Ebook: Riding rockets: the outrageous tales of a space shuttle astronaut

Cover; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments; 1. Bowels and Brains; 2. Adventure; 3. Polio; 4. Sputnik; 5. Selection; 6. The Space Shuttle; 7. Arrested Development; 8. Welcome; 9. Babes and Booze; 10. Temples of History; 11. The F***ing New Guys; 12. Speed; 13. Training; 14. Adventures in Public Speaking; 15. Columbia; 16. Pecking Order; 17. Prime Crew; 18. Donna; 19. Abort; 20. MECO; 21. Orbit; 22. Coming to America; 23. Astronaut Wings; 24. Part-time Astronauts; 25. The Golden Age; 26. Challenger; 27. Castle Intrigue; 28. Falling; 29. Change; 30. Mission Assignment; 31. God Falls;In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts, 29 men and six women, were introduced to the world. USAF Colonel Mike Mullane was a member of this astronaut class, and this is his story. Mullane strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are--human, with tales of military flyboys, feminist pioneers and post-doc scientists. He portrays every aspect of the astronaut experience, and is brutally honest in his criticism of a NASA leadership whose bungling would precipitate the Challenger disaster.--From publisher description.