
Riding Rockets
The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
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Narrated by:
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Joel Richards
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By:
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Mike Mullane
In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts was introduced to the world - 29 men and six women who would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Among them was USAF Colonel Mike Mullane, who, in his memoir Riding Rockets, strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are - human.
Mullane's tales of arrested development among military flyboys working with feminist pioneers and post-doc scientists are sometimes bawdy, often comical, and always entertaining. He vividly portrays every aspect of the astronaut experience, from telling a female technician which urine-collection condom size is a fit to hearing "Taps" played over a friend's grave. He is also brutally honest in his criticism of a NASA leadership whose bungling would precipitate the Challenger disaster - killing four members of his group. A hilarious, heartfelt story of life in all its fateful uncertainty, Riding Rockets will resonate long after the call of "Wheel stop".
©2006 Mike Mullane (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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Almost any fan of NASA and space history will enjoy this book. One caveat: I would rate this book as PG-13. Mike was a military pilot from "Planet AD" (Arrested Development). His sense of humour is rather gutter-bound. I liked it, but my sense of humour is pretty base as well. He also recognises that this was decades ago and what was okay then is not so now. In any case, the book is probably not suitable for most kids under ~14 or anyone with...delicate...sensibilities. If dick jokes offend you, I'd strongly advise skipping this book and picking up Clayton Anderson's "Ordinary Spaceman".
(I'd also strongly recommend reading "Spaceman" by Mike Massimino. It is an amazing, wonderful, informative, interesting, and brilliant book. I can't come up with enough superlatives to describe his book. I can say that every person I've recommended, or given, it to - at least twenty - has loved it, and that reading it will make you want to be a better person.)
Best "Astronauts of the 80s" Memoir"
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Amazing stories the other astronauts never tell 
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excellent story and details l
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Fantastic read
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Couldn’t put it down!
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Incredible book
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Fantastic!
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interesting but cringey
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Outstanding!
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Honest and humorous inside look at the early days of the Space Shuttle program.
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