Like Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins owes his place in the history books to misfortune - in this case, his own. He had been initially assigned to the crew of Apollo 8, but a cervical disc herniation requiring surgery resulted in him being dropped from flight status. After he had recovered, he was assigned to Apollo 11. If it had not been for his back problem, it's likely Apollo 8 would have been his one and only Apollo flight - he was keen to retire from NASA after successful completion.

Which is a shame. Collins was command module pilot for Apollo 11, and remained in orbit about the Moon in Command Module Columbia. Of all the Apollo astronauts, Collins would probably have best described in prose what it was like to actually walk on the Moon. If he had not left NASA after Apollo 11, the normal rotation schedule would probably have seen him commanding Apollo 17... and so landing on the lunar surface. And then he would have been able to write about it.

See the rest of the review at http://spacebookspace.blogspot.com/20... ( )

This is the definitive astronaut account. If you read only one astronaut book, this is it. Collins is an engrossing author. ( )

I once read that this is widely considered to be the best book written by any of NASA's former astronauts. I agree wholeheartedly, although I have not (yet?) read all the others.

The part when Collins is alone in Columbia, orbiting the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin are on the surface, was particularly striking and always remains in my memory long after I have read it. (I've read Carrying the Fire three times and someday hope to buy a good hardcover copy before this dear, yellowed paperback falls to pieces.) ( )