Flying to the Moon : An Astronaut's Story

Rating:
Summary: Children's Version of a Classic Astronaut Autobiography
Review: Michael Collins was a NASA astronaut from 1963-1970. During that time he flew on two missions: Gemini 10 and Apollo 11. These two missions, along with his training and military career are described in great detail in his earlier book "Carrying the Fire" which is geared for an older audience. This book is essentially same as "Carrying the Fire", but written with a younger audience in mind. However, I feel that many adults would like this book as well. You can't beat the price either, 4.95$ for any book is a great bargin

The book opens with Collins describing the day of the first moon landing and then he begins to reflect on all the events that led him to be on Apollo 11 that day. The first few chapters of the book describe his earlier fascination with aircraft that ultimately led him to join the US Air Force. After an interesting and exciting career in the Air Force, which included being a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, he is chosen to be an astronaut in the third group selected. After years of training he eventually lift offs on his first flight in Gemini 10 with John Young. After more training and a nearly career-ending neck operation, he flies on Apollo 11.

Through out this book, the author describes his feelings and experiences about being an astronaut, what it's like to fly in space, what he did, what he saw and all the numerous sacrifices he and his family made so that he could be an astronaut. His experience of being alone while orbiting the moon is exhilarating. All this done in a very non-technical and jargon free way.

One final thing to add, this book won several Outstanding Book of Year Awards.