The Ordinary Spaceman
From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut
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Narrated by:
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Aaron Killian
About this listen
What's it like to travel at more than 850 MPH, riding in a supersonic T-38 twin turbojet engine airplane? What happens when the space station toilet breaks? How do astronauts "take out the trash" on a spacewalk, tightly encapsulated in a space suit with just a few layers of fabric and Kevlar between them and the unforgiving vacuum of outer space?
The Ordinary Spaceman puts you in the flight suit of US astronaut Clayton C. Anderson and takes you on the journey of this small-town boy from Nebraska who spent 167 days living and working on the International Space Station, including more than 40 hours of space walks. Having applied to NASA 15 times over 15 years to become an astronaut before his ultimate selection, Anderson offers a unique perspective on his life as a veteran space flier, one characterized by humility and perseverance.
From the application process to launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, from serving as a family escort for the ill-fated Columbia crew in 2003 to his own daily struggles - family separation, competitive battles to win coveted flight assignments, the stress of a highly visible job, and the ever-present risk of having to make the ultimate sacrifice - Anderson shares the full range of his experiences.
©2015 Clayton C. Anderson (P)2016 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Concealed deep within China's inland borders is one of the most secret airplanes ever flown, known as Devil Dragon. She's sleek, unbelievably fast, and mysterious - her test pilots have one mission in mind: make her test flights successful for operational use as soon as possible. Or sooner. But when strange transmissions of pilots are recorded without an aircraft appearing on radar and bizarre cell phone signals are detected at towers hundreds of miles apart, Ford Stevens is asked to take on the most dangerous assignment of his life.
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Book seems written by an amateur writer.
- By Kelly on 04-18-18
By: Lawrence Colby
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Chasing Space
- An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances
- By: Leland Melvin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Leland Melvin is the only person in human history to catch a pass in the National Football League and in space. Though his path from the gridiron to the heavens was riddled with setbacks and injury, Leland persevered to reach the stars. While training with NASA, Melvin suffered a severe injury that left him deaf. Leland was relegated to earthbound assignments but chose to remain and support his astronaut family. His loyalty paid off. Recovering partial hearing, he earned his eligibility for space travel.
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A Must Listen to for any Space Enthusiast!
- By B.A. Lopez on 01-11-20
By: Leland Melvin
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First Man
- The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
- By: James R. Hansen
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon’s surface in 1969, the first man on the Moon became a legend. In First Man, author James R. Hansen explores the life of Neil Armstrong. Based on over 50 hours of interviews with the intensely private Armstrong, who also gave Hansen exclusive access to private documents and family sources, this "magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) is an unparalleled biography of an American icon.
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Not really 'unabridged'
- By A Reader on 06-06-18
By: James R. Hansen
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Sally Ride
- America's First Woman in Space
- By: Lynn Sherr
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A member of the first astronaut class to include women, NASA chose her for the seventh shuttle mission, inspiring several generations of women. After a second flight, Ride served on the panels investigating the Challenger explosion and the Columbia disintegration that killed all aboard. In both instances, she faulted NASA's rush to meet mission deadlines and its organizational failures. She also cofounded a company promoting science and education for children, especially girls.
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Captivating
- By Jean on 06-12-14
By: Lynn Sherr
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Sully
- My Search for What Really Matters
- By: Chesley B. Sullenberger, Jeffrey Zaslow
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie, Chesley B. Sullenberger
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed a remarkable emergency landing when Captain "Sully" Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways flight 1549 onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. His cool actions not only averted tragedy but made him a hero and an inspiration worldwide. His story is now a major motion picture from director/producer Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, and Aaron Eckhart.
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Really Dull.
- By Nick on 09-14-16
By: Chesley B. Sullenberger, and others
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The Right Stuff
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis Quaid
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
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Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
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Why Planes Crash
- An Accident Investigator's Fight for Safe Skies
- By: David Soucie, Ozzie Cheek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Boarding an airplane strikes at least a small sense of fear into most people. Even though we all have heard that the odds of being struck by lightning are greater than the odds of perishing in a plane crash, it still doesn't feel that way. Airplane crashes might be rare, but they do happen, and they’re usually fatal. David Soucie insists that most of these deaths could be prevented. He’s worked as a pilot, a mechanic, an FAA inspector, and an aviation executive. He’s seen death up close and personal - deaths of colleagues and friends that might have been prevented if he had approved certain safety measures in the aircrafts they were handling.
