Reach the Moon."
Man. I bought that book within weeks of the Apollo 11 splashdown, and read it from cover to cover within a few days. I was 11 years old at the time, and I thought it was awesome. I still have that original paperback copy. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 04-25-2017 06:51 PM
Me as well ... taught me a lot about NASA spaceflights to that point. Still have the original and couldn't put it down. |
p51
Member Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 04-25-2017 06:53 PM
My favorite two, which I read about every year or so: - "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane
- "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins.
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jiffyq58
Member Posts: 218
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Jun 2011
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posted 04-25-2017 07:14 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Glint:
"You Will Go to the Moon," by Mae and Ira Freeman.
I read this as a small child and loved it. I lost my original copy, but found another one in pretty good shape on amazon.com and bought it. I've read it any number of times to my own son. I recall reading that it had a great influence on Andy Chaikin as well. |
randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 04-25-2017 10:03 PM
"Carrying the Fire" has my vote. |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-26-2017 04:07 AM
Does anyone have any opinions with regard to "First On The Moon"? (published by M. Joseph in August 1970.) |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 07-26-2017 07:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by p51:
My favorite two, which I read about every year or so: - "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane
- "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins.
Ditto on all counts but reverse the order of the books. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-26-2017 08:00 AM
Could we do some sort of a vote on the best space books? The result would not just be of academic interest: it would give new space enthusiasts a good indication which are generally acknowledged to be the best books. One technical point: I don't think it would work simply to ask "What is your favourite space book?" There must be a lot of books that many people would consider "4th best" or "8th best" which wouldn't even make the list if we only count "No 1" votes. Perhaps the best way would be to list up to 10 books, with 10 points for "No 1"; 9 points for No 2; 8 points for No. 3, and so on. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 07-26-2017 10:21 AM
Sounds like a good and fun idea. How do we feel about that? |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-28-2017 02:55 AM
Good idea. How about a maximum of 10 if needed and see which ones appear most often? Then a definitive list could either be compiled or would be self apparent. |
RobertB
Member Posts: 160
From: Israel
Registered: Nov 2012
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posted 07-29-2017 01:41 PM
Top 13, since "Carrying the Fire," "A Man on the Moon" and Murray and Cox's "Apollo" will be on each and every list. |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-31-2017 03:17 AM
Correct! Here are my seven only in no particular order, including the above three. - Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins
- Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane
- A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin
- The Making of an Ex-Astronaut by Brian O'Leary
- Apollo by Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox
- The Race by James Schefter
- The All American Boys by Walt Cunningham
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Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-31-2017 07:11 AM
- Carrying the Fire - Michael Collins
- Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin
- Entering Space - Joe Allen
- The Voyages of Apollo - Richard Lewis
- Dragonfly - Bryan Burrough
- Apollo Expeditions to the Moon - Edgar Cortright (editor)
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Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-31-2017 08:19 AM
In trying to draw up a "top ten" list, I noted down 17 books. All are brilliant, but by my own self-imposed rules I must exclude 7 of these brilliant books (and others which would feature in a "top 20"). In deciding which books make the "final cut" I think that a unique approach, or the provision of information not easily available elsewhere, stands a book in good stead. My list inevitably shows a bias towards the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era, because that is the era that fascinates me most, so "Riding Rockets" would only make my top 20, but for aficionados of the shuttle era, Mike Mullane's book is a real winner. It's hard to justify excluding "Apollo: The Race to the Moon" or "First on the Moon" or "Moonwalker" or "Into That Silent Sea" or "Lost Moon/Apollo 13" or "The History of Manned Spaceflight" or "Exploring the Moon," etc. I think it's also worth acknowledging that the exact order within a "top 10" is a little arbitrary, depending on when a book was last read. Anyway, enough waffling, here goes: - "A Man on the Moon"
- "Carrying the Fire"
- "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon"
- "The All-American Boys"
- "The Right Stuff"
- "To a Rocky Moon"
- "In the Shadow of the Moon"
- "Falling to Earth"
- "The Last Man on the Moon"
- "Two Sides of the Moon"
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Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-31-2017 10:45 AM
I did not include, "To A Rocky Moon" by Wilhelms, on my list because I do not consider it to be about spaceflight, but about lunar and planetary exploration.That being said, I do not believe there is a better, more well-written, more interesting, book that describes mankind's transition of viewing the moon as annoying astronomical object, to seeing it as a world with distinct stratigraphical, geological, geophysical, geomorphological histories. |
