The Wolfner Library in Missouri created a recommended reading list about NASA and its history. We at the Texas Talking Book Program have altered it to include our Braille and large print copies. To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our online public access catalog OPAC. All books listed are linked to Braille and Audio Reading Download site (BARD) for downloading. Happy Reading!
2019
Astronauts:
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
Read by Scott Kelly. Reading Time: 13 hours, 9 minutes.
DB 8952
LP09186; 603 pages
Astronaut and American
record-holder for most consecutive days in space examines his life and career.
Discusses growing up with identical twin brother–and fellow astronaut–Mark,
challenges he faced to become an astronaut, and the physical and emotional
impacts of long-term spaceflight. Some strong language. 2017.
John
Glenn: A Memoir by John Glenn
Read by Randy Atcher.
Reading Time: 16 hours, 13 minutes.
DB 49106
The first American to
orbit the earth, who in 1998 became the oldest man in space at seventy-seven,
discusses his career as an astronaut and his lengthy service in the marines and
the U.S. Senate. He recounts growing up in Ohio, marrying his childhood friend,
and raising a family. Bestseller. 1999.
Lost
Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell
Read by L. J. Ganser.
Reading Time: 15 hours, 55 minutes.
DB 40691
Apollo 13 was to have
been the fifth mission to the moon. But two days into the trip, on April 13,
1970, the oxygen tank exploded in the command module, placing the three
astronauts in grave danger. Lovell describes those terrifying days as
astronauts, contractors, and Mission Control struggled to bring Apollo 13
safely back to earth. Basis for the movie Apollo 13. Bestseller.
Riding
Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut by Mike R. Mullane
Read by Jake Williams.
Reading Time: 18 hours, 17 minutes.
DB 62819
Autobiography of one of
the first space shuttle astronauts. Mullane, a West Point graduate,
aeronautical engineer, and Vietnam veteran, describes with humor and candor his
selection process, training program, and space flight experiences. Recounts
three missions and discusses NASA’s role in the 1986 Challenger disaster. Some
strong language. 2006.
Rocket
Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First
Journey to the Moon
by Robert Kurson
Read by Robert Kurson.
Reading Time: 12 hours, 22 minutes.
DB 91450
Profile of the Apollo 8
space mission, which launched in December 1968 after a year of turmoil in the
United States and was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. Also
profiles the crew, including astronauts Frank F. Borman II, James A. Lovell,
Jr., and William A. Anders. Unrated. 2018.
Rocket
Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson
Read by Lou Harpenou.
Reading Time: 17 hours, 42 minutes.
DB 69775
Prizewinning author
retraces America’s race against the Soviet Union to be the first to land on the
moon. Chronicles NASA’s 1969 Apollo 11 mission using interviews and declassified
documents. Provides glimpses into the personal family lives of astronauts Neil
Armstrong, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins. 2009.
The
Ordinary Spaceman from Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut by Clayton C. Anderson
Read by David Rutherford.
Reading Time: 14 hours, 33 minutes.
DB 82817
Anderson recounts
applying to the astronaut program fifteen times in as many years before his
ultimate selection, and describes the struggles and successes of his subsequent
career–including spending 167 days on the International Space Station and more
than forty hours on space walks. 2015
The
Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Read by Dennis Quaid.
Reading Time: 15 hours, 45 minutes.
DB 90395
LB 03137
Inside view of the early
astronauts (Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Shirra, Shepard, Slayton) strips
away the media image of the men and reveals what makes them tick. Narrated by
the actor who played Gordon Cooper in the 1983 movie adaptation. Some strong
language. 1979.
Too
Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space by Chris Jones
Read by Erik Davis.
Reading Time: 10 hours, 54 minutes.
DB 63506
BR 17198; 3 volumes of
Braille
Describes the
experiences of Americans Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox and Russian Nikolai
Budarin, astronauts who became stranded on the International Space Station
after the space shuttle Columbia exploded in 2003. Recounts the efforts of
mission control in Houston and Moscow to rescue them using an old Soyuz rocket.
2007.
Ground
Crew and History:
Venus
Revealed: A New Look Below the Clouds of Our Mysterious Twin Planet by David Harry Grinspoon
Read by Len Mailloux.
Reading Time: 16 hours, 3 minutes.
DB 46319
Reviews the evolving
concepts about the planet Venus from early mythological associations to modern
scientific discoveries. The author, who worked on the 1990 Magellan space
probe, describes the task of mapping the surface of Venus and explains the
hostile environment of a planet that is much less like the Earth than once
believed.
Failure
is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz
Read by Steven
Carpenter. Reading Time: 16 hours, 22 minutes.
DB 51600
Memoir of a flight
director for NASA’s mission control, providing an insider’s perspective on the
space program from the 1960s Mercury days to the final Apollo mission.
Kranz recalls the highlights of his career and explains his role in bringing
the three Apollo 13 astronauts back safely to Earth. 2000.
Flight:
My Life in Mission Control by Christopher C. Kraft
Read by Lou Harpenau.
Reading Time: 14 hours, 43 minutes.
DB 53219
NASA’s first flight
director offers an insider’s view of the early days of the space program in the
1960s. He describes past achievements such as the first manned launch with Alan
Shepard, and the glitches, near disasters, and successes, culminating with the
astronauts walking on the moon. Some strong language. 2001.
The
Rock from Mars: A Detective Story on Two Planets by Kathy Sawyer
Read by Mary Kane.
Reading Time: 15 hours, 57 minutes.
DB 63539
Journalist recounts the
1984 Antarctic discovery of a Martian meteorite and its delayed identification
at NASA’s Houston space center in 1993, when scientists also found possible
evidence of fossilized organisms. Examines the ensuing scientific debate and
its impact on the space program and efforts to understand life on Earth. 2006.
