Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A posthumous memoir gives an unsung astronaut his due."—
Kirkus“[Donn Eisele was] a sharp-eyed witness to space history, to the darker side of Apollo, and we are lucky to have his memories.”—Michael Cassutt, coauthor of
Deke! and
We Have Capture “Raw, unvarnished, and edgy, this is Eisele, unplugged. His highly personal account is both sweet and sour but, ultimately, one hell of a unique and fascinating read.”—Richard Jurek, coauthor of
Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program“At long last, the enigmatic Donn Eisele tells his story. Eisele holds
nothing back in his memoirs discussing 1960s-era NASA and his historic
Apollo 7 mission. His blunt reminiscences make other Apollo astronaut autobiographies look like kids’ books. His memoirs illuminate his frustrations with astronaut life, his unique, often quirky sense of humor, and his thrill at the view from Earth's orbit. Like it or not, Eisele tells it like it is—his long-silenced voice is finally brought to vivid life.”—Emily Carney, space historian
“
Apollo Pilot is a lost treasure of the golden age of space exploration, a critical and controversial time that people talk about, but that no one has ever heard like this. This first-person account of
Apollo 7’s Donn Eisele is a vital missing piece of the history of NASA’s journey to the moon.”—David Hitt, coauthor of
Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story “I came away astounded, frankly, by [Donn Eisele’s] brutally honest depiction of life in the heyday of NASA. I felt like I was there with Eisele, only a step or two behind him during the colorful phases of selection, training, and flight operations that marked his time as an
Apollo 7 crewmember.”—Jay Gallentine, space historian and award-winning author of
Infinity Beckoned: Adventuring Through the Inner Solar System, 1969–1989 Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Foreword by Francis French
1. Launch Morning
2. Beginnings
3. Astronaut Selection
4. Going Back to Houston
5. After the Fire
6. Liftoff
7. Rendezvous
8. The Grandeur of Earth
9. Return to Earth
10. Splashdown
11. Home
12. After the Flight
Afterword by Susie Eisele Black
Historical Overview by Amy Shira Teitel
Acknowledgments
Index
