Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz
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Summary
Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director's role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s.
The story is definitely intriguing, although I couldn't help but feel that it could have been more captivating. It's quite lengthy and the narrator lacks some emotion, but overall, I'm pleased with my purchase and somewhat enjoyed it.
The book as a whole was fantastic, but unfortunately, the performance was lacking. The narrator consistently mispronounced key terms, such as saying "delta v" as "delta five" instead of "delta vee," pronouncing "GUIDO" as "gweedo" instead of "GUY DOUGH," and saying "TELMU" as "TELL MOO" instead of "TELM U." It would have been better if the narrator had done some research beforehand, as these mispronunciations are easily identifiable and unacceptable to those who have even basic knowledge in the subject. Despite this flaw, I still highly recommend the book.
The lack of an editor is evident in this book
I seriously doubt the honesty of those who gave it a 5-star rating. I really wanted to enjoy this book, hoping it would be packed with engaging stories and valuable insights on bouncing back from failure. While there are indeed some of those elements present, they are buried beneath an overwhelming amount of insignificant details that require hours of sifting through. Keep in mind, I'm a space enthusiast and I read this in anticipation of my recent visit to NASA.
I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of this book is. Perhaps as an oral history, it serves its purpose adequately. It does provide a thorough account of the author's career. However, as a book intended for a wider audience, it falls short in capturing their interest due to its lack of excitement.
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