Personally hand signed by Frank Borman
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COA
COUNTDOWN (From Publishers Weekly)
The exciting account included here of
Borman's NASA years (he took part in the Gemini 7 and Apollo 8
spaceflights, and also served as a troubleshooter and project manager)
augments Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff with details, dialogue and
perceptions that will interest admirers of that bestseller. In 1970,
Borman went to work for Eastern Airlines, a company "riddled with inept
management and uncaring unions," to eventually take over as president
and CEO. His most difficult task: cutting labor costs. The book
describes Eastern's prolonged, bitter struggle to remain independent, a
management/labor fight Borman lost in 1986 when Eastern became part of
Texas Air. The most impressive section of this highly readable
autobiography, coauthored with novelist Sterling ( The President's
Plane Is Missing ), is the depiction of Borman's confrontations with
intransigent labor leaders and the dynamics of their negotiations. Also
memorable is the tribute to Susan Borman's poignant struggle to be "the
Perfect Wife married to the Perfect Husband who was the Perfect
Astronaut in a Perfect American Family raising Perfect Children."
Borman is now an aviation consultant.
Personally hand signed by Buzz Aldrin
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COA
From Library Journal
To coincide with the 20th anniversary
this July of the first manned lunar landing, these books provide
intimate accounts of how NASA accomplished the national goal of putting
a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In his book, Aldrin,
the second man on the moon, interweaves the story of U.S. and Soviet
efforts to reach the moon with his first-hand experience flying both
the Gemini and Apollo missions during the height of the space race. His
recounting of his two space flights is compelling, especially the
account of the nearly aborted Apollo 11 lunar landing. In contrast to
Aldrin's astronaut's point of view, Murray and Cox's book tells the
Apollo story through the eyes of the NASA managers who guided the men
and machines from the early days of the Space Task Group to the Apollo
lunar missions. The result is the best account to date of how the
enormous program was successfully accomplished. Full of insiders'
anecdotes, this book truly humanizes the lunar landing story that too
often has been told only in technological and bureaucratic terms.
Relying heavily on interviews with the people behind the scenes, the
authors vividly capture the spirit of Apollo, its triumphs and
tragedies, and its ultimate success. When considering the likely demand
for Apollo histories surrounding the anniversary, Aldrin's account may
be considered complementary to his Apollo 11 crew mate Michael Collins's
recent space history, Liftoff ( LJ 8/88)
Personally hand signed by Walter M. Schirra, Jr.
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COA Product Description
Irreverent, provocative, and filled with
fascinating anecdotes, this autobiography by one of America's first
astronauts offers a revealing inside look at the early days of space
flight and the men who captured the heart of the nation. Wally Schirra
was the only one of the original seven NASA astronauts to command a
spacecraft in all three pioneering space program-Mercury, Gemini, and
Apollo. Born to a World War I-ace father and a barnstorming,
wing-walking mother, he inherited a love of flying and spirit of
adventure that served him well. In this chronicle of an important era
in aviation history, Schirra takes us into space on his 1962 Mercury
flight that orbited Earth six times and aboard Gemini for the first
rendezvous of two manned craft in space. Never reluctant to discuss the
problems along with the stunning successes of those exciting, formative
years, Schirra openly describes the pressures, tensions, and dangers
associated with launch.
Personally hand signed by
M. Scott Carpenter
L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
John H. Glenn, Jr.
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COAs
Review
Published as Project Mercury was thrilling the Free World at the height
of the cold war, WE SEVEN was written by the original seven astronauts
(and edited by LIFE magazine's John Dille). For researchers and space
enthusiasts, the chapters offer valuable contemporaneous, first-person
accounts of Project Mercury--from the men, to the machines, to the
systems.
Particularly valuable are the accounts of the historic 1959
selection process (and selection medicine) at Lovelace Clinic and
Wright-Patterson A.F.B. There are painstakingly technical accounts of
the engineering and design work on the hardware in addition to
first-person accounts of spaceflight itself, from the days when
astronauts flew alone and then only briefly--for a lifetime of fame.
