Flight My Life in Mission Control
by: Christopher Kraft, Chris Kraft
Price: $141.28
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Amazon.com Review:
On July 20, 1969, near the end of a great decade of near-space exploration, a small craft called Eagle landed on the moon's surface. As anyone who watched the televised broadcast of the landing might recall, the astronauts aboard Eagle were guided to their objective by a capable ground crew headed by Chris Kraft, whom his colleagues had long called "Flight." Kraft was unflappable on the surface, but, as he writes in this memoir, the Eagle's landing had moments of drama that gave him pause, and that few outside NASA knew about--including baleful alarms from the ship's on-board computer that warned of imminent disaster.
For Kraft, frightening moments were part of his job as director of MissionControl. He encountered many of them in the early years of the spaceprogram, when failures were commonplace and all too often caused not bymechanics but by politics. We learn of many in Kraft's pages. One such failurewas the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch, about which Kraft thunders, "We should have beaten them.... We were stopped by anonymous doctors in the civilianworld who didn't know what they were talking about, by a bureaucrat in theWhite House who'd been stung when JFK shot down his position on mannedspace flight, and by our friend the German rocket scientist, who got coldfeet when he should have been bold."
Plenty of other contemporaries, including John Glenn and Richard Nixon,come in for a scolding in Kraft's fiery account, which offers a rare insider's portrait of the challenging work of astronautics--work that, Kraft writes hopefully, is only beginning. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description:
In his New York Times bestseller, Chris Kraft delivers an unforgettable account of his life in Mission Control. The first NASA flight director, Kraft emerged from boyhood in small-town America to become a visionary who played an integral role in what would become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It's all here, from the legendary Mercury missions that first sent Americans into space through the Gemini and Apollo missions that landed them on the moon. The great heroes of space are here, too-Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Buzz Aldrin-leading the space race that would change the course of U.S. history.
From NASA's infancy to its greatest triumphs . . . from the calculated gambles to the near disasters to the pure luck that accompanied each mission, Flight relives the spellbinding events that captured the imagination of the world. It is a stirring tribute to the U.S. space program and to the men who risked their lives to take America on a flight into the unknown-from the man who was there for it all.
"A highly readable memoir." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A rewarding look at the brief, shining moment when space pathfinders held sway over space warriors." (The Washington Post)
On July 20, 1969, near the end of a great decade of near-space exploration, a small craft called Eagle landed on the moon's surface. As anyone who watched the televised broadcast of the landing might recall, the astronauts aboard Eagle were guided to their objective by a capable ground crew headed by Chris Kraft, whom his colleagues had long called "Flight." Kraft was unflappable on the surface, but, as he writes in this memoir, the Eagle's landing had moments of drama that gave him pause, and that few outside NASA knew about--including baleful alarms from the ship's on-board computer that warned of imminent disaster.
For Kraft, frightening moments were part of his job as director of MissionControl. He encountered many of them in the early years of the spaceprogram, when failures were commonplace and all too often caused not bymechanics but by politics. We learn of many in Kraft's pages. One such failurewas the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch, about which Kraft thunders, "We should have beaten them.... We were stopped by anonymous doctors in the civilianworld who didn't know what they were talking about, by a bureaucrat in theWhite House who'd been stung when JFK shot down his position on mannedspace flight, and by our friend the German rocket scientist, who got coldfeet when he should have been bold."
Plenty of other contemporaries, including John Glenn and Richard Nixon,come in for a scolding in Kraft's fiery account, which offers a rare insider's portrait of the challenging work of astronautics--work that, Kraft writes hopefully, is only beginning. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description:
In his New York Times bestseller, Chris Kraft delivers an unforgettable account of his life in Mission Control. The first NASA flight director, Kraft emerged from boyhood in small-town America to become a visionary who played an integral role in what would become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It's all here, from the legendary Mercury missions that first sent Americans into space through the Gemini and Apollo missions that landed them on the moon. The great heroes of space are here, too-Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Buzz Aldrin-leading the space race that would change the course of U.S. history.