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Me, Me, Me
- By WakeNCAgent on 09-13-19
By: David Soucie, and others
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Bird Dream
- Adventures at the Extremes of Human Flight
- By: Matt Higgins
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Human flight is one of the last great challenges on Earth. Not like how the Wright brothers flew, but how we fly in our dreams. This is the goal of the Wingsuit Landing Project: to soar through the sky at speeds up to one hundred miles per hour and to land without the aid of a parachute. This project is the creation of 37-year-old Jeb Corliss, Jr., a Southern Californian who seeks to emulate a mode of flight more like a flying squirrel than bird or plane.
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Good read
- By Jowly on 04-22-15
By: Matt Higgins
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Into the Black
- The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her
- By: Rowland White, Richard Truly
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America's top engineers and pilots.
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Great Story About a Flawed Spacecraft
- By John on 12-04-16
By: Rowland White, and others
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Come Up and Get Me
- An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger
- By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier....
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A rewarding read
- By Andrew Braddick on 03-25-13
By: Joe Kittinger, and others
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Skies to Conquer: A Year Inside the Air Force Academy
- By: Diana Jean Schemo
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Diana Jean Schemo covered the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal in 2003, one of a series of academy embarrassments that have included drug use, rape complaints, and charges of evangelical officers pushing Christianity on cadets of all faiths. Today, the institution is in flux - a fascinating time to look at the changes being made and the experience of today's cadets. Schemo followed a handful of academy cadets through the school year. From the admissions process and basic training to graduation.
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Hates the military
- By Brian Alofs on 01-10-24
What listeners say about The Ordinary Spaceman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Frank Turner
- 04-25-16
Entertaining but choppy
Enjoyed it but found it choppy in content. Spent several chapter's on the space toilet operation. Not enough on the space experience.
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- April
- 02-21-16
Great easy to listen story.
I have always dreamt of being an astronaut and so when I saw that NASA is finally taking applications for new astronaut hopefuls I decided to do some research on what it would take. That is how I came across this audio book. This story of Clayton Anderson was very inspiring and help motivate me to reach for my dreams even if the dream is being an astronaut. I would recommend this book to anyone with a dream or a passion for outer space.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-27-18
Mostly about going to the bathroom
I've read a whole bunch of astronaut autobiographies/memoirs and this one is kind of a disappointment. There are two chapters about pooping, several long and in-depth descriptions of pooping, and way too many inappropriate mentions of the female astronaut's bodies. I'm not offended, I just found it a waste of time and not interesting enough. I'd recommend Mike Massamino's book, Scott Kelly's book, or Scott Parazynski's book, all better. Unless you have a serious reason to read this one, there are better ways to spend your time.
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- Thomas C. Ross
- 10-15-19
Should be entitled The Gentleman Astronaut
A fantastic story from a wonderful person. I truly enjoyed listening to your book and hearing the tails of life and spaceflight. Thank you for publishing your story!
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- Lee
- 04-10-17
Astronaut 101: Professor Anderson
Where does The Ordinary Spaceman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This Memoir by Clayton C. Anderson easily ranks in the top 5 of all the books I have listened to or read.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Easy, Clayton C. Anderson. This is a Memoir
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The performance was my least favorite part of this book, Mr. Anderson has a lot of sarcastic tones throughout the book and a lot of humor, but the narrator does not emphatically hit these precise moments. On the other hand, the narrator was extremely clear and easy to understand.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, I took my time with this book. Mr. Anderson and I are acquaintances, and by acquaintances, I mean we have chatted on Quora a time or two. He asked me to give an honest opinion of his book.
Any additional comments?
Mr. Anderson's Memoir captures the essence of letting the layperson understand the basics of how one becomes an AsCan...on the 15th try. He also describes perfectly what it takes and means to be selected to "fly" as a NASA Astronaut. If you want an inside scoop from how nicknames are given, to tragedy, to reprimands of NASA this book is for you. This is an extremely honest book in my opinion because Mr. Anderson not only highlights his successes, but also his short falls. If I am lucky enough to meet Mr. Anderson and his family, not only would I shake all of their hands proudly, but I would feel I knew them. Great book, and to quote Mr. Anderson "Keep looking up"
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- Daniel Cascaddan
- 04-29-16
NASA is as NASA does....
If you could sum up The Ordinary Spaceman in three words, what would they be?
operational parameter specification
What did you like best about this story?
I loved the detail about his experiences as an AsCan. Having worked for NASA, I know that they are just about as screwed up as any Federal bureaucracy, even though I utterly worshipped them as a child of the Apollo Program. I liked that he was willing to talk about the political nonsense he endured as a NASA employee, and the adverse reaction to his willingness to point out incompetence, and actually expect improvements rather than punishment.
Which scene was your favorite?
