The Sky Below Audiobook By Scott Parazynski, Susy Flory cover art

The Sky Below

A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed

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The Sky Below

By: Scott Parazynski, Susy Flory
Narrated by: Scott Parazynski, Homer Hickam
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About this listen

An epic memoir from a man whose life is defined by exploration and innovation, The Sky Below re-creates some of the most unforgettable adventures of our time. From dramatic, high-risk spacewalks to author Scott Parazynski's death-defying quest to summit Mount Everest - his body ravaged by a career in space - listeners will experience the life of an elite athlete, physician, and explorer.

This intimate, compelling account offers a rare portrait of space exploration from the inside. A global nomad raised in the shadow of NASA's Apollo missions, Parazynski never lost sight of his childhood dream to one day don a spacesuit and float outside the airlock. With deep passion, unbridled creativity, resilience, humility, and self-deprecation, Parazynski chases his dream of the ultimate adventure experience, again and again and again. In an era that transitioned from moon shots to the Space Shuttle, space station, and Mars research, Parazynski flies with John Glenn, tests jet packs, trains in Russia to become a cosmonaut, and flies five missions to outer space (including seven spacewalks) in his seventeen-year NASA career.

An unparalleled, visceral opportunity to understand what it's like to train for - and deploy to - a home in zero gravity, The Sky Below also portrays an astronaut's engagement with the challenges of his life on Earth, including raising a beautiful autistic daughter and finding true love.

©2017 Scott Parazynski (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Aeronautics & Astronautics Astronomy Medicine & Health Care Industry Physician & Patient Science Inspiring Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"Scott Parazynski's drive, curiosity, inventiveness, and great humor shine through the pages of The Sky Below and will certainly inspire future generations to pursue their dreams with every fiber in their being." (John Glenn, NASA astronaut)

What listeners say about The Sky Below

Highly rated for:

Inspiring Life Story Adventurous Autobiography Self-narration Real Heroes Fascinating Space Exploration
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Inspirational story

I enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending this book to others. Thank you for sharing with us.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

a good story

this is an interesting story of an astronaut autobiography and is much better than the last astronaut autobiography I read.

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A stunning look at a life lived at the edge

When ability meets opportunity interesting things can happen. In this book you will get a window into the world of the over achievers who are doing things that we may dream about but would seldom qualify for, or be willing to sacrifice to achieve. A diverse and entertaining book that will be worth a second listen.

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Adventurers & Space Devotees will Profoundly Enjoy

Adventurers & space devotees will profoundly enjoy this book. I am going to start it over and read it again. It was not only entertaining, but intellectually stimulating. I kept googling things he talked about to learn even more. (ie. NASA instructions for making solar array cufflinks.) Wow, those instructions are so good they should be used in technical writing courses.

The book was also emotionally stimulating as we ventured into the heart and mind of someone who has lived the adventures around every corner, that most of us can only dream of experiencing.

The most poignant underlying message was that amazingly accomplished people share the same uncertainties and fears of us all. Their success is, in large part, a result of making good plans, not giving up, keep showing up, and being willing to take advantage of every opportunity in life to learn and do.
I am inspired.

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awsome book

full of adventure and interesting history of space exploration. also has rock climbing and other adventures. great book and motivating

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and never boring

Interesting insights from a man who’s seen it all. His story moves fast and doesn’t get bogged down in boring details.

Performance was frustrating at time. Awkward pauses and cuts were abundant.

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Thrilling Life, More Drab Story

A thrilling life, but somewhat drab telling. There isn’t enough time spent relaying the stakes and micro-decisions that went into many of the incredibly harrowing feats this man achieved. I also think the present-tense perspective is a total miss, feeling out of place and distracting. Ultimately it’s still worth reading simply to hear about a great man, but this could have been so much better. Author does a fine job narrating. [AUDIBLE]

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh. Not the greatest role model.

I agree with the reviews that mention the readers total attention until he brings up and discusses his wife and his troubled marriage. It is hard to work on a marriage when you 2nd mortgage the house so you can go pursue your dream without your family. And we could really do without how he had found his perfect soulmate after his children were raised by his wife.

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Fast Paced and Captivating

I was expecting to read about the space-flights and the space-walks of Scott Parazynski but I got a better deal instead.

The book took me beyond — into mountaineering ventures and Antarctica. And lest I forget it even touched on some intimate details of the personal life of Parazynski — leading to his falling in love and proposing in the Scott's Hut in Antarctica. So this is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity reading a bit of romance in a book on space flight. Interesting but a welcome change.

The book is fast paced and you’ll not feel dull at any moment.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Could have been a great book

With so many adventures it could have been a great book. But the stories were dull and flat. reading like a newspaper article instead of a novel

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