Spaceman

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

By: Mike Massimino

Narrated by: Mike Massimino

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself strapped to a giant rocket that's about to go from zero to 17,500 miles per hour? Or to look back on Earth from outer space and see the surprisingly precise line between day and night? Or to stand in front of the Hubble Space Telescope, wondering if the emergency repair you're about to make will inadvertently ruin humankind's chance to unlock the universe's secrets? Mike Massimino has been there, and in Spaceman he puts you inside the suit, with all the zip and buoyancy of life in microgravity.

Massimino's childhood space dreams were born the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Growing up in a working-class Long Island family, he catapulted himself to Columbia and then MIT, only to flunk his first doctoral exam and be rejected three times by NASA before making it through the final round of astronaut selection. Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the Hubble Telescope - which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with saving on his final mission - Massimino has written an ode to never giving up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible. Spaceman invites us into a rare, wonderful world where science meets the most thrilling adventure, revealing just what having "the right stuff" really means.

©2016 Michael J. Massimino (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Drive, determination, and desire are the enduring qualities that are reflected throughout this audiobook, narrated by its author, former astronaut Mike Massimino… His joy is contagious, and his accomplishments are incredible. Everyone, not just science geeks, will enjoy this production. " ( AudioFile)

the most amazing, inspiring book I've ever read

this has to be one if not "THE" most amazing, inspiring book I've ever read in my life. half way through it I put it down and called my university to set up a start date to go back to school and finish my degree. it is so easy to find and excuse to just give up but that's all it is, just a whole bunch of excuses, hearing Mike talk about how an average person much like us "normal people" not geniuses with the perfect health or wealthy family can overcome every obstacle and full feel his dream makes you stop and rethink your self and say hey its time act, it's time stop "just making it by" it's time to get up and start pushing forward, this is the feeling I got when I read this book.

hope to some day I get to meet him and thank him in person for giving me the push I needed, that ray of hope that I lost so many years ago, or to put it in his terms, that kindle that light my dreams once more.

Thank you Mass.

A personal look inside NASA's astronaut corps.

This is an enjoyable tale of one astronaut who has been there and back... and is still our "every-man". Thanks Mass!

Mike Massimino is awesome

I loved this book from start to finish. The story was fantastic and interesting and I learned so much about NASA and astronauts. The narrator is great and it's so cool to listen to his story like he would tell it. I'm very glad I got this book !

Highly recommend

Heard about this book from art of charm podcast, listening to this book is really a wonderful and fantastic journey, inspiring and touching. I will try my best to pursue my dream like the author did.

Out of this world!

I admit I was an unlikely listener for this book. Before Big Bang Theory, I didn't know who Mike Massimino was. I saw the reviews and thought I'd give the book a shot. I loved it! It's much more than a story about how someone with humble beginnings makes it to space. It's about the hard work and resilience necessary to do what really matters to you. I hear people whining about how they can't do this and can't do that because they don't get any breaks. Most people don't get any breaks, getting what you want requires hard work. And, when Mike didn't succeed on his first try, he tried again. He asked for help and got it, he was offered help and he wasn't too proud to take it. And, he sounds like a genuinely nice guy, someone we can all look up to. I think that spirit of cooperation is so rare these days, that I'm glad so see somewhere it's rewarded. I liked hearing him read his own book. My only complaint with the performance is the editing. Very often, at the end of the sentence, the ending of a word at the end of a sentence gets cut off. I've never listened to another book where this happened, so I'm unsure why. It doesn't take away from the story, it's just a bit annoying.

Fantastic! inspiring

Anecdotal, relatable, funny- great!

Inspires us all to reach for our dreams and chase the stars!

Turns out you CAN be astronaut w/out 20-20 vision

Like the author, I was just the right age - under 10 - when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, and like millions of other kids, immediately decided I wanted to be an astronaut. Unlike the author, I haven't made it (yet--and haven't seriously tried) but I still dream of escaping the Earth's atmosphere and seeing the curvature of the planet from space. So I enjoyed hearing about young Mike's obsession with all things NASA and then how, post-college, he made his childhood dream come true. His dogged determination to become a Shuttle astronaut despite not having 20-20 vision made me wonder why I let my mother crush my astronaut dreams by telling me no one who wears glasses could be an astronaut. And Massimino's gee-whiz, childlike fascination with and appreciation of actually becoming an astronaut and walking in space made me feel like I was right there with him.

It's not all beautiful blue marble in space, though. There are tense moments and one very affecting section that made me cry. Massimino shows that astronauts are normal people just like us and reminds us how precious life is on our Spaceship Earth.

[I listened to this as an audio book read by the author. He did a very good job; I would recommend the audio version. I listened at 1.3 speed and skipped through a few of the early chapters about his schooling.]

read spaceman

Very touching story. Mike sounds like an amazing, but normal guy. I recommend this book.

AWE INSPIRING!

Wow! After listening to the entire book I really felt like I was Mike Massimino's friend and he was just telling me about his adventures about becoming and being an astronaut. I have never had so much respect for astronauts and everyone involved in the space programs, past and future, like I do now. Thank you, Mike! Thank you for sharing your experience with us and allowing us to catch a small glimpse of your journey.
God bless!

Inspiring

What a fantastic autobiographical account of perseverance in pursuit of a dream. Mike Massimino never let failure stop him. Even if you never dreamed of going to space you still need to listen to this book. If you have ever dreamed of space then you definitely need to block out a day and listen.