First military tests pilots and then engineers, the Mercury
astronauts were not professional writers. The editor does a brilliant
job of preserving the distinctive voices of the individual astronauts,
while showcasing the highly technical subjects the men describe in WE
SEVEN, a bestseller when it was first published in 1962.
A must for any spaceflight history library.
Personally hand signed by Jim Lovell
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COA
From Publishers Weekly
Astronaut Lovell and Kluger, a
contributing editor at Discover magazine, take us on the terrifying
voyage of unlucky Apollo 13. Launched in April 1970 and manned by
Lovell, Jack Swigert and Jack Haise, Apollo 13 was scheduled to orbit
the moon while Lovell and Haise descended to its surface. En route,
though, a cyogenic tank exploded, causing a loss of oxygen and power in
the command module. Luckily, the LEM, the lunar module that was to land
on the moon, was uninjured and the astronauts could survive briefly on
its oxygen. What unfolds is a story of courage as the astronauts and
the personnel at Mission Control in Houston labored to return the
spacecraft to Earth. First, there was the crucial alignment to
ascertain the position of the spacecraft. Then came the all-important
"burn" to swing the spacecraft around the moon on a "free return"
trajectory back to earth. And finally there was the important PC+2 burn
to guide the ship to the South Pacific, making sure it would enter
Earth's atmosphere precisely-if done wrong the craft would either
incinerate or skip into orbit around the sun. Everything went perfectly
and Apollo 13 splashed down in the Pacific. This is a gripping and
frightening book that commands rapt attention. Photos not seen by PW.
Author tour.
Personally hand signed by Alan Shepard
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COAFrom Library Journal
Shepard and the late Slayton, two of
the original Mercury astronauts, here team up with two veteran space
reporters to produce a firsthand account of the space program's early
days. The narrative is at its best when it focuses on the astronauts'
flight experiences-Shepard's brief Mercury flight, his lunar landing
mission ten years later, and Slayton's long-delayed trip into space
aboard the last Apollo mission in 1975. On the down side, its use of
re-created conversations that pass as exposition weaken the narrative,
making it sound more like a screenplay prospectus than a space history.
For example, it is doubtful that John Glenn had to explain to his
fellow astronauts what the Saturn launch vehicle was. One comes away
wishing for more insight into what it was like to walk on the moon and
less about the astronauts' pranks and peccadillos. Still, with the
book's publication timed to coincide with this July's 25th anniversary
of the first manned lunar landing, this title may see some demand.
Personally hand signed by Eugene Cernan
Number 431 of 3,000 w/COA
Amazon.com Review
That "Geno" Cernan was commander of Apollo 17, the final manned moon mission, was a fitting conclusion to a flying career that included two previous stints in space (Gemini 9Apollo 10).
His frank, earthy memoir of his years at NASA adds another
entertaining, informative volume to the burgeoning shelf of books
illuminating the inner workings of the space program and the people who
made it happen. Coauthor Don Davis, a veteran journalist, helps Cernan
craft a colloquial prose style that nicely captures the competitive,
macho personality that seemed virtually mandatory for astronauts in the
1960s and '70s. Cernan candidly depicts the reckless streak that twice
led to needless injuries jeopardizing his spot on a mission. He also
acknowledges the stresses endured by his ex-spouse Barbara as she
struggled to be the perfect astronaut wife--cheerful and uncomplaining
for the cameras while he experienced all the fun and adventure of the
job. And it sure was fun, as becomes clear in the exciting descriptions
of his spacewalk from Gemini 9 and stroll around the moon from Apollo 17. Detailed accounts of each flight, including technical problems and personal tensions (particularly with Apollo 17 and
teammate Jack Schmitt, distrusted because he was a scientist, not a
test pilot), remind readers that the space program is a human endeavor,
with inevitable failures that make the triumphs that much sweeter.
The ultimate autographed collection for your
spaceflight history library
