Failure Is Not An Option: Mission Control From
Mercury To Apollo 13 And Beyond by Gene Kranz – 2009
Who received most of the accolades when a
successful, or for that matter, an unsuccessful space mission was
completed? Well the answer to that
question is obvious; of course it is the astronauts who risked their lives to
explore the unknown. But behind those
heroes were thousands of people who often times were among the unsung heroes
that helped to launch, fly, and land those spacecraft. Chief among those were the flight controllers
which is the subject of Gene Kranz’s Book Failure Is Not An Option.
Kranz’s book is all about the corps of flight
controllers that manned Mission Control for every minute of every day that
there was an American spacecraft aloft.
He traces the history of flight control from the very beginnings of the
space program through the entire Apollo program.
The early years of space exploration were marked
by a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union vying for
dominance with the Soviet Union scoring decided victories, leaving the United
States playing a game of catch-up. While
the Soviets were sending satellites and people into orbit around the planet,
the United States’ rockets were having a difficult time just getting off of the
launch pad. When the U.S. Finally did
begin successfully launch payloads, President John F. Kennedy declared to the
world that before the end of the 1960’s, the U.S. would successfully send an
American to the moon, and return them safely (according to Kranz, the plans
prior to Kennedy’s speech were to actually land Americans on the moon in the
mid 1970’s).
Kranz traces the history of manned space flight
from the perspective of his role as a NASA flight controller. During his thirty year tenure, he was a
firsthand witness to all of the events including projects Mercury, Gemini, and
Apollo. He goes into some detail on all
of the flights, and goes into even greater detail on the flights for which he
was the chief controller including the first landing on the Moon of Apollo 11,
and the near tragedy that was Apollo 13.
He gives an accurate picture of the missions including the problems that
were encountered and solved and discusses the reasons for and the solutions to
the problems that allowed Americans to take pride in our achievements in space
exploration.
Kranz’s narration is sometimes difficult to read
because he get quite technical at times, but this book is a must read for those
of us who enjoy knowing what went on behind the scenes at NASA. However, if you are looking for scandal, you
will not find it in this book, it is not an expose, but rather a factual
account of the history of manned spaceflight from the flight controller’s point
of view.
Not only does Kranz revisit the past in Failure,
he also speaks to the future of American space exploration by expressing his
disappointment (which is felt by many of
us today as American astronauts hitch rides into space aboard Russian rockets)
in the present state of affairs: “Entering the twenty-first century, we have an
unimaginable array of technology and a generation of young Americans schooled
in these technologies. With our powerful
economy, we can do anything we set our mind to do. Yet we stand with our feet firmly planted on
the ground when we could be exploring the universe.”
I think that Failure is a worthwhile read for
students of space flight history and those who want to know what goes on behind
the scenes at NASA.
In other news…
There is an ongoing debate in the science fiction
genre that would seem to search for the answer to a question that has occupied
my mind of late; what is science fiction and what is not. I had the opportunity to once again be a
guest on the Scifi Diner Podcast and explore this question with Scott, and
Miles (podcast hosts), Raul Ybarra (sci-fi fan, blogger, and mad-scientist),
and Keith DeCandido (sci-fi author). Our
conclusion? Well you are going to have to
listen to the show. I am told that it
will be released sometime this coming week and I will add the link to it when
it comes available. We visited for
almost two hours on this and could actually have talked longer.
I received a very nice gift from Nick Eftimiades
in the mail. He sent me an autographed
copy of Edward of Planet Earth, a work of fiction in the style of Douglas
Adams. Click HERE to read my review and
recommendation for Edward. I should also
like to point out that Eftimiades is not only an author, but he is also active
in many other areas including Chinese espionage, and the defense of our planet
from threats from space. I, for one,
have gained more interest in possible threats due to the recent meteor incidents
in Russia and on the east coast of the United States. Recently, Nick has posted something that may sound like science fiction, but it is truly a threat and needs to be addressed. Click on the link to read his United States Commission on Planetary Defense.
Blog posts from me have become quite infrequent of
late because real life has a tendency to get in the way of leisure pursuits. Hopefully, as the school year comes to a
close, I will be able to write more frequently, but until then…
There it is.
Q’aplaH!
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