Book Reviews: Summer 2017

Allan Howells on books about space, and Rob Taylor on books that inspired popular TV series

Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer
Jerry L Ross

The US space shuttle programme flew for 30 years, from April 1981 to July 2011, during which time it transported 355 different astronauts and cosmonauts to and from space. Only three astronauts supported the entire shuttle programme from before the first launch through to its final landing. Jerry Ross was one of these three. During his time, he undertook a record-breaking seven space missions, made nine spacewalks, helped develop and create the facilities, tools and techniques to construct the International Space Station and performed a leadership role in the recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia wreckage. By anyone’s standards, Jerry Ross knows what it’s like to prepare for and fly a space shuttle mission successfully.

This autobiography describes what it was like for an ordinary, common kid from Indiana, lying on his back in the fields of middle America, looking up at the stars, dreaming of travelling into space, to then grow up and live his dream. He says, ‘I reached my dreams by always believing in them – no matter how distant they seemed – and by sticking with them through trial, error and successes.’ His account includes some direct quotes and quarter-page contributions from family members and childhood friends, and these provide the reader with a richer perspective on Ross. We understand how he responds to the pressures of being an astronaut and get an insight into the impact on family life as seen from the family’s perspective.

Although Ross became NASA’s most flown shuttle astronaut, it took him five years from selection to taking his first flight. We gain an insight into how the astronaut corps functions as a team; even when he is not assigned to a mission, his work is dedicated to make the forthcoming missions successful. He acknowledges that the success of each mission is down to the work of many, not just the astronauts flying.

Ross reminds us that spacewalking is a massive human challenge. It is rarely straightforward and, even though the astronauts have spent hours developing plans and procedures and then practising them in large swimming pools on the ground, the spacewalkers often have to find creative solutions to problems in space by improvisation. He describes how, on one of his spacewalks during the early construction of the International Space Station, he had to deploy a stuck Russian communication antenna by hitting it with a metal rod, whilst hanging on to the side of station by the fingertips of his other hand! There is one small, touching section in the book where Ross shares his pride in wearing spacesuit gloves on a spacewalk that have been designed by his daughter.

In the later chapters, Ross describes the challenging time that NASA faced after the 2002 accident resulting in the loss of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke up in the atmosphere on the way home from space. Ross took a leading role, as a member of NASA’s Rapid Response Team, in recovering debris spread across the fields of Louisiana. His account reminds us that the job of an astronaut is not all glamour, stardom and public adulation, and that this group of brave people face many difficult challenges which we are often unaware of.

My final thought is that, even as a record holder, Ross is a very humble man; this is reflected by one passage in his book: ‘Records are good, but they shouldn’t last long. If we don’t keep breaking records, we’re not progressing’. What an interesting and challenging thought for us all to consider in our everyday lives.

Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir
Tom Jones

What goes through your mind when you are in your work clothes, sitting in your vehicle about to be transported to work, listening to and feeling the vibrations as your engines start, realising that being fully fuelled you are now less than five metres away from the power and energy contained within a small nuclear bomb, when 1.9 seconds before you expect to start moving everything goes silent as your engines suddenly stop?

What does it feel like to slow down from 17,500 mph to 200 mph in 20 minutes, hearing the gases from our atmosphere rushing past and rubbing the outside of your spacecraft to heat it up so that you can feel the warmth penetrating the inside of the cabin which is sustaining your life, and then the gases glowing so bright and colourful that it feels as though you are sitting inside the tube of a fluorescent lightbulb?

Could you squeeze into a suit which is only millimetres thick, place on a helmet which mutes all sound except the small whirring of the electric fan and pump which is circulating water and air to maintain your body temperature and allow you to breathe, then move through a doorway only to find the floor disappear and you see the ground 200 miles below?

Welcome to the world of astronaut Tom Jones!

Jones has circled the earth 847 times, flying four missions in three different space shuttle orbiters, undertaking scientific measurements of our majestic blue planet and construction work building the International Space Station. Is he a superhero? No, he’s just an ordinary man doing extraordinary things. His book, Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir, is an easy read for anyone interested in understanding what it’s like to be an explorer and to experience things which only a few people have ever done. His writing style is easy and eloquent. This is not a book of technical, scientific and engineering facts, nor is it a book about the testing regime that would-be astronauts are put through during their training and selection process. Other writers have already covered that in detail. Instead, Jones, with his lyrical pen, has provided an account of what it looks and feels like to be an astronaut; what it’s like to travel to, work and walk in space. Of all the astronaut accounts that I have read (and there have been many), none describe better the 45 minutes’ travel time from earth orbit to the point at which wheels stop on runway. He describes beautifully the colours, sounds and feelings encountered during those last few minutes of the space flight. Equally he provides a very detailed account of the experience of a space shuttle launch. And, if you read his book, you will also find out the answers to the questions above!

Preacher; American Gods; Game of Thrones

We live in a golden age of TV. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. The budgets that used to be spent on Hollywood movies are now spent on sequential TV series. Instead of trying to cram a rich and fully realised world into two hours maximum you have whole series of hour-long episodes to really examine characters and get to know their stories.

Is it any wonder, then, that TV execs have turned to novels and comics to provide that deep, richly textured world in which to tell stories? I thought I’d go through a few, in case the TV show has ignited your interest in the story…

Preacher
Steve Dillon and Garth Ennis

Originally a 75-issue monthly comic, this tells the tale of Jesse Custer, a preacher struggling with his doubts about religion, who is granted an incredible supernatural gift. He sets off with an ex-girlfriend and a mysterious Irishman to try to find the Almighty and hold him to account. The TV series is based on the same principle, but tells different stories with the characters; in the comic, Jesse is likeable but kind of one-dimensional, whereas in the TV series he is just as flawed and vulnerable to human frailty as the rest of us. Anyone picking up the comic because of the TV show would probably do best to start at the beginning with the collection Gone to Texas, or jump straight into the second book Until the End of the World, as all the basic pieces of the story have been put into place by the TV show.

American Gods
Neil Gaiman

In American Gods, ex-con Shadow Moon comes out of jail and starts to work for the mysterious Mr Wednesday, as they trail across America visiting characters that flit between myth and fact as part of an ongoing and hidden war between the old gods and the new. In many ways the TV series is a direct interpretation of the book, having multiple characters, each with their own arc, and stories to tell about the myths of America. It’s been one of my favourite books for a long while, so it was a relief to see such a faithful representation on screen – although I should warn you that the TV series has a raunchy focus that the book merely implies. So do be prepared for a lot of naked flesh on display. Which brings me neatly on to…

Game of Thrones
George RR Martin

The series is one of the most-watched TV shows ever, so its blend of sex, magic and bloody violence needs no introduction. If you’ve watched and enjoyed the series, then the books are just for you. It puts far more depth into the characters – which often makes it harder when they are then wiped out without a shred of pity. It is to the author’s credit that he is able to weave the hundreds of stories into one cohesive narrative. Every chapter is told from a character’s point of view, and it only takes a couple of sentences before you’re back with them. Up to the previous series the producers had been reliant on Martin for the direction and story; however, they have now overtaken the progression of the novels and, as such, the series has become a lot more direct and lean, which is no bad thing. The sixth book, The Winds of Winter, is meant to be out this year. However, it is worth noting it was also meant to be out last year. And the year before that…