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Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond
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Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond
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by Nancy Conrad, Howard A. Klausner, and Buzz Aldrin
Sales Rank : 603425
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Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade May 2, 2006
Language: English
ISBN-10: 045121837X
ISBN-13: 978-0451218377
Product Dimensions:
8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Screenwriter Klausner (Space Cowboys), writing with astronaut Conrad's second wife, Nancy, brings a snappy, movie-dialogue feel to this biography of Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930–1999). Perhaps not as well remembered as some of his colleagues because his missions fell between the more famous ones, Conrad flew on Gemini 5, which set a record for the most days in space up to that point, on Gemini11, notable for rendezvousing and docking with a rocket on the first orbit, and commanded Apollo 12 on a glitch-free ride to the moon. A decade later, Conrad was called on to save the ill-fated Skylab, which had suffered crippling injuries on its journey into space. He showed that the best way to fix something was usually the simplest: a few good hard whacks with a hammer. Early in his career, Conrad was passed over for the Mercury program because he didn't have "the right stuff"—he got fed up with the intrusive medical exams and tossed his enema bag down on the commanding general's desk. But the public and Conrad's co-workers loved him for his hard-living, hard-working persona. Fans of the American space program will enjoy this fast read, which captures the bigger-than-life character of this gap-toothed, all-American space cowboy. Agent, Bill Gladstone.(May 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
The late astronaut Pete Conrad had a distinguished record and a wide streak of cowboy in him. This biography by his widow and screenwriter Klausner draws on their recorded interviews with Conrad, the last completed just before his accidental death, and does him as much justice as possible. The scion of a Main Line Philadelphia family ruined by the Depression, Conrad paid for flying lessons by working at airports and went to Princeton on a navy scholarship. Highly rated as a test pilot, he walked out of the original Mercury selection process because he disliked the tests and the doctors. He returned to fly two Gemini missions, command Apollo XII (the second moon landing), and command and repair, on the spot, Skylab during its first mission. His post-astronaut career included McDonnell Douglas, cable TV, round-the-world flight records, and serious work on a reusable space launcher before he died in a motorcycle accident. The book occasionally wanders from its biographical subject into social history, but space mavens will grab it and hold, regardless. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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