Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe

I picked this up at an Audible sale that was BOGO on non-fiction. I really really loved this autobiography by Massimino. Not only is it well written and narrated, it’s also incredibly interesting and highly entertaining...there are also a lot of positive messages here as well. This is one of those books that I think everyone should read, it was so entertaining, thought-provoking and well done.

This audiobook is narrated by Mike Massimino himself and he does a great job. Occasionally he sounds a bit like he is reading rather than narrating, but overall he does a very good job with the narration.

This book starts with Massimino’s childhood and goes to current day. He talks about the process of becoming an astronaut and the challenges he show more had to overcome. He also talks a lot about the wonderful people he worked with. This ended up being a humorous, inspiring, and in general highly entertaining story.

I loved how much I got to learn about astronauts, spacewalking, and the Hubble telescope. I also loved what a positive person Massimino is and how many positive messages there are in here. There is great discussion around facing and overcoming challenges, working hard, and respecting the people who help to support you.

Overall I absolutely loved this. I started relistening to it with my husband and son and they are loving it just as much as I did. My son (12 year old) especially seems positively impacted by the story so far, he keeps talking about how hard Massimino worked and how he never gave up. It’s an eye opening story for my son to hear because he’s learning how hard work and commitment can really yield results...and he’s learning this in a way that is intriguing and entertaining. I can’t reiterate enough times what an excellent and unique blend of science and positive message this book is. Again, I highly recommend this book to everyone!! show less

The best thing about this book? Mike Massimino is a regular guy. He's a guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with, the guy who might be your kid's cub scout leader, or your neighbor who lets you borrow the edger. This book is about Mike's rise to superhero astronaut, and all the bumps, failures, and doubts along the way. He's a regular person (albeit a super-smart, courageous one), and look what he did!

Mike doesn't dwell too long on his childhood in New York, but does include some important aspects about his growing up that helped him along his path. The meat of the story is his quest (at times thought quixotic) to work for NASA and eventually become an astronaut. Unlike many memoirs, this book focuses only on the important parts show more of the story, and doesn't include every anecdote or biographical tangent. It's tight, entertaining, fascinating, and, most importantly, honest. It's not overwhelming with scientific explanations. This is a human interest story. At times, my palms were actually sweating while reading about Mike's first EVA on his flight to repair the Hubble.

And Mike didn't write this book to make himself look like a hero. He doesn't leave out the doubts, the fears, the downright terrors, he experienced, both during his studies and exams and also while in space. He even talks about having imposter syndrome, feeling that he wasn't good enough, smart enough, or prepared enough to go into space. But time and again, he was tested, and he was the right man for the job. That's a real struggle a lot of us mortals can identify with, which only makes this book more intriguing. I was amazed at the lengths he went to in order to overcome deficits, even to the point of not accepting that his vision wouldn't pass him into astronaut training. He was going to have 20/20 vision no matter what. For Mike, there is no door that is completely closed.

Spaceman gets five big ol' stars from me. This is a book for everybody. I'm passing this on to my middle-schooler, who wants to work for NASA as soon as humanly possible. Whether you're interested in space exploration or not (and if not, what's wrong with you?), this is a story that everyone can relate to. Mike Massimino is my new hero. Read Spaceman, and he'll be your hero too. I only hope that maybe if I write him a fan letter he'll send me an autographed photo. How about it, Mike?

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
My review is also posted on flyleafunfurled.com. show less

Mike Massimino watched the moon landing on tv at seven years old, and he knew before that he wanted to go into space.

His other dream was to be a player for the Mets.

In the years that followed, the Apollo program wound up and space became boring. Massimino's interests focused elsewhere, and he became an industrial engineer.

Then the shuttle program and the international space station reignited interest in the space program. And Massimino had become focused on, specifically, robotic systems and their "human factors," human usability. He was interested in space again, and though it took some time and a lot of work, the space program was interested in him.

