Carrying the Fire: an Astronauts Journey Free

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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I actually got vertigo during his description of the his first space walk. A little tedious early on but that passed quickly and it was a kick to revisit what I lived through and took for granted a bit, back then. Felt big at first, went quickly. However, if you have always wanted to know what the early astronauts did and what was the Apollo program in more depth, this is the book for you Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey and told from the human perspective of one of the key astronauts; Michael Collins. The difficulty the book faces in delivering the above is that to discuss how the early test pilots got into the then new field of being astronauts, and how the Mercury program fed into Gemini and then Apollo, and how Apollo 1 to Apollo 11 played out requires quite a bit of detail and a large degree of science as well. Overall this book is for those who are keen on the topic of space travel and they will get satisfaction from this book, as it will fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge, as well as allow them to re-live the experience of However, some effort will be required on the reader to achieve this outcome; this book follows the old axiom "you only get out what you put in". I had the privilege to see Michael Collins give a talk at AirVenture inand found him to be sincere and modest but also really funny. Those qualities come out in this book. I particularly appreciated his very honest and open discussion of his feelings about not being the smartest or best of the astronauts. It must have been difficult to be in such a macho atmosphere, and I'm sure those types of candid "am I really good enough? What I didn't like about this book was the Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey sexism and racism. I know this book was written almost 50 years ago. I don't care. Sexism and racism wasn't okay then, just as it's not okay now. Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey find this frustrating since the astronauts are Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey even the tip of the tip of the iceberg. In the case of an astronaut's memoir, though, the focus makes sense, and I really enjoyed learning about everything Collins was doing. Collins doesn't hold back too much, and is willing to say the bad as well as the good, and to name names. What I didn't like: The casual sexism and racism is disturbing. Collins's inability to communicate with his fellow astronauts and with the NASA organization gives me some understanding of Bell Hooks. Collins Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey isn't terribly self-reflective. He blames NASA's PR team for the public losing interest in lunar exploration, but can't consider that perhaps he deserves some of the blame, by treating the television broadcasts as jokes. Collins couldn't care less about lunar science. I also skipped the half-dozen introductions and prologues. Collins' prose makes it seem almost like a Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey. I found the early chapters to be slow, but the book is better with them than without. I started the book over six months ago, but completed the final two thirds of it in just a few weeks. I am treated to one more view, however, one last bit of schizophrenia as I stand on a narrow walkway feet up, ready to board Columbia. On my left is an unimpeded view of the beach below, unmarred by human totems; on my right the most colossal pile of machinery ever assembled. If I Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey my right eye, I see the Florida of Ponce de Leon, and beyond it the sea which is mother to us all. I am the original man. If I cover my left eye, I see civilization and technology and the United States of America and a frightening array of wires and metal. I am but one adolescent in an army which has received its marching orders. Neil has entered the spacecraft, and I am Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey. Boot Hill lunar mountain. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys. Duke Island lunar mountain. List of astronauts educated at the United States Military Academy. Theodore Freeman. Whifferdill turn. Home Groups Talk More Zeitgeist. I Agree This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms. Members Reviews Popularity Average rating Mentions 11 32, 4. In Carrying the FireMichael Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humor of that adventure. He also traces his development from his first flight experiences in the air force, through his days as a test pilot, to his Apollo 11 space walk, presenting an evocative picture of the joys of flight as well as a new perspective on time, light, and movement from someone who has seen the fragile Earth from the other side of the moon. Best Autobiographies and Memoirs The Joe Rogan Experience Library No current Talk conversations about this book. Great fun and exciting. This book isn't an easy holiday read. Of all of the astronaut memoirs I've read, Carrying the Fire is by far the best. Most popular stories about the lunar space race focus almost entirely on the astronauts, because it is a much easier story to tell. Nothing could be better than a first-person account. TheMagnificentKevin Oct 12, You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey. Carrying the Fire. Buzz Aldrin. Neil Armstrong. Michael Collins, astronaut. The Moon Luna. Apollo program Apollo 11 Apollo 11 Moon Landing