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Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Charles A. Lindberg
The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events—technical and spiritual—of our lifetime.
In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humor of that adventure. He also traces his development from his first flight experiences in the air force, through his days as a test pilot, to his Apollo 11 space walk, presenting an evocative picture of the joys of flight as well as a new perspective on time, light, and movement from someone who has seen the fragile Earth from the other side of the moon.
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| Collins can write! Funny, factual to large audience.Test pilot,astronaut,later General |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Carrying The Fire is a great astronaut book. Michael Collins shows us he is a very very good writer and refused to use a ghost writer. He explains he is deliberately trying to write to a wide audience not just the technologically inclined. His writing style is light and crisp while humorous. He is not constantly me me me and shows us there were other astronauts smarter than he and more suited for different jobs.
We see his early career as a fighter pilot and experimental test pilot. Then we see his NASA training. He goes up in Gemini 10 and does a very important spacewalk. At the time John Young as the commander of Gemini 10 and Mike Collins set a new altitude record. Also a retrieval of a micro meteor pad from the Agena spacecraft is accomplished by Mike Collins with the help of his spacewalk. Many pictures and valuable navigation by different stars is accomplished. Many experiments are accomplished.
The individual astronauts are assigned different jobs/specialties. He is assigned by Al Shepard to be in charge of space suits and EVAs (space walks). We see he is never in the loop to be a commander of a space mission but to serve as a very important specialist and later as the Columbia pilot.
We see the horror of the loss of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. Many of the astronauts lives are discussed. Excellent pictures are in the book. My favorite historically is the one with his father in uniform with General Pershing and nice picture of NASA 904 T38 flying....our teacher,transportation and toy.
Mike trains and trains and is the Columbia pilot on Apol1o 11. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become first and second men on the moon. Mike's job is to stay in orbit and retrieve the Eagle and get everybody home. We see he is all alone as he orbits the Moon. We see his loneliness and thoughts as he is all alone in his own little universe.
He stays with the Air Force and retires from the Air Force reserves as a Major General.
Readers will enjoy Mike Collins writing style. We get lots of factual information that is very interesting but definitely not dry. Mike is able to be funny with a quick wit and show us his shortcomings as well as his strengths. Mike Collins a true American hero.I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading other books by Mike Collins. The man can really write. 5 stars.
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| Oustanding narrative of what it was like to be an Apollo astronaut |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Prior to reading this book, I had read Gene Cernan's "Last Man on the Moon" and Andrew Chaikin's "Man on the Moon." While both are good books in their own right, and well worth reading, only Collins was able to fully allow the reader to understand what it was like to be an astronaut in the heady days of the space program. As a Gemini and Apollo astronaut, his insight is detailed, though not terribly technical, and really brings to light the many complexities of the space program. That we did what we did during those days with no mission related fatalities or even injuries (Apollo 1 was a training accident, rather than mission related - though not to minimize it)is a testament to the extensive trainint and superior professionalism of all involved with the space program. Collins is candid, thorough, honest and entertaining in his account of his days in the space program. For fans of, or those curious about, the space program, this has to be the definitive account of what it was like, how they were selected and trained, crew selection, family life, and behind the scenes happenings, as well as the actual missions. Highly, highly, highly recommended.
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| An old favorite |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I previously owned this book in a battered, much read, paperback. This new one is bigger, which makes the included photographs much better. It's my favorite history of the Apollo flights.
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| A geekfest for non-geeks-- and that's a compliment |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I picked this book up based on a recommendation in Gene Weingarten's Washington Post column. I can't remember what Gene said exactly, but it had to do with people who were unexpectedly good writers, providing insight into important moments in history. Which is exactly what Carry the Fire is: a candid, funny, moving story of a bunch of "test pilot engineers" and thousands of un-named unsung heroes (including the glue-pot ladies who made sure the space suits didn't leak) managing to put two men on the moon in 1969.
I am not a technical person, but I do like a good adventure story, and I am willing to accept the premise that I must learn a little science in order to enjoy the adventure. Michael Collins pulled me along into the sciences of navigation, physics, geology, etc. all with the goal of getting to the moon, and I was happy to be along for the ride.
He claims to be a non-emotional kind of guy, which makes the emotions of this book all the more moving: facing and conquering the claustrophobia attendant on being in a pressure suit, delivering the worst of all possible news to one of the Apollo I wives, contemplating the very real possibility that something would happen to strand Eagle on the moon, and he would have to return to Earth alone-- all of these episodes left me sleepless on the evenings on which I read them.
Lastly, I will share that I am the child of one of those thousands of people who made Michael Collins' space flight possible. I did not appreciate at the time my dad's role (or his engineering brain) which made him part of history-- I only saw a guy who went off to work at the Cape every day. I remember the day when I arrived home from school to find him at home ahead of me-- the first time ever-- washing the car, on the edge of tears. For many years, that remarkable scene was my primary impression of the disaster that was Apollo I-- something so catastrophic that my dad would come home from work early. This book helps me to frame my dad's workaholism and long absences in my childhood as part of the larger mission-- one which took many men away from their families to do something almost impossible, "in peace for all mankind."
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| Everything Mike Collins' autobiography ought to be |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is a fantastic book. It has just the right amount of technical detail, human personalities, background information, and no-nonsense pilot talk. Definitely one of the best aviation/aerospace-related books I've ever read. This one is a keeper. Mike Collins writes well, is funny, and tells it how it was. I've got no complaints whatsoever. 5.0/5.0.
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