The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield - Book Review #323

I am a space buff.  I was a kid during the Apollo missions.  I grew up with the promise of space travel and exploration.

Chris Hadfield is a Canadian hero and astronaut.

I enjoyed taking a ride on the fictional Apollo 18 mission.

But...

It missed the mark for me.  Not because it was a bad story.  For me, it was because it was historical fiction.  When a twist in the mission occurs, the decisions made struck me as being implausible.

I kept thinking to myself, "There is no way NASA and Mission Control would allow this to continue."

Had this story been inside a world of the author's creation it would have been terrific.  Inserting it into a known history is so much more difficult to pull off.

I very much look forward to his next novel.  I could see a series, where the settings change throughout the history of NASA.  The Shuttle era.  The ISS.  The new Artemis program.  SpaceX.  Missions to Mars.

Hadfield has the inside knowledge which makes his writing so very compelling. 

Mars Rover Curiosity by Rob Manning and William L. Simon - Book Review #285

An Inside Account from

Curiosity's Chief Engineer

I love these kinds of behind-the-scenes books.

It is staggering to consider the amount of work and struggle that goes on to get a planetary mission approved, designed, funded, delayed, built, tested, re-tested, mated to a rocket, launched, testing while in flight, the Seven Minutes of Terror (see the video below), landing and testing on the ground before the rover moves at all.

This is the story of how the Mars Curiosity Rover came to be and how it made it to Mars.

If your one of those people who likes to learn how things are made, or you watch the DVD extras on the production of your favourite movie then this is a book you'll enjoy.

It was well written and engaging throughout.

The NADS Mars Science Laboratory website - https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/

Rob Manning

William L Simon

Into the Black by Rowland White - Book Report #275

As a fan of all things NASA I am constantly surprised as to how much I do not know.

The length of time it took to decide to build the shuttle, the preliminary work involved before any metal was bent, the different entities within the US government that fought over it, the construction and the testing before it was finally launched was fascinating to me.

The shuttle program was decided to go ahead while men were walking on the moon during the Apollo 16 mission.

In the mid-sixties, reconnaissance satellites were so primitive that images were shot on film and the film parachuted down to earth to be picked up by specially designed aircraft that would pluck them from the sky.  The technology did not exist to wirelessly send images from space, which seems odd since TV signals were being beamed from the moon.  I'm sure it had something to do with encryption.

The thing about NASA and the space program is just how risky everything they do really is.  They just make it look and sound like it’s no big deal.  But all of the hardware is on the absolute bleeding edge of technology and engineering.

Everything about the Shuttle was new and it was BIG compared to anything else NASA had done.  Transporting the Shuttle on a 747 was not a new idea but noting had been tried at that scale.

The fully-assembled launch stack was completely new.

And that heat shield was a nightmare to design, test and fly.

The Shuttle became what NASA had wanted it to be; an everyday thing, routine and boring.  But it was nothing of the kind.

This was a thoroughly engrossing book.

Highly recommended.

Rowland White's website - http://www.rowlandwhite.com/

Rowland White

Red Rover by Roger Wiens - Book Report #161

13/15/2016

This a a fascinating story of how one particular science package, ChemCam, came to be built and installed on the Mars Curiosity rover.

What you will come away with is the incredible journey an instrument takes from concept, approval, build, installation and operation.  I was impressed at the dedication and effort that goes into such a project.  For years prior to launch there is a constant struggle for funding and crating the best possible science instrument that can be made.

Don't think for one minute that instruments are built from off the shelf components.  Everything is on the bleeding edge of engineering.  There is nothing about Curiosity that is ordinary.

When you consider the efforts of the ChemCam team is repeated by every other team that has an instrument on the rover AND the team that built the rover itself AND all the components it took to get it to Mars, I was left wondering how anything actually gets built, flown and operated at all.

Usually the public is let in on the launch and landing days, but there is about a decade of work that has happened before the rocket is launched.

Roger Wiens

 

Book Report #126 - The Martian by Andy Weir

Book 50 of 52
Page count 369

This is my kind of science fiction.  It's known as Hard Sci Fi in that it is rooted in current science.  What I loved about this story is that it was firmly rooted in today's engineering.  Yes, the nuts and bolts of it all.

If you remember the movie Apollo 13, then you remember the scenes where the crew and engineers on the ground, would come up with all kinds of unique, ad hoc solutions to problems.  Well, this book is a lot like that, but on Mars.

Astronaut Mark Watney's crew leaves him behind during a mission-ending dust storm.  He was hit with some flying equipment and and blown down wind.  All his environmental suit instruments indicated that he had died and his crew mates were forced to evacuated the surface without him.

What follows is a story of survival filled with problems, interesting solutions, setbacks and dark humor.

I loved this book.

Andy Weir's website is here:   http://www.andyweirauthor.com/

Andy Weir

Book Review #115 - The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

Book 39 of 52
Page count - 352

It is hard to review a book which has an iconic movie attached to it.  It is the wonderfully interesting story of the Original 7 astronauts and the race to send Americans into space.

That said the movie practically used the book as a script.  Next to nothing was left out.  What the book highlighted greatly was the attitudes of the government to the program but, more importantly, the attitudes of "career" military test pilots and this new rocket-propelled civilian agency.

What was most interesting was how the pecking order of the Original 7, and test pilots in general, was fiercely fought over.  Everything rides on being first.  It drives every decision pilots make and effects their wives and families in the process.  Climbing to the top of the pyramid and trying to stay up there is what motivates these incredible people every single day.

The competition between the astronauts was wonderfully paralleled by also following the career of the man who, arguably, started it all; Chuck Yager.  Yager was the first to break the sound barrier but kept his career on the track of fixed-winged aircraft.  He was at the very top of the pyramid and kept on fighting to stay there for as long as he could.

Chuck Yager and the Bell X-1

Ultimately the story focuses on the original Mercury astronauts but the author never forgets the larger picture.  He kept his eyes on the Russians, the president, the military, the scientists and the doctors who played large roles in this adventure.

The whole thing was wonderful.

Read it.  Watch the movie.  Be inspired and reassured that humans can do wonderful, wonderful things when we want to. 

Project Mercury mission patch

Mercury 3 Alan Shepard's mission patch

Alan Shepard inside Freedom 7

Movie poster

Tom Wolfe

Book Report #98 - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield.

Book 22 of 52
Page count - 282

Sticking to space I decided some non-fiction would be a nice choice.  I've been a fan of Hadfield's for a while now.  There are only a handful of Canadian astronauts out there; he made the best of his career and simply glowed Candian-ness.

The book itself is just wonderful.  It was not what I expected - a simple memoir explaining his career.  More valuable, to the reader, he explained his attitude and work ethic.  It wasn't just about his accomplishments but how he did little things; how hard work, determination and a willingness to simply do what is needed were the keys to his success. 

His positive and simple message made me feel like I was not living up to my potential.  I decided to emulate his attitude and started to "sweat the small stuff" and to "aim to be a zero" which are the titles to two chapters that made strong impressions on me.

There is plenty of space stuff to keep anybody interested in space exploration happy but the personal ethics presented make this book special.

Below is a YouTube clip promoting the book.  It does a good job of showing the value of reading it.


Chris Hadfield's Wiki page is HERE

Mars Baby!

Congratulations to NASA and the Mars Curiosity team for a beautiful landing!!