To Patricia with admiration and love. I suppose Russia must test new airplanes over the Pripet Marshes, or Siberia, or wherever desolation dictates. Someday in the not-too-distant future, when I listen to an earthling step out onto the surface of Mars or some other planet, as I heard Neil step out onto the surface of the moon, I hope I hear him say: "I come from the United States of America. References to this work on external resources. The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey, and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey in July have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events--technical and spiritual--of our lifetime. No library descriptions found. Book description. Haiku summary. Add to Your books. Add to wishlist. Quick Links Amazon. Amazon Kindle 0 editions. Audible 0 editions. CD Audiobook 0 editions. Project Gutenberg 0 editions. Google Books — Loading Local Book Search. Swap 73 want. Rating Average: 4. Is this you? Become a LibraryThing Author. Recently added by. For more help see the Common Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey help page. Original publication date. Apollo program Apollo 11 Apollo 11 Moon Landing Warning: May contain spoilers. Add to Your books Add to wishlist Quick Links. Carrying the Fire - Wikipedia

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins. NASA 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 year NASA 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 Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey 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. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published April 3rd by Cooper Square Press first published More Details Original Title. National Book Award Finalist for Biography Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Carrying the Fireplease sign up. Does anybody has this book in pdf or ebook format? I can't buy it from Amazon and there is no other digital copies of it. Can lend it to someone who wants. See 1 question about Carrying the Fire…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Shelves: non-fictionreview-likedauthor-maletechautobiographyexplorationoutsourcedspaceengineeringbooks-withtoratings. Here is the book to convince every fourteen year old that a sound practical knowledge of the language of maths and engineering is both enormously exciting and career liberating. How very different our world would be today if we employed many more research engineers in which I include test pilots turned astronauts than self-obsessed bankers! This is a book to read and re-read. This is a book I cherish. This is not merely a book on how Man realised his dream of landing on our Moon. Instea Superb. Instead it is Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey description of how an awesome number of skilled people came and successfully worked together to realise an expensive political and technological dream. Relatively early on Collins hilariously Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey the wondrous training he received in the geology of Earth rocks, and in personal survival techniques. I was entirely unable to read this section without sniggers of suppressed, and hoots of Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey, laughter. Hilarity eventually subsided, whereupon I discovered space to soberly consider the very real difficulties of actually defining training for the unknown and unexpected. I was deeply moved by Collins sensitive, considerate and factually concise discussion of the horrendous spacecraft fire in January aboard Apollo 1 on the launch-pad at Cape Kennedy; which killed Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. Collins was deeply affected by the realisation that everyone had overlooked such an obvious risk combustible oxygen inside the spacecraft at 16psi: slightly above atmospheric pressureand had thus not been evaluated. As throughout his book, Collins is realistic and mature in recognising the human tendency to react by laying blame, before maturity and sense muscle in to define and solve the problem. In chapter 11 Collins describes how essential training on a simulator was to the success of space flight. He dryly remarks that at times it seemed easier to fly the actual spaceship! Later on Collins, Armstrong, and Aldrin are as equally amazed as each other by the perfection in accuracy achieved by the operational system in placing them in a near-circular lunar orbit. Collins could have chosen to keep a tight technical focus in his description of the flight of Apollo 11 mission. He intelligently does not do so; instead opting to draw the attention of his reader to what this extraordinary mission meant to other earth-bound members of the human population. Her crime had been to steal the secret of immortality from her husband. The rabbit was claimed to be easy to spot because he always stood upright on his hind legs, under the shade of a cinnamon tree! Whether Armstrong and Aldrin kept a weather-eye open for the Moon rabbit is rightly not recorded. I like the feeling. If I had read those words before reading this book Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey should not have understood what he meant. But now I think I may do. Michael Collins is multilingual. He communicates in written English supremely well. Collins is also a remarkably modest Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey, blessed with both a firm sense of responsibility and the most wonderful dry sense of humour. He is a true team player, but, importantly, one whose maturity, skills and