Inventing the American Astronaut [Paperback]

Who were the men who led America's first expeditions into space? Soldiers? Daredevils? The public sometimes imagined them that way: heroic military men and hot-shot pilots without the capacity for doubt, fear, or worry. However, early astronauts were hard-working and determined professionals - 'organization men' - who were calm, calculating, and highly attuned to the politics and celebrity of the Space Race. Many would have been at home in corporate America - and until the first rockets carried humans into space, some seemed to be headed there. Instead, they strapped themselves to missiles and blasted skyward, returning with a smile and an inspiring word for the press. From the early days of Project Mercury to the last moon landing, this lively history demystifies the American astronaut while revealing the warring personalities, raw ambition, and complex motives of the men who were the public face of the space program.Project Astronaut' 'Deke's Boys' Scientists In Space The Man In The Gray Flannel Spacesuit Public Space

A provocative effort to cast new light on the NASA program. - Kirkus

Both scholars of the U.S. space program and space enthusiasts have been reliant on The Right Stuff, the dozens of astronaut memoirs and biographies, and a smaller collection of essays on the image of the astronaut (see Roger Launius, 'Heroes in a Vacuum: The Apollo Astronaut as Cultural Icon,' Florida Historical Quarterly [Fall 2008]) to gain insight into that world. We have been waiting for someone to break the vow of professional silence that NASA management and the astronauts themselves have maintained over the years. Useful for college-level history, political science, and space policy courses and accessible to a broader audience with an interest in the human spaceflight program, Hersch's work is commendable for its demystification of this profession. - American Historical Review

The original Mercury Seven astronauts were instant lÃ;