From NASA's infancy to its greatest triumphs . . . from the calculated gambles to the near disasters to the pure luck that accompanied each mission, Flight relives the spellbinding events that captured the imagination of the world. It is a stirring tribute to the U.S. space program and to the men who risked their lives to take America on a flight into the unknown-from the man who was there for it all.
"A highly readable memoir." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A rewarding look at the brief, shining moment when space pathfinders held sway over space warriors." (The Washington Post)
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- A fascinating, pull-no-punches account
This book is a surprisingly well-written account of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions as Chris Craft saw them.It is strikingly honest and reflective.It makes no attempt to be an objective history or to take other points of view into account.For instance, Craft is brutal on Scott Carpenter, criticizing his dedication to his job, and even questioning his basic intelligence.Despite his basic respect for, and loyalty to, Deke Slayton, he questions whether it was a good idea for Slayton ... Read More
Rating: 
- A better title would have been "Control"
[Updated Review]
I'm not sure what to make of this book, certainly I must have a different book from all those who call this 'inspirational'.
It is clear almost from the start that Christoper C Kraft is a man who has to get his way.
I was expecting a book from the flight controllers side, instead it appears to be a middle-managers viewpoint- he's too high in the organization to have an insight into the factory floor yet too low to have made the more important ... Read More
Rating: 
- a good read
In my humble opinion this book has some very interesting information about the childhood of NASA, and this book and the book of Gene Krantz "Failure is not an option" gives a nice look into the life in the MOCR both at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy and in Houston. Mr. Kraft seems a very humble man and as I see it does not try to play up his own role in the complexity of the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo space adventure
Rating: - Really the Right Stuff on the Moon Landings
At last I found the ideal person to explain the overall trials and successes of the USA space program: Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr. A bonus was the success story of a small-town boy with no connections to become the most televised flight director in mission control of NASA, then he moved higher in the ranks of NASA.
Here the politics of our space program, budget cutting as soon as the first moon landing succeeded (if not sooner), according also to the lack of success of the USSR, are ... Read More
Rating: - Read !
Very few books on this period, biographical or not, are quite like this one.The information and personal details give a very complete view of NASA from the very beginning, and give some detail to the management evolution of the organization.It also gives some interesting insights into how development of mission-critical / real-time organizations and management should function.
- A fascinating, pull-no-punches accountThis book is a surprisingly well-written account of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions as Chris Craft saw them.It is strikingly honest and reflective.It makes no attempt to be an objective history or to take other points of view into account.For instance, Craft is brutal on Scott Carpenter, criticizing his dedication to his job, and even questioning his basic intelligence.Despite his basic respect for, and loyalty to, Deke Slayton, he questions whether it was a good idea for Slayton ... Read More
- A better title would have been "Control"[Updated Review]
I'm not sure what to make of this book, certainly I must have a different book from all those who call this 'inspirational'.
It is clear almost from the start that Christoper C Kraft is a man who has to get his way.
I was expecting a book from the flight controllers side, instead it appears to be a middle-managers viewpoint- he's too high in the organization to have an insight into the factory floor yet too low to have made the more important ... Read More
- a good readIn my humble opinion this book has some very interesting information about the childhood of NASA, and this book and the book of Gene Krantz "Failure is not an option" gives a nice look into the life in the MOCR both at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy and in Houston. Mr. Kraft seems a very humble man and as I see it does not try to play up his own role in the complexity of the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo space adventure
- Really the Right Stuff on the Moon LandingsAt last I found the ideal person to explain the overall trials and successes of the USA space program: Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr. A bonus was the success story of a small-town boy with no connections to become the most televised flight director in mission control of NASA, then he moved higher in the ranks of NASA.
Here the politics of our space program, budget cutting as soon as the first moon landing succeeded (if not sooner), according also to the lack of success of the USSR, are ... Read More
- Read !Very few books on this period, biographical or not, are quite like this one.The information and personal details give a very complete view of NASA from the very beginning, and give some detail to the management evolution of the organization.It also gives some interesting insights into how development of mission-critical / real-time organizations and management should function.
