Riding Rockets

Riding Rockets is an autobiographical account of Astronaut Mike Mullane's journey to achieve a lifelong dream to fly into space. Despite some formidable difficulties, Mullane made the difficult journey and flew in space not once, but three times.

In the book, Mullane describes his disbelief in his selection as an astronaut candidate. He also regales readers with humorous and personal anecdotes from his childhood. He describes the frustrations the astronauts experienced in dealing with NASA Management, and the mettle of the brave men and women who lived–and died–while flying the shuttle.

Riding Rockets is also a tribute to Mullane's family, especially his father. He also praises his wife for her years of selfless sacrifice, without complaint.

Mullane tells a fascinating story, full of rich description, that shows the world a side of the manned space program we have never seen. Indeed, the general public has probably never considered how stressful and dangerous flying on the shuttle can be, both for the astronauts themselves, and for their families, who are forced to watch from the ground.

The book is also not preachy, or overly technical, but focuses instead on Mullane's emotions and experiences over the years of astronaut training. He does an excellent job of relating his love and respect for everyone around him. The humor is very nicely integrated into the text, and it's obvious that Mike Mullane cares very much about others, and uses his self-deprecating humor to that effect to tell his story.

In all, Riding Rockets is an intriguing and very entertaining look inside the mind of a very special type of person: the American Astronaut.