Out of Orbit: The Incredible True Story of Three Astronauts Who Were Hundreds of Miles Above Earth When They Lost Their Ride Home

By Chris Jones

Book Overview

Formerly Titled TOO FAR FROM HOME

On February 1, 2003, the nation was stunned to watch the shuttle Columbia disintegrate into a blue-green sky. Despite the numerous new reports surrounding the tragedy, the public remained largely unaware that three men, U.S. astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox, and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin, remained orbiting Earth. With the launch program suspended indefinitely, these astronauts, who were already near the end of a fourteen-week mission, had suddenly lost their ride home.

Out of Orbit is the harrowing behind-the-scenes chronicle of the efforts of beleagured Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow, who worked frantically against the clock to bring their men safely back to Earth, ultimately settling on a plan that felt, at best, like a long shot.

Given that no shuttle could come for them, the astronauts' only hope for a return flight became a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule latched to the side of the space station--a piece of equipment roughly the equivalent of a padded box attached to a parachute, with a troubled history (in 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian astronauts dead) and dated technology.

Gripping and fast-paced, Out of Orbit is an adventure in outer space that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In a day and age when space travel is poised to become available to the masses, Out of Orbit vividly captures both its hazardous realities and soaring majesty.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767919912
• ISBN13: 9780767919913
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Details Details!

This is a very good read; Despite what the Editorial Comment says, Columbia was lost on February 1, 2003, not the 23rd. However I was dismayed by a serious, SERIOUS, error of detail: on page 21 the author states that STS-71 Atlantis's External Tank was attacked by woodpeckers, making necessary time-consuming repairs to the foam insulation. NO!!!!! NO NO NO!!! That was the STS-70 Discovery launch vehicle! Just because both flights launched in the summer of 1995 does NOT mean you just pick a flight to attach an incident to. To me this is a major, catastrophic detail-error. Does it matter to the story? Of course not, but if the author gets information that is easily made correct with 5 minutes of research, who's to say the rest of the book's details aren't wrong? I just happen to be familiar with that incident, but not with necessarily everything else he discusses, and again, how can I trust that he's gotten everything else right when there's such an unbelievably glaring error early in the book?!?

not just another space book

I have never really gotten involved in the typical space/astronaut/nasa books before. This is really written by someone who truly understands the human phenomenon. I couldn't put the book down, and was sad when it was over. How many non fiction books can you say that about? I learned so much about the space program, and came to love the real folks who serve it. I was able to identify with the wives, and with the feelings of isolation and disconnect that the astronauts experienced as well.

This is as good as it gets.....

Ordinarily I wouldn't read a book on space travel because it's not something I've ever had an interest in. I picked the book up for my husband. I'm certainly glad I opened it myself. I read one of the comments where the person thought that Chris Jones should stick to what he knows, sports. I think it's obvious that Chris IS sticking to what he knows, the heart and soul that fills a person up and pushes them to go for the impossible. He understands the human spirit and writes about it beautifully. Space travel is a huge, poetic, heroic, incredible achievement that somehow I viewed with a blase' attitude -- Ho-hum, man in space.... What was I thinking! Thanks to Chris I will now always view it with a lump in my throat and gratitude to the remarkable men and women who make it happen.

Too Far From Home

This is a very telling version of what actually happens in our space program. While we desperately need the space program, it is scary how easily our very dedicated and talented astronauts can be harmed or killed in their jobs. My commendations to them for their courage and pride in their work. I very much enjoyed this book. It is an easy read.

Beautiful Prose

I am typically not a non-fiction reader. I bought the book for my husband and decided to read it first. I found myself quickly fascinated. The author takes some time to build a background of the astronauts that is essential to the story. In many instances the book reads like a novel, keeping me interested and focused. Pieces of history of the space program for the US and Russia are interspersed throughout, seamlessly blending with the story. The writing is beautiful. The author is able to spotlight the emotions of not only the astronauts who were "too far from home" but that of their wives as well. I highly recommended the book to anyone who loves stories about space and anyone else who just loves a good "story"!