Failure Is Not an Option

Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

By: Gene Kranz

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director's role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

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 Option, Gene Kranz recounts these thrilling historic events and offers new information about the famous flights. What appeared as nearly flawless missions to the moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses. When the space technology failed, as it sometimes did, the controllers' only recourse was to rely on their skills and those of their teammates. Kranz takes us inside Mission Control and introduces us to some of the whiz kids - still in their twenties, only a few years out of college - who had to figure it all out as they went along, creating a great and daring enterprise. He reveals behind-the-scenes details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success.

©2009 Gene Kranz (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Plenty of books (and several films) have already tried to depict the space program's excitement; few of their creators had the first-person experience or the attention to detail Krantz has, whose role as flight control "White" his readers will admire or even wish to emulate." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great book poor performance

Overall great book but the performance was very poor. Pronouncing delta v as delta five and not delta vee. GUIDO as gweedo and not GUY DOUGH. TELMU as TELL MOO and not TELM U.

Do some research first this stuff is very easy to find and mispronouncing it is unacceptable to anyone who has any knowledge.

Great Book, highly recommended

Excellent story and narration

wonderfully written story of gene and his account of the American space program... excellent narration!

Inspiring

Wonderful story of the amazing mission controllers who were essential to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

fantastic work!

excellent! well written and read. it is a great telling of one of The United States' greatest accomplishments!

I was a little girl at Cape Canaveril...

...and I watched the Mercury launches from the beach. This book captured this magical epoch and magnified it. I loved every minute, including every insight and technical detail.

Great story told well.

Story after story that blew my mind about the space race and subsequent close of the moon exploration era. Great book.

I've never cried so much while reading a book

Probably the most inspiring true story ever. A riveting ground-level account of a time when we reached for the stars and caught them.

Excellent

Very captivating story and narrator. I'm glad it was recommended to me. I will look for other books by the author and narrator.

Immensely rewarding book.

A brilliantly articulated account of the what arguably is the greatest human endeavors of the twentieth century. Highest praise to Gene Kranz for sharing his experiences, insights and personal perspectives with such such selfless honesty and candor.

Inspiring Leadership and Technical Problem Solving

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

For any scientist or engineer, this book takes you to the front lines of test pilots and the inherent danger s of spaceflight...from the view of the brainiacs in mission control who are the necessary and incredibly important partners of the astronauts in those tiny capsules.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Of course, Gene Kranz -- demonstrating authentic leadership in the midst of adversity.

What does Danny Campbell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I've read the book. The reading is exceptionally well done and I can put Kranz's face on the voice of the narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It makes me wish we were still pushing for human space flight.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book for aficionados of engineering, science, operations, spaceflight, and pushing technology. But, it is best a book of leadership and companionship required to push the boundaries of human endeavor.