Space
Race the Epic Battle between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space by Deborah Cadbury
Read by Butch Hoover.
Reading Time: 14 hours, 23 minutes.
DB 64644
Examines the superpower
rivalries that fueled the race to the moon and the engineering masterminds
behind it: Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union and Wernher von Braun, a former
Nazi, in the United States. Discusses the political paranoia of the cold war
era and the technological advances it produced. 2006.
Leaving
Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight by Margaret Lazarus Dean
Read by Kerry Dukin.
Reading Time: 13 hours, 20 minutes.
DB 82410
BR 20928; 5 volumes of Braille
Dean recounts the
history of American spaceflight, NASA, and Florida’s Space Coast and reflects
on what has been achieved. She interviews NASA workers, astronauts, and space
fans alike, exploring the ramifications of the end of the American space
shuttle program. Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. 2015.
Breaking
the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA by Amy Shira Teitel
Read by Kerry Dukin.
Reading Time: 12 hours, 8 minutes.
DB 83941
Journalist chronicles
the agencies and institutions–along with key personnel–that were precursors
to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which was created
in 1958. Details research into rocketry in both America and Germany, as well as
the impact of World War II and the Cold War. 2016.
Hidden
Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women
Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Read by Emily Ellet.
Reading Time: 12 hours, 15 minutes.
DB 86234
BR 21798; 5 volumes of Braille
Daughter of a NASA
engineer profiles the black women who worked for NASA, and its predecessor
NACA, as human computers. Discusses their lives prior to joining NACA/NASA, the
challenges they faced due to gender and race discrimination, and their impact
on the space program. Basis for the 2016 movie. 2016.
Apollo
8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger
Read by Brian Troxwell.
Reading Time: 11 hours, 10 minutes.
DB 88328
LB 09197; 551 pages
Author of Journey beyond
Selene (DB 50687) chronicles the Apollo 8 mission–manned by Frank Borman,
James Lovell, and William Anders–which was the first to successfully orbit
Earth’s moon. Discusses behind-the-scenes interactions in Mission Control, at
the astronauts’ homes, and in the labs tasked with making the mission a
success. Some strong language. 2017.
Bringing
Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew by Michael D. Leinbach
Read by Gregory Maupin.
Reading Time: 11 hours, 12 minutes.
DB 90380
Chronicle of the
investigation of the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas on its
return in 2003. Discusses the cause of the accident, interagency work protocols,
and the contributions of volunteers, which allowed for the recovery of crew
remains and forty percent of debris. 2018.
Unmanned
Missions:
Far
Travelers the Exploring Machines by Oran W. Nicks
Read by Butch Hoover.
Reading Time: 10 hours, 50 minutes.
DB 29427
Personal account of
NASA’s unmanned space exploration programs, in which the author shares some of
the technical aspects of space flight. The people, machines, and incidents are
depicted in an informal manner.
The
Hubble Wars: Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two-Billion-Dollar
Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope by Eric Chaisson
Read by Butch Hoover.
Reading Time: 22 hours, 48 minutes.
DB 41889
After its launch in
1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was found to be embarrassingly out of focus.
Astronomers were devastated, politicians disgusted, the press critical, and the
public perplexed. Astrophysicist Chaisson chronicles the mismanagement and
competing agendas among science, government, and industry that led to the
Hubble boondoggle.
The
Planet Mars: A History of Observation & Discovery by William Sheehan
Read by Butch Hoover.
Reading Time: 10 hours, 3 minutes.
DB 48355
Chronological history of
astronomers’ fascination with Mars from Kepler’s discovery of its elliptical
orbit in 1604 through the Viking missions of 1975-76. Includes a chapter on
Percival Lowell and his controversial theory about canals on the planet’s
surface.
Mission Jupiter: The
Spectacular Journey of the Galileo Spacecraft by Daniel Fisher
Read by Butch Hoover.
Reading Time: 10 hours, 1 minute.
DB 57435
Award-winning German
columnist describes the landmark discoveries of NASA’s Galileo space probe,
which reached Jupiter–after passing by Venus and two asteroids–in December
1995, more than six years after liftoff. Fischer provides mission history and
specifications, focusing on what the project data revealed about the planet’s
moons and atmosphere. 1998.
The
Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission by Jim Bell
Read by Jim Bell.
Reading Time: 7 hours, 46 minutes.
DB 80893
President of the
Planetary Society details his work with the data sent back by the Voyager
missions, which launched in 1977 when the author was a high school student.
Looks at the development of the missions and describes the planetary flybys of
the probes. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
Mars:
Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet by Paul Raeburn
Read by Jake Williams.
Reading Time: 8 hours, 40 minutes.
DB 48758
A National Geographic
chronicle of Mars exploration. Focuses on the Viking missions of the 1970s,
whose primary goal was the search for life, and on the July 4, 1997, Pathfinder
landing on Mars’s surface. Explains the design, engineering, and results of the
projects. Discusses plans for future missions. For senior high and older
readers.
Journey
beyond Selene by Jeffrey Kluger
Read by Richard
Hauenstein. Reading Time: 11 hours, 40 minutes.
DB 50687
Chronicles the NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory’s unmanned exploration of Earth’s solar system with robot
spacecraft. Describes the pre-1969 testing of the Moon’s surface in advance of
the manned landing. Recounts the subsequent deep-space probes of Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and their moons. 1999.
Chasing
New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern and Dr. David Grinspoon
Read by Alan Stern. Reading
Time: 9 hours, 19 minutes.
DB 91641
Planetary scientist
Stern and astrobiologist Grinspoon provide a behind-the-scenes account of
NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. Discusses science, politics,
personalities, and public expectations involved in the development of the
mission. Gives short overview of the history of the study of Pluto. Unrated.
2018.
