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128 reviews for:
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
Gene Kranz
4.24 AVERAGE
128 reviews for:
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
Gene Kranz
4.24 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed Gene’s perspective on the early years of space exploration. As his memoir, he writes about the technical, mental, and human challenges from Mercury to Apollo and his life path to his role as a flight controller.
Even if you know nothing about space flight or these programs from the 60s, this book is still very readable and approachable.
As a bonus, Gene adds historical context to the events in space by briefly mentioning the events taking place here on earth. It’s hard to imagine now that the US was simultaneously mired in Vietnam while pushing the boundaries of exploration, discovery, and science. Gene is also more than willing to give credit to his wife for her support both at home and by her custom-stitched vests.
Throughout this book are great nuggets of information about how NASA balanced the risk of manned rocket launches through training, good management practices, and highly selective hiring. JFK’s mandate to reach the moon by the end of the decade provided a shared goal.
Gene gives a great sense that the NASA staff were worked to the bone and yet bound by shared experience and a drive to accomplish a dream, supported by a public who was in desperate need of good news. Even the goal itself has entered the lexicon to describe something that seems impossible at first— a “moonshot.”
The book ends with a lament from Gene that space exploration has stagnated (although, since this book has written, the tide does seem to be starting to swing the other way). As we celebrate the anniversaries of these 50-year old events while enjoying the spoils of the space program (from Velcro to GPS to computer chips), it certainly makes you wish our current leaders had the fortitude to propose such a groundbreaking leap forward.
Even if you know nothing about space flight or these programs from the 60s, this book is still very readable and approachable.
As a bonus, Gene adds historical context to the events in space by briefly mentioning the events taking place here on earth. It’s hard to imagine now that the US was simultaneously mired in Vietnam while pushing the boundaries of exploration, discovery, and science. Gene is also more than willing to give credit to his wife for her support both at home and by her custom-stitched vests.
Throughout this book are great nuggets of information about how NASA balanced the risk of manned rocket launches through training, good management practices, and highly selective hiring. JFK’s mandate to reach the moon by the end of the decade provided a shared goal.
Gene gives a great sense that the NASA staff were worked to the bone and yet bound by shared experience and a drive to accomplish a dream, supported by a public who was in desperate need of good news. Even the goal itself has entered the lexicon to describe something that seems impossible at first— a “moonshot.”
The book ends with a lament from Gene that space exploration has stagnated (although, since this book has written, the tide does seem to be starting to swing the other way). As we celebrate the anniversaries of these 50-year old events while enjoying the spoils of the space program (from Velcro to GPS to computer chips), it certainly makes you wish our current leaders had the fortitude to propose such a groundbreaking leap forward.
An amazing story of how mission control was built and run.
A great primer on engineering leadership.
A great primer on engineering leadership.
https://fantastiskfiktion.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/failure-is-not-an-option/
Excellent book and actually written by the man himself. The epilogue reveals the depth of research and accuracy that went into its writing - this is no mere memoir, but a blow-by-blow account of Kranz's career during the golden age of space exploration. His prose is succinct and clear, obviously a skill honed by thousands of hours of writing mission rules and handbooks.
The book is thorough, meaty, and very enjoyable for any fan of the space race. What was most stand out to me was the level of teamwork and leadership that existed in Mission Control. The "Tough and Competent" standard are values we should apply to all our endeavors. In the final chapter, he exhorts us to rekindle our efforts to explore space. I join Kranz in his lament for the spirit of exploration and risk-taking that we have lost.
The book is thorough, meaty, and very enjoyable for any fan of the space race. What was most stand out to me was the level of teamwork and leadership that existed in Mission Control. The "Tough and Competent" standard are values we should apply to all our endeavors. In the final chapter, he exhorts us to rekindle our efforts to explore space. I join Kranz in his lament for the spirit of exploration and risk-taking that we have lost.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Ever since I saw the movie "Apollo 13", I've been interested in the history of space flight and the great heroism portrayed in that movie. What I found out reading this book was that the whole space program from the beginning was filled with heroism and dedication and hard work and patriotism. It was fascinating to read of the various missions and how they worked through the problems to succeed and protect the lives of those involved. He includes a lot of technical detail about the space craft and the missions that I often skimmed through - a bit too technical for my interest - otherwise I probably would have given it four stars. A great read. What an amazing time period and efforts put forth by a great group of people.
inspiring
medium-paced
There are a lot of books covering the space race but I chose this one because I thought learning about it through the eyes of someone from mission control would be an interesting and different perspective, and I was not disappointed.
The book can get a bit more technical at times but overall the author does a good job of explaining what is going on throughout the missions, and it's fairly easy to follow even if the reader has no previous knowledge on this subject.
Another reason I rate this book so high is because Kranz comes across as genuine and very humble. Often when reading retellings like this one I have the feeling that the author is trying too hard to be poetic and dramatic, but Kranz manages to convey the enormity of the situation he's in and how he feels about it without resorting to that cliché. We also learn a bit about his life, how he ended up working for NASA and how he moved up the ranks until he became flight director, but the focus still remains on the missions and the long preparations for each of them. Also I didn't feel like the chapters about the other missions were fillers until "the main event" aka Apollo 11. On the contrary, I learned a lot of details I didn't know about the problems both Gemini and Apollo flights had and the resourceful way the people at mission control worked to solve them.
If you're interested in learning about the american space program and how it progressed over the years I can't recommend this book enough.
The book can get a bit more technical at times but overall the author does a good job of explaining what is going on throughout the missions, and it's fairly easy to follow even if the reader has no previous knowledge on this subject.
Another reason I rate this book so high is because Kranz comes across as genuine and very humble. Often when reading retellings like this one I have the feeling that the author is trying too hard to be poetic and dramatic, but Kranz manages to convey the enormity of the situation he's in and how he feels about it without resorting to that cliché. We also learn a bit about his life, how he ended up working for NASA and how he moved up the ranks until he became flight director, but the focus still remains on the missions and the long preparations for each of them. Also I didn't feel like the chapters about the other missions were fillers until "the main event" aka Apollo 11. On the contrary, I learned a lot of details I didn't know about the problems both Gemini and Apollo flights had and the resourceful way the people at mission control worked to solve them.
If you're interested in learning about the american space program and how it progressed over the years I can't recommend this book enough.
I really enjoyed hearing the stories of the Apollo missions through the eyes of NASA's control room. With a satisfying amount of detail, I came away feeling even more proud of what the United States achieved in the Apollo missions.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced