Tag Archives: human space flight

Week of Enchantment: Through Piney Mountains Cold

Posted on October 6, 2016 by smellincoffee

On Tuesday morning, I bid a reluctant farewell to Roswell and hit the road west. A half-hour of enormous plains gave way to the hills of the Hondo Valley. The Hondo valley’s rocky mounts gave way to much larger hills … Continue reading →

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Deke!

Posted on September 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Deke! U.S. Manned Space Flight from Mercury to the Shuttle© 1994 Deke Slayton and Michael Cassutt352 pages Don Slayton knew he wanted to fly as a kid, but he never imagined going as high as the moon  His story is … Continue reading →

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The Ordinary Spaceman

Posted on August 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut© 2015 Clayton Anderson330 pages Clay Anderson knew when he was nine years old that he wanted to grow up to be an astronaut.. He knew it when he witnessed the crew of … Continue reading →

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Men from Earth

Posted on July 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Men from Earth© 1989 Buzz Aldrin and Malcom McConnell314 pages Forty-seven years ago, men from Earth first stepped foot on the moon. There, they left medals commemorating the men of Apollo and Soyuz who perished in this quest for fire … Continue reading →

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2001: A Space Odyssey

Posted on February 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

2001: A Space Odyssey© 1986 Arthur C. Clark, Stanley Kubrick316 pgs At the dawn of the twenty-first century, mankind makes an extraordinary discovery: unmistakable evidence of life outside the environs of Earth. An object on the moon makes plain the … Continue reading →

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We Could Not Fail

Posted on July 7, 2015 by smellincoffee

We Could Not Fail: The First African-Americans in the Space Program© 2015 Richard Paul, Steven Moss312 pages Between the murder of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, and both political and racial riots throughout the United States, 1968 was a … Continue reading →

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Voyage

Posted on March 4, 2014 by smellincoffee

Voyage: A Novel of What Might have Been© 1996 Stephen Baxter511 pages             On November 22nd, 1963, John F. Kennedy narrowly escaped assassination while touring Dallas, Texas. A gunman’s assault left his wife Jacqueline dead and the president hospitalized, but … Continue reading →

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The Martian

Posted on February 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Martian© 2013 Andy Weir369 pages I was elated!  This was the best plan ever! Not only was I clearing out the hydrogen, I was making more water!  Everything went great right up to the explosion.  p. 43 Mark Watney never thought … Continue reading →

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Sky Walking

Posted on September 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir© 2007 Tom Jones384 pages Although the exploration of space has a scientific edge, the first astronauts were not scientists: they were military pilots. Thomas Jones is no exception, establishing the foundation for his career in … Continue reading →

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Astronaut Wives Club

Posted on September 7, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Astronaut Wives Club© 2013 Lily Koppell288 pages When a gang of test pilots joined the Mercury program, they and those who followed them didn’t have an inkling of what was to come– and their wives, their unwitting partners in … Continue reading →

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