Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

Dragonfly: Nasa and the Crisis Aboard Mir

Bryan Burrough · 528 pages

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Alfred Lansing · 282 pages

Bound for Antarctica, where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton planned to cross on foot the last uncharted continent, the Endurance set sail from England, in August 1914. The ship became locked inside an island of ice, and was later crushed. This tale of survival by Shackleton and all 27 of his men for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctice seas defined heroism.

Seveneves

Neal Stephenson · 861 pages

"What would happen if the world were ending? A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space. But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers th

Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon

Al Worden, Francis French · 300 pages

July 26-August 7, 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 15 space flight. As command module pilot for the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon, Al Worden flew on what is widely regarded as the greatest exploration mission that humans have ever attempted. Worden has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most isolated human being" during his time alone in the command module Endea

Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys

Michael Collins · 528 pages

The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 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. In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and h

Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe

Mike Massimino · 336 pages

Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon

Buzz Aldrin, Ken Abraham · 331 pages

Forty years ago, Buzz Aldrin became the second human, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. The event remains one of mankind's greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. In the years since, millions more have had their Earth-centric perspective unalterably changed by the iconic photograph of Aldrin

Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery

Scott Kelly · 387 pages

The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly inimical to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both existential and banal: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the c

Sharing Space: An Astronaut's Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change

Cady Coleman · 272 pages

The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space

Eugene Cernan, Donald A. Davis · 356 pages

Eugene Cernan came of age as an astronaut during the most exciting and dangerous decade of space flight. His career spanned the entire Gemini and Apollo programs, from being the first person to spacewalk all the way around our world to the moment when he left man's last footprint on the Moon as commander of Apollo 17. Between those two historic events lay more adventures than an ordinary person c

Failure is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Gene Kranz · 539 pages

"Kranz was flight director for both Apollo 11, the mission in which Neil Armstrong fulfilled President Kennedy's pledge, and Apollo 13. He headed the Tiger Team that had to figure out how to bring the three Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to Earth. (In the film Apollo 13, Kranz was played by the actor Ed Harris, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.)". "In Failure Is Not an

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand · 514 pages

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Se

John Glenn: A Memoir

John Glenn, Nick Taylor · 422 pages

"John Glenn's autobiography spans the seminal events of the twentieth century. It is a story that begins with his childhood in New Concord, Ohio, in the aftermath of World War I. It was there that he learned the importance of family, community, and patriotism. Glenn saw firsthand the ravages of the Depression and learned that determination, hard work, and teamwork could overcome any adversity. Th

The Martian

Andy Weir · 383 pages

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long be

Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space

Lynn Sherr · 374 pages

The definitive biography of Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, with exclusive insights from Ride's family and partner, by the ABC reporter who covered NASA during its transformation from a test-pilot boys' club to a more inclusive elite. This book is a biography of Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, with exclusive insights from her family and partner, and by the ABC reporter who

Starman: The Truth Behind The Legend Of Yuri Gagarin

Jamie Doran, Piers Bizony · 248 pages

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Marcus Luttrell · 390 pages

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive. This is the story of fire t

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

Jon Krakauer · 371 pages

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10,1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had b

South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914 - 1917

Ernest Shackleton · 375 pages

In 1911 Roald Amundsen beat Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole, and Scott and his colleagues all died on the return journey. Ernest Shackleton, who had served with Scott on a previous expedition, decided that crossing Antarctica from sea to sea was the last great unattempted journey on the continent. His Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17 was a failure. But perhaps because it failed

Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival

Yossi Ghinsberg · 320 pages

Moondust: In Search Of The Men Who Fell To Earth

Andrew Smith · 384 pages

In 1999, Andrew Smith was interviewing Charlie Duke, astronaut and moon walker, for the Sunday Times. During the course of the interview, which took place at Duke's Texan home, the telephone rang and Charlie left the room to answer it. When he returned, some twenty minutes later, he seemed visibly upset. It seemed that he'd just heard that, the previous day, one of his fellow moon walkers, the ast

A Man on the Moon

Andrew Chaikin, Michael Kramer · 688 pages

 For the 25th anniversary of the first moon landing, a winning and detailed account of the Apollo astronauts, a dozen of whom were the first human beings to walk on the face of the moon. The strength of the book lies in Chaikin's exhaustive research, including interviews with all 24 Apollo astronauts. Chaikin, an editor of Sky and Telescope, draws on the wealth of material from NASA's files--incl

Apollo 8

Jeffrey Kluger · 320 pages

Recounts the bold but dangerous mission to secure America's position as the first nation to reach the moon, revealing the dangers endured by its crew and the ways the mission brought renewal to a country ravaged by assassinations and war.

The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight

Martha Ackmann · 280 pages

In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America's first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys' club at NASA and on Capitol Hill. The USSR sent its first woman into space in 1963; th