Spaceman

August 22, 2016
Readers will be delighted and moved by retired astronaut Massimino’s almost childlike wonder and enthusiasm, coupled with his humility, as he recounts the magnificence of space, the camaraderie of NASA in good times and bad, and a genuine gratitude for his good fortune. Inspired as a child by Neil Armstrong and the crew of the Apollo 11, Massimino was determined to one day join their ranks. That dream dimmed as he got older, but just as he was preparing for a career in the corporate world he saw the movie The Right Stuff, which reignited his fire and set him on a path that would finally lead him into orbit. Though the astronaut tests and training were some of the most challenging experiences of Massimino’s life (which he dutifully recounts, warts and all), he made it, joining his fellow astronauts on two flights into space, including a nail-biting effort to repair a power supply panel on the Hubble Telescope. He also recounts what it was like to be at NASA during the 2003 Columbia shuttle tragedy. What could have been a rote, stoic memoir recounting dates and stats proves to be anything but. This is an engaging and uplifting memoir that’s sure to give readers a deeper appreciation for the U.S. space program and inspire some future astronauts.

A seasoned astronaut charts the trajectory of his love affair with space and astronomy.Massimino's memoir is a smooth combination of personal history and immersive storytelling. Motivated by a childhood preoccupation with space exploration and astronauts like Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and John Glenn, the author developed an obsession for the "reality of space travel" in his early years growing up on Long Island. Intensive academic studies at Columbia and MIT strengthened his resolve to pursue the space program--as did the tragedy of the 1986 Challenger explosion. Being accepted into the NASA space program (and overcoming some eyesight correction issues) made his dreams come true. Massimino writes of training for six years prior to embarking on his first interstellar mission aboard the NASA space shuttle Columbia in 2002 on a mission to rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope. Yet even with training on his side, the author admits that, as a rookie astronaut, "nothing you do on this planet can ever truly prepare you for what it means to leave it." He also suspensefully re-creates his second mission into space to repair the telescope in 2008. Written in affable, conversational prose, the book delivers a sensory buffet of sights, sounds, and inspired images with an appealing urgency. Like Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, Massimino's memoir is stuffed with fascinating details about the unforeseen complications of weightlessness, the zero-gravity experience, and the intricate physical, psychological, and "gut-dropping, nerve-racking, panic-inducing situations" involved in the flight-readiness training program and actual spaceflight itself. Even readers with just a casual interest in space travel will find themselves glued to the page as the author braids a childhood dream and a desire to make a positive impact on the space program with the ambition and bravery required to be blasted 350 miles into low Earth orbit. Massimino makes having "the right stuff" both breathtaking and formidable. A vivid, engrossing, and enthusiastically written memoir of aeronautic ambition. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016
Nothing you do on this planet can ever truly prepare you for what it means to leave it, writes astronaut Massimino. And, of course, most readers won't ever have the privilege to do so. But those looking for a peek inside the mysterious world of space travel would have to search in a galaxy far, far away to find a guide through the heavens that's as down-to-earth and entertaining as Massimino's. Without pretense, he crafts his memoir in plain language and with details so exquisite that readers will feel they're standing beside him at the bottom of a looming spaceship, waiting to be catapulted into the far reaches of the universe. Dotting his narrative throughout with references to classic space movies like Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff, Massimino shares his own intergalactic adventures in a way that is both endearing and incredible. His humble prose makes even experiences like meeting legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong seem almost casual, if remarkable, and relays the infectious awe he seems to possess at his obvious fortune.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)