Failure is not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Read Craft's book instead. It's the same series of events, better written and much more interesting. I found myself skipping the build up to Apollo 13.

This is a well-written account of the space program from the perspective of a mission controller. The author does a great job of telling the "behind the scenes" story of each Mercury, Gemini and Apollo mission. In the end, I was left with a profound feeling of respect for the men and women who worked together using technology that was, by today's standard, ancient to put men on the moon and bring them back safely. I was also left with a deep feeling of sadness that my children are unlikely ever to experience the awe and pride that we as a country experienced as we watched their achievement unfold.

Everyone else has reviewed the technical and historical aspects of this book, which I also found enthralling. However, a side benefit is that it can also be seen as a great how-to book on leadership. The Mission Control "mission statement" and the struggles that Krantz went through to lead the fledgling agency are a great study in teambuilding and the power of visionary leadership through integrity. I've posted the Mission Statement by my desk at work.

I thought Gene Kranz did a fine job of re-living the space race from Mercury to Apollo. His remarks and recall put you right in the control center and his accounts of some of the more interesting moments make you appreciate everything that test pilots and astronauts went through in those early years. If you have want a great account of the space program, the early years, this is the book you won't be able to put down.

Gene Kranz's book tells a similar story, as told in books by Eugene Cerman, Scott Carpenter, and Chris Kraft, without being dominated by the author's ego. The others wrote good books. But Kranz avoids using personal attacks to tell his tale. The antidotes differ from those in other stories, as Kranz does not have a Boy Scout image to preserve. However, Kranz covers mission control only through Apollo 17.

This book is an excellent story of the space race from the ground.