Rating: 
Summary: Ugly look at how NASA really works these days
Review: Some books about the space program are straightforward histories (Burrows' This New Ocean), others get more personal but tend to be a bit on the rah-rah side (Chaikin's A Man on the Moon), but a few really peel the cover off and show some of the ugliness beneath. This is one of those and possibly one of the most brutal books about the space program since the ones about the Challenger disaster.I'm not saying this is the best possible approach, but it does provide a counterpoint to the coverage that tends to put NASA above criticism. Burrough contends that the entire Mir program was as much politics as practicality: an effort to engage the Russians and to end the mistrust held over from the Cold War. While a worthy cause, this attitude tended to brush aside any pragmatic concerns such as the astronauts' safety while on board Mir. The coverage itself is largely chronological if someone out of order: it begins with Jerry Linenger's stint onboard Mir in early 1997, which includes the onboard fire, backs up to the development of the program and the first astronauts to go up, then concludes with Michael Foale's tour of duty in mid-1997 and the near-disastrous collision with the Progress supply craft. (I don't know why most books these days seem unable to maintain a straightforward chronology--I find the alternatives more confusing than helpful.) Anyhow, the book is largely a detailed story of what went on during each period of time, though with background and personality profiles interspersed. The profiles are particularly biting: Jerry Linenger is depicted with a total "what's in it for me?" attitude, Bonnie Dunbar has a massive feminist chip on her shoulder, and George Abbey, the director of the Johnson Space Center and arguably the most powerful man in NASA (administrator Goldin notwithstanding) is depicted as secretive, Machiavellian, and continually playing favorites. And that's just a few of them. However, all of these depictions seem to have a clear basis in fact. Burrough's reporting is clearly very thorough: he interviewed many of those he profiled and many associated with them. He provides extensive transcripts of communications with the ground to back up his statements. The two key disasters aboard Mir, the fire and the collision, are depicted in excruciating, second-by-second detail, reconstructed based on transcripts, interviews, and official reports. The book also provides insight into the Russian space program, which is different in significant ways from the American one, better in some ways and worse in others. A thematic image is a poster in one of the Russian facilities, showing the cosmonauts as puppets on strings held by the ground team. Cosmonauts are also driven by cash bonuses given for particular activities and fines for failures, an incentive approach that leads them to avoid reporting problems except when they have no choice. On the other hand, the Russians, with their extensive space station experience, show an admirable ability in coping with problems where the Americans, more used to short-duration missions, would simply cut the flight short and come on home a few days early. I should mention that the book provides as a sidelight how Dan Goldin, previously an obscure senior manager at TRW, was tapped for the job as NASA administrator. All in all, it's an insightful if disquieting read. It provides a clear, detailed view into the American and Russian program to share Mir as a precursor to the International Space Station. It also provides a much better understanding into how NASA works today. Unfortunately, it is not always a pretty sight.
Rating: 
Summary: Frightening
Review: This book lets you in on everything that happened out of the sight of the common press. It is truly astonishing what had to be overcome to get as far as we did with the Mir/Shuttle projects and have with the new ISS. Without this book, a casual observer would never imagine what happened on the Mir, in Star City, even at NASA itself. Highly facinating: the innerworkings of the space agencies, the politics behind the decisions, the personal struggles the astronauts and cosmonauts alike had to overcome... This work just makes me even more interested in the space program. And hopefully, it will be around longer than me. There are times where fact is scarier than fiction. This book proves it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and boring
Review: I like Bryan Burrough a lot and I love space. But there is really a little too much detail here for non-space buff. The story had ample opportunity to read like a novel. Instead, it often reads like a NASA report.
