Carrying the Fire

Michael Collins’s Carrying the Fire provides a detailed, vividly written memoir of the Mercury and Apollo flights from an astronaut who was on board the Apollo 11 flight that was the first to land on the moon. Collins has a wonderful way of describing the moon mission, its technical details and the experience of space flight that never bores you and helps you learn some of the intricacies and difficulties that the astronauts, scientists and engineers at NASA had to overcome. You feel almost like you’re along for the ride at times. The late Mr. Collins also has an engaging sense of humor that keeps this entertaining and enthralling. And he doesn’t leave out the personal details, including his relationships with his family, NASA officials and his fellow astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. While he did not set foot on the moon himself, he made sure that Armstrong and Aldrin would arrive home safely by piloting the command module expertly. Even though you know how it all turned out, this is still a suspenseful, thrilling and thoroughly engrossing read.

I recently returned to reading more about the NASA space program. I found this book on Amazon and, based on the reviews, decided to give it a try. What a find! Michael Collins possessed an engaging, witty, erudite writing style. His powers of observation and explanation were amazing. Once I began reading the book, I could not put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading an honest and self-deprecating description of what it was really like to be an astronaut. Amazingly well done.

Not the Mike Collins that I thought I knew from the press coverage of his celebrated Gemini and Apollo flights. I had also thought him to be more cerebral than many of the other Astronauts, but the book reveals a hard drinking jet jockey and test pilot, much more in common with his fellow Astronauts than it appeared. He spells out the decisions and circumstances that led him to this career that he had not necessarily planned. What I especially appreciated is the detailed descriptions that he gives of the things we public take for granted that work. He describes the physical connections and inherent dangers of his space walk. Also the celestial navigation that occurred and the capability they had to be ready to accomplish if it didn’t. He explains the crew assignments and rotations that evoked under Deke Slayton guidance as head of the Astronaut Office. I especially appreciated the description of the non-intuitive nature of what it took to fly and control the Apollo Capsule, and the knowledge and process that it took to set and reset the 400 plus switches in the command module. As the sole author, his book could have used some editing to help reduce the number of times he would run on and frequently re-address material he had already covered. That said, I very much enjoyed reading this 50th Anniversary Edition as he is able to look back and give perspective to the book he wrote relatively shortly after his retirement from NASA.

Within a few minutes of beginning this fine book, I was happy to discover that Michael Collins is a likeable guide and knows how to communicate. His prose is straightforward, he gets to the point, and is willing to say things about fellow astronauts that were a bit more direct and unvarnished than one might have expected. For example, he states that he liked Neil Armstrong, but also talks a bit about his distance and how he never met anybody halfway. His discussion of Buzz Aldrin was a bit harsher, even as he fairly recognized some of the problems that he had to deal with. And those aren’t the only two of his colleagues he discusses in a frank way. To be sure, some of his references to women are cringeworthy in today’s era, but those are, fortunately, relatively few and far between and not exactly surprising from one who came of age as a fighter pilot in the late 1950s and was writing in the early 1970s. Those reviewers who have suggested that it is one of the best astronaut-written books about what it was like to be an astronaut in that era will find no disagreement here, and the discussion of what it was like to be on Apollo 11 was most interesting. This is an enjoyable read, well worth one’s time.

This was one of the best books I have read; maybe among the top 10. I read a book a week and have for 50 years so I know a good book when I read it This one is fabulous if you're at all interested in the US's moon project in the 1960s It is written by an astronaut and he wrote it himself. There is no self-serving bravado of any kind which you might expect from such an accomplished person. But no- he writes it with humility, a touch of humor as to how the astronauts kept things light and so detailed in the NASA moon project that you feel like you're almost there with him. No other book has explained the personal experiences of such an outstanding program as this one. It is so captivating that I had a hard time pausing, and would resume reading again as soon as I could. If you want to literally hear from the man that commanded the lunar module in orbit as Neil and Buzz descended to the moon and returned to the command model in orbit, this is the best way to do it. Don't hesitate to buy this book. It will open your eyes to most of the Mercurey, Gemini and Apollo stage details you never heard about from a man who did it. He was there. He wrote it himself. One of man's most amazing achievements and this book gives you a front row seat.