David C
Member Posts: 1014
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 07-31-2017 12:55 PM
What are we counting as books? Is the "Project Gemini Familiarization Manual" a book? Is the "Apollo 11 Mission Report" a book? If not, where does it end? "Apollo Expeditions to The Moon" seems like a book to me but that's also an official NASA publication. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-31-2017 03:28 PM
Good points. In preparing my list, I wrote myself a note "excluding flight plans; press kits; preliminary science reports; NASA reports such as the Apollo Program Summary Report, etc." Most of these are manuals and should be excluded. There may be a few "grey area" volumes, but I am satisfied that "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon" is a proper "book," and indeed a treasure-trove of contributions from many of the key figures who planned, built and executed Project Apollo. Likewise, "To a Rocky Moon" is definitely a book, not a manual. It is a story: the story of the Moon, how it came to be, what it is like, and how the people of planet Earth explored and probed it. In many ways, it's an adventure story. It also tells the whole story of lunar exploration, from pre-spaceflight days to the date of publication. Yes, it's big on geology, but you don't have to be a geologist to appreciate it. And if you do read it, you'll understand and appreciate a lot more about geology. |
WAWalsh
Member Posts: 809
From: Cortlandt Manor, NY
Registered: May 2000
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posted 07-31-2017 03:30 PM
Will think on my list for later. One book, however, that I would add to those mentioned which has yet to get a mention is Thomas Kelly's "Moon Lander." For a technical discussion about the development of a critical piece of hardware, this book is outstanding. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-31-2017 03:44 PM
Whenever lists like these are compiled, what strikes me is how U.S.-centric they are. Granted only a few lists have been posted, but thus far they are exclusively concerned with the American viewpoint of exploration.Like others I have my own list, but there is one title that I feel needs to be among any ranking, not only because it is authoritative and exhaustive in its research, but also because it is necessary to represent the full history of spaceflight: "Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974" by Asif Siddiqi. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-31-2017 07:16 PM
Chariots for Apollo |
Lasv3
Member Posts: 410
From: Bratislava, Slovakia
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted 07-31-2017 11:37 PM
And four volumes of "Rockets and People" by Boris Chertok also covering the whole history of the soviet spaceflight. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-02-2017 08:49 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Whenever lists like these are compiled, what strikes me is how U.S.-centric they are.... thus far they are exclusively concerned with the American viewpoint of exploration.
Unfair, Robert. My list includes "In the Shadow of the Moon" written by an Englishman and an Australian, which includes extensive coverage of Soyuz missions. I have also included "Two Sides of the Moon" which (uniquely, I believe) describes the space race from the viewpoints of a leading American astronaut and a leading Soviet-era cosmonaut. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-02-2017 08:57 PM
Fair enough, and for that matter "Dragonfly" (on another list) is also the partially true story of the Shuttle-Mir program. |
David C
Member Posts: 1014
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 08-02-2017 10:11 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...the partially true story
"Partially true"? Do tell. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-02-2017 10:41 PM
While a compelling narrative, "Dragonfly" is closer to a non-fiction novel than it is a straightforward history. Burrough's style, though eminently readable, relies on drama, sometimes at the expense of reality.Simple factual errors aside, several astronauts, cosmonauts and space program workers have, at least privately, described the book as only getting part of the story true. One cosmonaut who I had dinner with in Moscow shortly after the book was released described it as "50 percent true, 50 percent false." Others have described it as an incomplete account. |
David C
Member Posts: 1014
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 08-02-2017 10:47 PM
Thanks. Sounds like I was right to give it a miss. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-03-2017 12:22 PM
It shouldn't be too surprising that the vast majority of "space books" deal with U.S. space efforts. Many of the best books were written before 1991, and it has only been after the fall of the Soviet Union that a fuller account of the Soviet/Russian space effort has emerged. There was no equivalent of "Carrying the Fire" or "The All-American Boys" or "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon" from the Soviet side, and those (auto)biographies which did emerge (for instance Gagarin's) could hardly be considered a reliable "warts and all" account of Soviet space exploration.Furthermore — and this is fairly self-evident — the American story was inherently more interesting because Americans walked on the Moon — and I say that with all due respect for the courage and commitment and sacrifices of Gagarin, Titov, Leonov, Komarov and their many colleagues. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-03-2017 12:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
There was no equivalent of "Carrying the Fire" or "The All-American Boys" or "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon" from the Soviet side...