Massimino's journey from "interested again" to trying seriously to get into the show more astronaut program, through the many challenges along the way, including having to "fix his eyes" in the pre-Lasik era, in a way that NASA will trust. (They did not trust radial keratonomy.) There are mistakes and accidents along the way, including accidentally applying for the wrong program at MIT (two similar-sounding programs, one in the engineering school and the other in the political science school he didn't know MIT had.)

But becoming an astronaut doesn't mean you go into space, and that's another challenge for him.

And his dream becomes the Hubble space telescope.

Massimino has a great story, and he has a casual engaging style of writing, and also of speaking as he reads his own book for this audiobook.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. show less

This is another autobiography where the author/subject seems like a great person, but the book itself is pretty much everything I hate in biographies. It's about a topic I love (space! engineering! although I'm not a big fan of NASA, especially in the Shuttle era), but the entire book is "I'm a normal guy, becoming an astronaut was a series of hard challenges which seemed overcome which I overcame by working hard". Pretty much the NASA PR line. Very little technical content (what there is, was good, but it was maybe 5-10% of the book), almost all personal memoir. Even the technical stuff was "this is what I did", not "why".

(The best part of the whole book for me was when he applied to MIT STS program thinking it would be useful, which show more (as an MIT undergrad (dropout) I knew was a horrible idea) in a few pages more he revealed to have been a mistake of having bad information and confusion with a more useful program. It was pretty weird how reverent he was about MIT -- it's gone way downhill overall, although Aero/Astro 16 has remained pretty decent longer than other programs, and maybe he was a decade or two before it became terminal.)

I skipped through more and more of the book as it went on, and it didn't substantially change. If you like "inspirational memoirs about normal people doing extraordinary things, and you can do", maybe you'll enjoy this, but I really didn't like the book. The author's interviews/etc. are a lot better; I'd probably just go for those. show less

What makes someone aspire to be an astronaut? How does one train for a space mission? What's it like, if you're one of the fortunate few chosen to go up in space?

If you're seeking the answers to these questions, Mike Massimino's book "Spaceman" is a good place to start.

The story is told in an engaging manner, with the narrator coming through as a man who always remembers his humble beginnings. Through the accounts of the training and the missions themselves, Massimino shares enough of the sensory details that you get an image of what it was like. Massimino's account comes across as being honest and genuine -- he's not afraid to put himself in a less-than-flattering light.

The book also doesn't shy away from the dangers of space missions show more and training, sharing both the triumph and tragedy.

Just one warning -- it's easy to feel like a real slouch when you read what these men and women go through to get into the space program, and the intensity of the training they endure once there! show less

This book was recommended to me, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be as interesting as it was made to seem? Would an astronaut be as good a narrator as some of my favorite authors and other narrators I've listened to on audiobook? I need not have worried. Massimino is a fantastic narrator, he's passionate about his work, and on top of that, the man can write!

I adored this book, because of it, my TBR has grown exponentially with books about space, books by astronauts, and my curiosity has definitely been piqued! I can't wait to delve into more books on this vast topic.

Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Mike Massimino is an autobiography of Mr. Massimino. Mr. Massimino was an astronaut, worked on the Hubble Telescope, robotics and NASA’s PR team.

I have always been a big supporter of the space program since I was a little boy, and still am so when I saw Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Mike Massimino I jumped right into it. I was not disappointed, this is an excellent, easy to read book telling the reader what it takes to become and be an astronaut. Mr. Massimino tells of his journey to become an astronaut, his failures, what he learned and his success.

The book is written with a sense of humor, show more honesty and, rightfully so, pride. Mr. Massimino’s extraordinary career started the same as many other space junkies – watching movies in our childhood, but unlike us, he went for it and made his dream, our dream, into a reality.

The author’s descriptions of what it’s like to be in space, and how one feels, were, for me, worth the price of admission. I read many books, biographies and autobiographies about astronauts and the space program, but this is the first time I understood (I think) what it’s like to be in space.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com show less