Mike Collins is a good writer with dry wit and intelligence. I throughly enjoyed his account of his early life and Apollo 11.

Spannende Schilderungen über den ersten Flug auf den Mond. Das Pilotentraining ist herausfordernd. Es darf kein Fehler passieren in der Navigation, Flugtechnik, Soft- und Hardware. Jedes Versagen kann tödlich enden, daher ist höchste Präzisson und Zuverlässlichkeit oberstes Gebot.

The first men to go into space were not, generally, an introspective bunch. Those who did choose artistic expression to convey their experience often chose means other than writing, such as the painters Alexei Leonov and Alan Bean. Therefore, the inclusion of USAF Col Mike Collins in the third NASA astronaut class was a fortunate happening. This witty chronicler and keen observer of his surroundings has provided us with a unique historical memento of a momentous human undertaking. Collins, though a talented test pilot, stood somewhat apart from his fellows. He hints that he did enjoy the perks, financial and otherwise (read: women) of being an American hero, but one gets the sense that he had a deeper appreciation of life than some of his more gonzo colleagues. His appreciation of art, history, and cuisine, I suspect, were rather more advanced than his other Corvette-driving flight mates. Though a keen engineer, he viewed his involvement on the historic Apollo 11 mission through a wider lens than his technically-focused, almost obsessive crew mates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. That's a good thing, because in the centre seat of Columbia sat a man uniquely equipped to convey both the personal and historical perspectives on man's greatest journey. No other astronaut, with the possible exception of Chris Hadfield, has ever communicated the experience of space flight and the voyage's personal costs. Carrying the Fire is a warm, humorous, and comprehensive account of 1960's space flight, and a model for the honest chronicler.

Very interesting explanation of what it was like to be an Astronaut, fly Gemini and fly Apollo to the moon and back. Mike Collins concentrates on the space program and has a good way with words. Very well put and always interesting. Gene Cernan's book is good too. The other moon men, well, not so good. If you want to know about alcoholism read Buzz Aldrin. I admire Buzz Aldrin's achievements but he should have stuck to the space stuff. I recommend Collins, and Cernan.

Michael Collins nonostante sia stato membro dell'Apollo 11 è ricordato come l' "astronauta dimenticato" poiché non mise piede sulla Luna insieme ad Armstrong e Aldrin. Questa sua opera è scritta davvero bene, molto dettagliata e tecnica in alcuni punti (potrebbe annoiare), e sa mantenere vivo l'interesse nel lettore. Egli racconta tutte le fasi della sua carriera da test pilot dell' Aeronautica, l'addestramento da astronauta fino al suo ultimo incarico dopo aver prestato servizio nella NASA. Il suo racconto è realistico, umano e sa descrivere benissimo la sua esperienza anche sul piano psicologico e delle emozioni cosa che non riesce o non si trova nei libri di altri astronauti. La bellezza di "Carrying the Fire" la si può trovare nei piccoli eventi raccontati come l'incontro con i cosmonauti sovietici, le sue riflessioni sul programma spaziale, la difficoltà della vita da astronauta, il suo rapporto nei confronti degli altri colleghi, il ricovero in ospedale per un intervento chirurgico e il suo legame con Roma, città natale. Tutto ciò lo fa senza annoiare e utilizzando un umorismo sottile e divertente. In questo libro, Collins, è sia un filosofo che un ingegnere/astronauta; dà degli spunti su cui riflettere e ci fa capire l'importanza di non arrendersi mai non lasciandosi scoraggiare dalle avversità.

Se hace un poco largo, realmente la misión del Apolo 11 sólo se cubre de mitad para alante del libro. Tiene bastante de autobiografía. A pesar de ser un libro de los 70, todavía es interesante. El lenguaje de Collins es un poco rebuscado a veces. DEP.