Product Description
In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts was introduced to the world -- twenty-nine men and six women who would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Among them was USAF Colonel Mike Mullane, who, in his memoir Riding Rockets, strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are -- human.

Mullane's tales of arrested development among military flyboys working with feminist pioneers and post-doc scientists are sometimes bawdy, often comical, and always entertaining. He vividly portrays every aspect of the astronaut experience, from telling a female technician which urine-collection condom size is a fit to hearing "Taps" played over a friend's grave. He is also brutally honest in his criticism of a NASA leadership whose bungling would precipitate the Challenger disaster -- killing four members of his group. A hilarious, heartfelt story of life in all its fateful uncertainty, Riding Rockets will resonate long after the call of "Wheel stop."

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 73 reviews)

fantastic...

I could not put it down...Mike provides a great combination of his experiences, history about NASA, personal history, impact on him and his family, stories of his close friends and the emotions he felt throughout his whole experience. It's worth it...
September 02, 2008

blast off

Hilarious. Not just for guys who like space stuff. Our son read it and bought it as a father's day gift. My husband has been reading it and howling so he's reading it to me. Mike Mullane is absolutely candid about himself and the era he is describing, Loads of fun.
August 17, 2008

wonderful book!

This book is an insider account of NASA and the shuttle program. It was hard to put this book down, for several reasons. First the writing is witty and interesting; Mike has a real gift with words and a humorous way of expressing his thoughts. Second, its a real peak into a world most of us no nothing about except for the "Right Stuff" kind of pronouncements we see at the press conferences. This book is searingly honest; I don't know if most of us would tell our best friends the details about our thoughts and history that Mike reveals in this book, but he holds nothing back.
August 08, 2008

Well done!!

Surprisingly good book about the real NASA. I would recommend it to anyone with even a small interest in the space program.
July 09, 2008

Rockets, Reality, Reason, and Remorse

This was a surprising read. I loved this book, but it has two very distinct sides. One is funny, self-confident, brash, accomplished. The other is grim, unsure, depressing, an expose of institutional politics and culture at it's soul (and life) destroying worst. It's not all photo ops and champange. This is why I like it and yet sometimes found it hard to read. From childhood to semi-retirement, this is about a person, the flaws he honestly admits to, and the not so 'Leave it to Beaver' world he lives in. The first part was very entertaining and anecdotal- very funny. The second was more interesting and down to the nitty gritty: an inside account of what NASA was like, and still may be like. It also exposes how the media, and having to deal with the media, changes how people respond and behave. The true stresses of this kind of life and career are huge. It wasn't the book I thought it would be, but I am very glad to have read it.
January 05, 2008

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