Gemini by Jeffrey Kluger Book Review

About the Book:

After we first launched Americans into space but before we touched down on the moon’s surface, there was the Gemini program. It was no easy jump from manned missions in low-Earth orbit to a successful moon landing, and the ten-flight, twenty-month celestial story of the Gemini program is an extraordinary one. There was unavoidable darkness in the program―the deaths and near-deaths that defined it, and the blood feud with the Soviet Union that animated it.

But there were undeniable and previously inconceivable successes. With a war raging in Vietnam and lawmakers calling for cuts to NASA’s budget, the success of the Gemini program―or the space program in general―was never guaranteed. Yet against all odds, the remarkable scientists and astronauts behind the project persevered, and their efforts paid off. Later, with the knowledge gained from the Gemini flights, NASA would launch the legendary Apollo program.

My Review:

I graduated from high school in 1966 so was a teen during the Gemini flights. They were fascinating and I'd often get up very early to watch a launch. Seeing them from a distance and on a black and white screen is quite different from reading the information provided here. I appreciate reviewing the pressure put on the USA by Russian science work. I lived through that. We young people were solidly behind our country's effort, especially Kennedy's commitment to make it to the moon before the end of the decade. It was a thrilling time.

I trusted everything was presented accurately by the author and was surprised to see the documented mistakes. I cannot speak to them but the idea is disappointing. I do wish there had been more information about the actual Gemini flights.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Jeffrey Kluger is Editor at Large at Time, where he has written more than 45 cover stories. Coauthor of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, which was the basis for the movie Apollo 13, he is also the author of 13 other books including his latest book Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story.

Photo credit: Shaul Schwarz

St Martin's Press, 304 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)