Disaster Strikes!

March 15, 2019
Twelve harrowing episodes in the history of space travel.Beginning with the hatch that prematurely blew off Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 capsule, Kluger (To the Moon!, 2018) offers a truly terrifying tally of catastrophes or near catastrophes--basing each incident on authoritative sources and relating each with melodramatic flair: "It can be oddly peaceful inside a dying spacecraft." To requisite accounts of the Apollo 1 fire, the Apollo 13 thriller, and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger, he adds the less-well-known tragedies of the Soyuz 1 crash and the asphyxiation of the three cosmonauts of Soyuz 11 as well as such near misses as Gene Cernan's first extravehicular venture ("The Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Space Walk"), the lightning bolt that struck Apollo 12 as it was taking off, and the space-suited Italian astronaut who (ironically) narrowly escaped drowning outside the ISS when his helmet filled with water. The author analyzes the causes of each explosion or snafu, and his view of early spacecraft as exciting but chancy death traps riddled with flawed, often hastily designed technology will be an eye-opener for readers schooled on blander space-program narratives. Sharp black-and-white photos at the chapter heads depict the actual disasters or earlier views of the affected spacecraft or astronauts (where faces are discernible, all present white).A thrill ride punctuated with spectacular failures--but also spectacular successes. (sources, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2019

Gr 4-8-From the near-drowning of Gus Grissom and the loss of Liberty Bell 7's Mercury capsule on splashdown in 1961, to the emergency termination of a spacewalk for Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano on the International Space Station in 2013, human space travel has always been a risky, sometimes deadly endeavor. Kluger outlines 12 such disasters, including the tragic cockpit fire that killed three Apollo 1 astronauts in 1967, the now infamous Apollo 13 mission, and several less well-remembered incidents. The chapters offer varying points of view: for example, the chapter about the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion takes the perspective of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe's students in New Hampshire and her family watching in horror from the viewing stand at Cape Canaveral. This makes the text versatile, efficiently functioning as a collection of short reads or a balanced, book-length narrative. Along the way, Kluger intertwines his narrative with fascinating details from history, in addition to the physics and health science of space travel. The author does not provide specific source notes or a bibliography, but in a closing author's note, he credits the online Johnson Space Center History Office, a source of much of the recorded dialogue between astronauts and ground control, as well as the New York Times' archive and a number of memoirs by astronauts. VERDICT Always fascinating, at times unsettling, and highly recommended for elementary and middle school collections.-Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2019
Grades 4-7 It's one thing when disaster strikes. It's quite another when disasters involve astronauts and cosmonauts during their missions. The events reported here begin with Gus Grissom almost drowning when his Liberty Bell 7 space capsule opened too soon after splashdown in 1961. Other dramatic incidents include the Soyuz 1 landing malfunction, which took the life of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov in 1967; the 1986 explosion of the Challenger space shuttle shortly after takeoff; and the 1970 Apollo 13 mission, which failed to achieve its original purpose but succeeded in bringing the astronauts home. Telling 12 real-life stories of dangerous and sometimes disastrous space missions, this volume is based on episodes of Countdown, a podcast that Kluger wrote and narrated for Time magazine, where he works as a senior editor specializing in science. Illustrated with 12 photos (not seen), the straightforward text highlights events while giving a sense of the personalities of those involved. This well-researched book offers a series of compelling, real-life stories for kids intrigued by the history, the dangers, and the thrill of space exploration.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)