Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond

by Nancy Conrad, Howard A. Klausner, Buzz Aldrin (Introduction)

Overview

HE WAS THE THIRD MAN TO WALK ON THE MOON—
BUT THE FIRST TO DANCE ON IT.
HE WAS THE ROCKETMAN.

For Pete Conrad, it was all about the ride. Whether he was hot-dogging at Mach 2, test-flying every supersonic jet the Navy developed (and some they shouldn’t have), orbiting the Earth at almost 20,000 mph, or redlining his Corvette, he loved pushing the envelope.

Pete wasn’t the squeaky-clean astronaut poster boy. The guy every NASA pilot wanted to happy-hour with after work—and would kill to fly with—Pete had a natural outspokenness that got him washed out of the Mercury program. But the “Comeback Kid” came roaring back—flying two Gemini missions, walking on the Moon as commander of Apollo 12, commanding the first Skylab, and logging more time in space than all the original astronauts combined.
 
This is a surprisingly candid insider’s view of the greatest ride in history: America’s glorious race to the stars, as seen through the eyes of a real space cowboy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101099537
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/02/2006
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	460 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nancy Conrad was married to Pete Conrad for the last ten years of his life. A writer, artists’ representative, and interior designer, she has left her mark on some of the world’s most prestigious publications, galleries, and homes. She cofounded Universal Space Network with her late husband, is a member of the Presidents’ Circle of the National Academies, and serves on the board of directors of the California Air and Space Center at NASA Ames Research Center. She also cofounded the Community Emergency Healthcare Initiative, a program designed to prevent injuries and deaths occurring from medical error in emergency rooms around the world.
 
A lifelong student and devotee of all things space, Howard A. Klausner is a screenwriter and a creative director of Rocketman Enterprises, Inc., an entertainment technology group. His most prominent big-screen credit is Space Cowboys, starring Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones, and he is currently developing a television series about the space program. Mr. Klausner lives on Orcas Island, in Washington, with his wife and three daughters, where he writes aboard an old wooden sailboat, staring long and often at the Moon and stars.

Editorial Reviews

Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930-99) seemed to be the last person destined to make history. The dyslexic son of debt-ridden parents, the Philadelphia-born future astronaut took odd jobs at an airfield before landing a Navy scholarship to Princeton, where he majored in aeronautical engineering. A born risk taker, he became one of the nation's elite test pilots, then joined the Mercury Space Program, only to drop out. Some people thought that he was too free-spirited or too short in stature to become an astronaut. Conrad proved them wrong. On his four Gemini flights, he spent nearly 1,200 hours in space, but he is best known as the commander of the second lunar landing in November 1969. His first words on the moon were not exactly tailored for history: "Whoopie!" he shouted, "That may have been one small step for Neil, but it's a long one for me!" In Rocketman, Conrad's widow joins with Space Cowboys screenplay writer Howard A. Klausner to capture the life and achievements of a high-flying hero.

Screenwriter Klausner (Space Cowboys), writing with astronaut Conrad's second wife, Nancy, brings a snappy, movie-dialogue feel to this biography of Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930-1999). Perhaps not as well remembered as some of his colleagues because his missions fell between the more famous ones, Conrad flew on Gemini 5, which set a record for the most days in space up to that point, on Gemini 11, notable for rendezvousing and docking with a rocket on the first orbit, and commanded Apollo 12 on a glitch-free ride to the moon. A decade later, Conrad was called on to save the ill-fated Skylab, which had suffered crippling injuries on its journey into space. He showed that the best way to fix something was usually the simplest: a few good hard whacks with a hammer. Early in his career, Conrad was passed over for the Mercury program because he didn't have "the right stuff"-he got fed up with the intrusive medical exams and tossed his enema bag down on the commanding general's desk. But the public and Conrad's co-workers loved him for his hard-living, hard-working persona. Fans of the American space program will enjoy this fast read, which captures the bigger-than-life character of this gap-toothed, all-American space cowboy. Agent, Bill Gladstone. (May 3) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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