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Mike Massimino's Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe is the astronauts personal story of his journey from watching moonwalkers as a working-class kid to traveling into space himself.
Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia
shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the
Hubble Telescope - which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with
saving on his final mission - Massimino has written an ode to never giving
up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible.
Spaceman
invites us into a rare, wonderful world where science meets the most
thrilling adventure, revealing just what having “the right stuff” really
means.
Massimino served as a NASA Astronaut from 1996 until 2014 and flew in space twice: STS-109 on space shuttle Columbia in March 2002 and STS-125 on space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009 – the final two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. Mike became the first human to tweet from space, was the last human to work inside of Hubble, and set a team record with his crewmates for the most cumulative spacewalking time in a single space shuttle mission.
Mike has a recurring role as himself on The Big Bang Theory; appears regularly on late night talk shows, news programs, and documentaries; and is a much sought after inspirational speaker. He received his BS from the Columbia University School of Engineering, and his two MS’s and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He currently lives in New York City where he is an engineering professor at Columbia and an advisor at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.
"Every generation of astronauts needs a storyteller — a person with
wit, humor, and passion who has lived our collective dreams of space
exploration and returned to tell us all about it. Mike Massimino is that
person. He’s that astronaut. And this is his story." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
"Mike Massimino writes about space with an astronaut’s eye and an
engineer’s precision. You’ll be impressed with his journey and his
perspective on where a well-developed space program can take us in the
future." -- Senator John Glenn
"Inspired by moonwalkers,
Mike grew up, became an astronaut, and fixed the Hubble Space Telescope,
all while remaining some kinda’ humble. You can’t help but follow him
from Long Island to the bottom of the spacewalk practice pool, then 350
miles up and back. He’s a spaceman through and through; he tells how
hard work can take you out of this world." -- Bill Nye, the Science Guy, CEO of the Planetary Society
"Massimino’s incredible journeys, filled with grit, courage, suspense
and thrills, are told with such candor and delight, that for a brief
moment I felt I’d finally made it to space too. Read this book and be
inspired to reach for the impossible." -- Brian Greene, Columbia University, author of The Fabric of the Cosmos
"An
engaging and uplifting memoir that’s sure to give readers a deeper
appreciation for the U.S. space program and inspire some future
astronauts." -- Publishers Weekly