It has been awhile since I have read either, but I would put Valentin Lebedev's "Diary of a Cosmonaut" in the same class as "All-American Boys" for its frankness. The Soviet Union did itself a great disservice by operating its space program behind the veil of secrecy. But if anything, it makes the few accounts that are available even more valuable to history. There were instances in Russian space history that were just as, if not more dramatic than anything that ever happened on an Apollo mission (Apollo 13 included), but they are largely unknown (perhaps not to this readership, but to the public at large) due to the nature of the Soviet approach. |
David C
Member Posts: 1014
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 08-03-2017 04:04 PM
You have to work a bit to get at Russian/Soviet space history, it's not handed to you on a plate.But the effort is worth it. |
DougS
Member Posts: 63
From: Marion, Iowa
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted 08-09-2017 01:51 PM
- A Man on the Moon - Chaikin
- Apollo - Murray and Cox
- The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook - Godwin
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Space Technology - Gatland
- Space Shuttle: Developing An Icon - Jenkins
- Red Star in Orbit - Oberg
- Challenge to Apollo - Siddiqi
- Russia in Space - Zak
- N-1: For the Moon and Mars A Guide to the Soviet Superbooster - Johnson
- Soviet Reach for the Moon - Johnson
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OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 08-09-2017 04:58 PM
- Carrying The Fire, Collins, what more needs to be said about this one.
- Riding Rockets, Mullane, the shuttle astronaut version of Carrying The Fire.
- Go For Orbit, Seddon, gives another view of the TFNGs from one of the first U.S. woman astronauts.
- Entering Space, An Astronaut's Odyssey, Allen, the photos used in the book and the printing are great.
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Paul78zephyr
Member Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-12-2017 06:58 PM
My favorites, in no particular order: - Baker - The History Of Manned Space Flight
- Cooper - XIII: The Apollo Flight That Failed
- Cunningham - The All American Boys
- Mullane - Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
- Woods - How Apollo Flew to the Moon
- Worden - Falling to Earth
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ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 08-16-2017 11:06 PM
I guess out of fairness I should exclude my own books and those in the Outward Odyssey series, but these are the books (mostly older ones) that have meant a lot to me over the years, and which still have a pride of place on my bookshelf. Not in any particular order of preference: - The All-American Boys - Cunningham
- Red Star in Orbit - Oberg
- Return to Earth - Aldrin
- Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin - Burchett & Purdy
- Carrying the Fire - Collins
- We Seven/Into Orbit - Mercury Astronauts
- Men, Rockets & Space Rats - Mallan
- Falling to Earth - Worden & French
- Soviet Space Exploration: Shelton
- Deke! - Cassutt
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mrspacehead
Member Posts: 43
From:
Registered: Jun 2017
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posted 08-18-2017 05:37 PM
Here are mine in no particular order - A Man on the Moon
- Carrying the Fire
- Riding Rockets
- The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team
- Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story
- Deke!
- Bold They rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years
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Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 06-08-2018 04:28 AM
Have just re-read "A Man on the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin. Had forgotten just how good this book is! |
JimSchultze
Member Posts: 17
From: Omaha, NE, USA
Registered: Nov 2012
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posted 06-08-2018 11:26 AM
"A Man On the Moon" is still my top choice after all these years - I have it in print, CD and audio! As far as a second goes, "Carrying the Fire" or "Riding Rockets". |
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