The book Normal Boys by Tom Wolfe

In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts—twenty-nine men and six women who would spend the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program at NASA—were introduced to the public. Among them was U.S. Air Force Colonel Mike Mullane, who in his memoir, “Riding the Shuttle,” dispels the heroic halo around the astronaut corps and portrays them for what they are—ordinary people.

Mullane's stories are sometimes raunchy, often comical, but always entertaining. He vividly describes all aspects of the astronaut experience, and is brutally honest in his critique of NASA management, whose mistakes led to the Challenger disaster in 1986 and the deaths of four members of his crew. "Riding the Shuttle" is a funny, heartfelt story of life in all its fateful uncertainty.

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