Alan Shepard (1) (1923–1998)

A collection of memoirs "by THE ASTRONAUTS themselves" (it says so on the cover) from the original Mercury 7 in 1962. A fascinating historical account of their backgrounds (including John Glenn's Korean war stories), training (including the MASTIF device in Cleveland that spins you on three axes simultaneously - even the expression head over heels doesn't do it justice), technical information about the capsule and boosters (you have to keep reminding yourself what they called a computer was in the early 60s), and tense descriptions of the ballistic and orbital missions with all of the various human and mechanical malfunctions. Not that easy to read since the authors were engineers and all had the same outlook, and the book must have passed through some editor or ghostwriter's hands since there is a slightly numbing uniformity.… (mehr)

New York Times bestseller for fans of First Man: A “breathtaking” insider history of NASA’s space program—from astronauts Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton (Entertainment Weekly).
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, and the space race was born. Desperate to beat the Russians into space, NASA put together a crew of the nation’s most daring test pilots: the seven men who were to lead America to the moon. The first into space was Alan Shepard; the last was Deke Slayton, whose irregular heartbeat kept him grounded until 1975. They spent the 1960s at the forefront of NASA’s effort to conquer space, and Moon Shot is their inside account of what many call the twentieth century’s greatest feat—landing humans on another world. Collaborating with NBC’s veteran spa...… (mehr)