talents fully justify his personal sense of worth and purpose. Every school library in Britain ought to possess a copy of this book. View all 5 comments. Apr 02, Rebecca rated it it was amazing Shelves: autobiography. Collins notes early on in this book that he chose to eschew the services of a ghostwriter, apologizing that the prose will not be as polished as a result. It was a wise choice. Collins' voice is friendly and straightforward, eminently likeable. He has little interest in delving into deep psychological analysis or talking much at all about his personal life, choosing instead to focus on his path, and NASA's, to the moon. Self-deprecating humor and a profound appreciation for the contributions of t Collins notes early on in this book that he chose to eschew the services of a ghostwriter, apologizing that the prose will not be as polished as a result. Self-deprecating humor and a profound appreciation for the contributions of the people surrounding him keeps the tone light and prevents Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey trace of boasting as he recounts a remarkable career. The details really are fascinating. I knew a lot of the history, having been an enormous space buff as a child, but there's a difference in hearing it from a personal perspective. The Apollo 1 fire, for example, skips any of the gruesome descriptions that other works have lingered on--these were people he knew Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey and Collins has no interest in describing their deaths in detail. His perspective is that of the only person available to drive out and tell one of the dead men's wives before she can hear it from the media. It brings a different perspective. Other details are just amusing. I'd known that Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey astronauts were quarantined upon their return. I had not realized they were essentially loaded up in a shipping container with a big window and shipped, flown, and finally driven home by flatbed truck like a cargo of zoo animals. It was a hilarious image. Some technical details are discussed, but only to give context to conversations. Politics is ignored almost completely, as is most of the situation with the Russians. And if you're looking for deep insights into the personalities of Collins and his fellow adventurers, Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey find little direct information here. As Collins himself points out, if they had wanted emoting on cue, they shouldn't have picked test pilots. Collins himself writes like what he is--an intelligent, practical man who was perfectly suited to keep a calm head and somewhat less suited to wax rhapsodic. He also expresses a classic Playboy-style appreciation for attractive women and martinis that's somewhat startling these days, but the book was written in the 70s, after all. But he also sells himself a bit short, self-deprecating as always--this work is engaging, articulate, endearing, and ultimately fascinating. This is probably the best non-fictional book I've ever read. Being very humble, Collins confesses that he thinks he Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey possessed extreme talent or expertise in any of the necessary fields of becoming an astronaut I'm sure he did thoughand that his career was rather an excellent thr This is probably the best non-fictional book I've ever read. Being very humble, Collins Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey that he thinks he never possessed extreme talent or expertise in any of the necessary fields of becoming an astronaut I'm sure he did thoughand that his career was rather an excellent throw of the dice, having a lot of luck throughout two decades, even when unfortunate occasions came his way like spinal surgery just before his designated first flight with Apollo 9, shifting him to Apollo Collins shows his excellent command of bringing down those events to paper - and by including both technical details like orbital mechanics and the depth of emotions he was going through, thus making the book a fascinating and precious read. The author also sheds light on the more philosophical side of humanity's space exploration, including many pages of his own thoughts about the world inback when he wrote the book. Many of those thoughts and gentle warnings about fossil fuels and human waste have become a reality, and the book is as relevant today as it has ever been. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey by Michael Collins

Most popular stories about the lunar space race focus almost entirely on the astronauts, because it is a much easier story to tell. I find this frustrating since the astronauts are not even the tip of Best quote: "After TLI there would be three men in the Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey system who would have to be counted apart from all the other billions, three who were in a different place, whose motion obeyed different Carrying the Fire : An Astronaut's Journey. Michael Collins. NASA 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 Firehis 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 Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey clash of personalities at NASA and technical aspects of flight with clear, engaging prose, withholding nothing in his candid assessments of fellow astronauts Carrying the Fire: An Astronauts Journey 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. Chapter About the Author. He has since retired and lives in Marco Island, Florida. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9.