Rating:
Summary: The Barbarians in Orbit
Review: What a moment to discover how true all those cold-war cliches were about backward Russian technology. The Mir Orbiting station, launched in 1986, is easily the longest lived manned structure in space. Never meant to survive more than 11 years, Mir is plagued by age and the complexities of orbital survival. Unlike a spaceship or airplane - designed and built completely before being put into service, the Mir has grown steadily since its first launch, but hasn't been able to come to terms with the junk amassed by its age, to say nothing of the technological nightmare bred by the collapse of the russian economy. The end of the cold war illustrated how the Russians parralleled or even surpassed western technology. While the west had no space station of its own (with the long-ago demise of skylab), the Mir showed how far behind the Russians had fallen in terms of managing their manned space program. This proved painfully apparent when NASA, seeking to justify its own gloriously unneccessary manned space program, proposed a joint venture of sending astronauts onto Mir using Soyuz rockets and the US shuttle. "Dragonfly" tells the story of the trials and triumphs (mostly trials) faced by Astronaut and Cosmonaut alike. Many problems dealt with the Mir itself - its aging gyroscopes, power blackouts and leaking coolant played havoc with its occupants. But these problems pale by comparison to a fire caused by a faulty oxygen generator, and a catastrophic crash involving an unmanned re-supply ship. But all problems are dwarfed by the sheer complexity of the Mir itself, which has aged beyond its owners memory. When turning up some part that may need to be replaced, both Russians on the ground and in orbit are stumped - just where did the mystery part come from and what is it supposed to do? The image of clue-less Russians, at the mercy of their seemingly clueless bureaucratic superiors on the ground, so perfectly meshes with cold war stereotypes of communist party hacks, that a bit of John Birch gloating would have been acceptable. Instead, author Bryan Burrough - who chronicled the campiness of the corporate LBO-fever in "Barbarians at the Gate" - is surprisingly touching in the plight of Mir's occupants. The cosmonauts are the last of a breed of a once proud corps of manned-space travlers. Though determined to succeed, every bit of bad luck space travel has to offer seems reserved for them. The astronauts are similarly cursed: accustomed to flights lasting little more than a week, the poorly planned schedules that last a month drive the astronauts into nervous exhaustion. Tensions between the Russians and Americans are heightened further between US worries over Mir (and the need for the Russians to abandon Mir and concentrate on the more ambitious US effort) and Russia's determination to softpedal Mir's problems, no matter how heavily they endanger lives. Worse, Mir, the Russians soon learn, doesn't even attract the best astronauts. Instead, astronauts who couldn't wait to get into space, or who had long since run afoul of NASA and spoiled their chances for a shuttle mission, become Mir's prime candidates. Most of the astronauts adapt painfully. Shannon Lucid, however, thrives, earning accolades from all - except from the other Mir astronauts. Burrough avoids playing "Dragonfly" for laughs. Unfortunately, he holds back too much, and his history touches on various topics that may even merit their own books - such as NASA's own manned-exploration programs, and its byzantine selection processes. The author also hints at cold-war soviet space programs, which couldn't have been run that much better. He also touches on the usual suspects - US politics and a seeming hydra of Russian mafioso that infect every aspect of post-soviet rule. What we've got is an ambitious effort that tries to go in every direction. Well worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Down to Earth
Review: An account of a series of potentially lethal events on the Russian 'Mir' space-station, 'Dragonfly' makes you respect the technology and people a bit more, and the organisations behind them much less. Whilst the spacemen work in zero-g through the day and night, the Russian mission controllers constantly deride their cosmonauts for being 'lazy', and NASA comes across as a snobbish beaurocracy driven by tyrants. Some of the petty divisional infighting would be hilarious in another situation - the collision with a supply module that crippled Mir was caused, not by incompetence, but by the withholding of vital equipment by RSC Energia, a corporation owed money by the Russian government. Throughout, the Russian space program appears to be enthusiastic but short of cash, whilst NASA seems at a loose end. Technically, the book paints a vivid picture of space exploration that owes more to 'Das Boot' than '2001'. It's perversely hopeful, though - the trials of Mir have helped bring space exploration to a more humanly-understandable level, and the days when spacemen were gods are now in the past.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I read the bulk of this book on a flight to Italy, and wished the flight was longer. The story of the MIR is a familliar one for me (3 years in AF Space Command), however this added to my knowledge of the subject. The author gives detailed accounts of all the tragic events on MIR and the bio's of all the major players. This and "Man on the Moon" are the two best final frontier books I have read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing story
Review: They say that fact is better than fiction, this story certainly bears that out. In a country where we expect perfection of our space program, this story came as a revelation. The bravely of the men and women who fly the MIR is simply incredible. In an outdated station falling apart around them the differences between the American and Russian ways of conducting business is highlighted. One is left after reading the book to wonder if such diametrical attitudes can coexist on the International Space Station. Dragonfly is one of the best books on the space program I have read. It goes beyond the surface and left me with a fuller understanding of both the Russian and US space programs than I had previously held.
Rating:
Summary: I knew it was bad, but this?
Review: An excellent read, especially when the author delves into the Russian psyche. I was a supporter of the ISS (International Space Station) but now I oppose our involvement. Sure there are probably inaccuracies (the photo of Ed White in his 1965 Gemini 4 spacewalk on the cover), but the overall story rings true.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: O.K. - it is a little gossipy. But, it's wonderfully researched and very interesting. I hard a hard time putting it down.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of good writing, lots of finger-pointing
Review: Burroughs's book is gossipy, sometimes even catty, but at the same time one must admire its even-handedness. At one time or another, everyone looks like a jerk, and every policy is criticized. Despite its negative tone, however -- it focuses on everybody in the NASA/Mir Phase One program's criticisms of everyone else -- Dragonfly is very credible. It is exhaustively researched and comprehensive, and by airing everyone's complaints Buroughs heads off accusations of bias. This gives Burroughs's conclusions about the program greater authority. Most importantly, Burroughs is an engaging writer, and the subject matter is exciting. His narratives of the fire aboard Mir and its later decompression emergency are thrilling enough, and the information he gives us about the Russian/US space partnership is interesting enough, that Dragonfly is well worth reading even with its occasional descents into scandal-mongering.
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