Product Description

On 12 February 1997, two Russian cosmonauts joined an American astronaut for a routine test mission on board the only permanent manned outpost in space, the dilapidated, eleven-year-old Mir space station. Within two weeks they were fighting the worst fire in space history. This was only the beginning of what would become the most dangerous mission in the history of space travel - an epic, six-month misadventure that would climax in the most harrowing accident in space since Apollo 13.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #533546 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Observer
'The most definitive account of the mistakes and mismanagement that consistently jeopardised the world's only working space station . . . utterly compelling.'

Maxim
'As exciting as a thriller, and the real-life characters are as well drawn as any Booker winner's.'

Irish Independent
'A breathtaking real-life story of suspense, survival and political manipulation . . . masterfully fashioned by Bryan Burrough into a drama of nightmarish proportions.'

Customer Reviews

WONDERFULL
I read the book A Man On The Moon last summer and was amazed at how good it was. I went onto purchase such books as Off The Planet and Way Station To the Stars which are about the Crisis on Mir. But those books although very entertaining did not give me the enjoyment that I had withg A Man On The Moon. All that changed when I bought this book. It gave me the full story of the shuttle mir program and the astronauts and ground crew that endured it. This book will not just take you to the fire or the progress colision. It will take you through every mior astronauts stories and teach you things you never knew. For example the first two astronauts to go to russia hated each other or if you have read off the planet written by astronaut Jerry Lineger you may get the feeling that he has a huge ego but not that bad. this books rips his ego apart and shows you that his ego is universal. Buy this book if you seek the truth and want to understand the current astronaut office and the internation pace station. you will not be dissapointed.

Gets better and better....
Although I've given five stars I was actually a little disappointed when I first read this. I think I was expecting something very similar to the classic book about the Apollo 13 mission. Dragonfly, for good reason, has a different pace and emphasis and doesn't make such an immediate impact.

However, reading this book a second (then a third!) time got rid of any lingering doubts I had. The portrayal of the characters involved is superb. That is the book's strongest point - it's not hung up on technology and space hardware - it's primarily about the people and all their various strengths, weaknesses and quirks. There are plenty of digressions and when I first read the book I found these distracting and irritating. But later I found them fascinating and was more than happy to spend a few pages learning why the wider Soviet space programme was falling apart, rather than focusing purely on Mir.

It was particuarly shocking to read how highly trained, super-intelligent specialists (astronauts and cosmonauts) were treated like serfs by their ignorant bosses on the ground. I'd previously assumed people with such amazing qualifications would get more respect and understanding.

An American view, but a good read
I was disappointed by the portrayal of the Russians in this book. It did improve as the book continued and to be fair the author condemned one of the astronauts for helping less with the repairs than he should have done. I loved the book for the details it gave of the mishaps that occured on Mir that you don't get to read about just anywhere. I would recommend reading it, but taking it with a pinch of salt. Mmir may be a scrapheap but the Americans could never have built and maintained something like it!