I loved when he described Mardi Gras with his fellow AsCans, and one of them attempting to get favors in exchange for mission patch stickers, which nobody there wanted. He should try that at Comicon! He would be draped in nerds, fighting for his stickers! :)
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
My biggest critique is the amount of time he spent talking about his religious faith. Why do extremely religious people always think that everyone wants to hear about this? I bought this book to hear about the experiences of an astronaut, AS an astronaut. If I wanted to read about religion, I would have bought a book about that. I do not mind him having mentioned it a couple of times, but towards the end, it gets to be about that. If he ran out of material, I would have been perfectly happy to have had it simply be shorter. Of course, I understand the pressure of editors to add more material. It must be a certain length. There is nothing like placing duration limits on a creative endeavor...
Any additional comments?
"Afghanistan seemed familiar. It had jagged blue-and-purple mountains, big skies, and bearded men in pickup trucks stocked with guns and hate for the government. It was like Montana - just on different drugs."-Kim Barker, Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan
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- Andrew Scott McClanahan
- 11-24-17
A nice blueprint for high school students
When an astronaut came to your school and you raised your hand with a question, was it "How do you go to the bathroom in space?" This is the book for you. Not to detract from the other content, this might be your reaction, too. I was so relieved when I finished the book.
On the serious side, the journey to becoming an astronaut is not like being a sports star. It is a great deal of work and persistence, not to mention actually getting a degree, and this aspect is the book's greatest value. Applying for the astronaut corp 15 times? Clayton got it done. He did the education requirements, too. Take note high schoolers. Life does not serve on a silver platter. I taught high school math and wish now to have the recommended reading list that has developed since. Jane Eyre is not on the list.
The other lesson for high school students is how one stupid email can ruin one's career. But I highly sympathize with Clayton about web technology. I worked in Mission Control, and web technology does not work with people the caliber of astronauts and flight controllers. The Audible site works great, but it is almost unique. At least at NASA we tested everything. Clayton's reaction to his disciplinary action, calling everyone offended, was to give him the list of names and he would set up a face to face meeting. No list was ever delivered. Says a lot about the phone culture and having a spine. Advantage Clayton.
The narrator is a bit syrupy. This is what made me stop listening and then trying again later after a rest. Makes me wonder how Clayton sounds, as I do in all autobiographies. Is Aaron Killian from Nebraska, too? I'd like to see a word count of "Nebraska" in this book.
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- Martin J. Lollar
- 08-21-17
Not really so ordinary...
To call any human selected to be an astronaut "ordinary" seems odd. Given the rigors of what it takes to even apply, you already have a person of great drive and self awareness. Let's not even talk about what it takes to be selected for a flight.
What Clayton Anderson so wonderfully captures in this heartfelt and personal telling of his journey is how the ordinary part of all of us are capable, if we *really* *truly* work to our best, can find the extraordinary within us. Yes, Clayton, as he keeps reminding us, is "just a small town Nebraska boy", but what emerges from this book is the tale of an extraordinary human that with humility and grace was able to make his boyhood dreams come true. Yes, he is human and that got in the way sometimes, but was always simply working on everything being the best for his family, his crew mates and anyone else that touched his life. A five star story told from "ground level" because he deftly takes you with him on his journey from ordinary to the extraordinary.
Very well read and no problem with the audio book. Highly recommended to Space lovers and anyone else simply interested in a wonderful journal of a person living an "extraordinary" life.
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- palm guru
- 10-14-20
Anderson is uncomfortable in Black neighborhoods
Anderson's tale of driving through a poor and rough neighborhood in Houston, with students "blaring music from boomboxes on their shoulders" makes me cringe. Anderson states that he was very uncomfortable driving through that neighborhood and being around 'black people' (black is not explicitly stated but is very clear given the context of the story). Anderson lost points from me on an otherwise pretty good book. He should have omitted this tale from his autobiography.
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- Mitchell D.
- 05-17-16
Wonderfully Crafted Autobiographical Astronaut Story
I enjoyed every moment of the time that I spent listening to the story of astronaut Clay Anderson. It was well narrated by Aaron Killian.
Evident throughout was the thoughtful perspective of astronaut Anderson as issues and circumstances unfolded. Some of which could only have been conveyed following his retirement/separation from the astronaut corp. Add to that the efforts of a man who achieved a lofty lifetime goal of becoming an astronaut during the era of the space shuttle and the building of the ISS. Truly a very good listen.
The technical issues were all explained in layperson terms and I left the audiobook with a much better understanding of the man, his spiritual strength, and sacrifices made in his personal life to live his lifelong dream.
Highly recommend to anyone who has a interest in space and what is required and what is sacrificed to become an astronaut.
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