Tag: Apollo 11

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#BookReview: Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin

Legendary Man, Solid Vision. Often lost in the fact that Buzz Aldrin was on the first team to land on the moon and the second man to step foot on the moon is the fact that he actually had a PhD – from MIT no less – before that legendary accomplishment. Here, this former fighter pilot and lifelong engineer lays out a comprehensive vision to make humanity a dual planet species forevermore. Reading it several years after publication and just weeks before the 50th anniversary of his walk on the moon – an anniversary Aldrin repeatedly says would be a prime day for a definitive “We Choose To Go To The Moon” speech regarding Mars – it is interesting to see how this vision has been followed (or more accurately, not) over the last several years and how fiction (specifically, The Martian by Andy Weir) has actually hewed closer to Aldrin’s vision than NASA or the various real-world space agencies and corporations have. Very highly recommended.

This review of Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin was originally published on May 28, 2019.

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#BookReview: Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz

Fascinating. This book is a fascinating tale of Gene Kranz’s early years at NASA, where he rose from being one of the initial Flight Controllers for the first Mercury missions to being the Lead Flight Director for both the first Lunar landing and the Apollo 13 explosion. The story ends after the Apollo program is scrapped, and the book then introduces its singular MASSIVE flaw, that resulted in me docking it a star. In the final chapter, Kranz takes himself from the hero just doing his job of his experience with Apollo to the bitter old man who just retired 20 years later when he is writing this book and making “recommendations” about the state of NASA during the 90s. His critique of the early days of the International Space Station in particular sounds particularly hollow nearly 20 years later, while former ISS Commander Scott Kelly is still being studied after his Year In Space mission (which contrasts nicely against some of Kranz’s early missions of putting Alan Shepherd in space for just 15 minutes). Overall a great book, just ignore the last chapter to have a happier experience.

This review of Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz was originally published on May 13, 2018.