Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's JourneyNASA astronaut Michael Collins trained as an experimental test pilot before venturing into space as a vital member of the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 missions. In Carrying the Fire, his account of his voyages into space and the years of training that led up to them, Collins reveals the human tensions, the physical realities, and the personal emotions surrounding the early years of the space race. Collins provides readers with an insider's view of the space program and conveys the excitement and wonder of his journey to the moon. As skilled at writing as he is at piloting a spacecraft, Collins explains the clash of personalities at NASA and technical aspects of flight with clear, engaging prose, withholding nothing in his candid assessments of fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, and Buzz Aldrin, and officials within NASA. A fascinating memoir of mankind's greatest journey told in familiar, human terms, Carrying the Fire is by turns thrilling, humorous, and thought-provoking, a unique work by a remarkable man. |
Contents
Chapter 2 | 19 |
Chapter 3 | 47 |
Chapter 4 | 71 |
Chapter 5 | 99 |
Chapter 6 | 137 |
Chapter 7 | 169 |
Chapter 8 | 199 |
Chapter 9 | 251 |
Chapter 10 | 291 |
Chapter 11 | 315 |
Chapter 12 | 355 |
Chapter 13 | 395 |
Chapter 14 | 453 |
Appendix | 479 |
About the Author | 484 |
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Common terms and phrases
Agena Air Force airplane Apollo 11 astronaut Borman burn called camera Cape Cernan cockpit Collins Columbia command module couple course Dave Deke Deke Slayton docking Eagle Ed White engine equipment experiments feel feet per second fighter finally fire flying fuel Gemini Gemini 12 Gene Cernan going ground Gus Grissom hand hatch Houston inside Jim Lovell launch least lift-off look Lovell lunar landing lunar orbit lunar surface machine maneuvers Mike Mike Collins miles minutes Mission Control moon NASA Neil and Buzz Neil Armstrong never oxygen Pete Conrad pressure suit problem radio rendezvous rocket Roger Saturn seemed sextant side simply simulator space flight space walk spacecraft stars switch tell test pilot things thrusters Tom Stafford trip turn velocity Wally Schirra weightlessness window worry