Failure is not an option, Gene Kranz

Failure is not an option, Gene Kranz

I've got to admit, I'm fascinated by this period in history, the height of the Cold War. The Space race was central to this. There were a number of things in the book which I was enlightend::

Although America at the time of Kranz had never lost an astronaut in space, the actual venture of putting a man in space usually had some type of drama, which had the potential of been life threatening. I never had this impression before, reading the book. I knew that the Soviets had problems, but not the Americans.

The book was a good read, I felt the tension of mission control. The learning on the job, making things up often as a mission progressed.

One other aspect which, seems to be a particularly American thing is, patriotism. I got the sence that Kranz was proud of his country, yet dismayed at what was happening in his country at the same time. The counter culture, The Viatman war, the civil rights movement. All of things seemed to take the shine off Krantz's patriotism. It questioned Americans place as top dog in the world.

Rating 4/5