Frank Carlson Library

Rick Husband wanted to be an astronaut since his fourth birthday, but it wasn't always for the right reasons. Initially, he thought it would be neat... cool... a fun thing to do. It wasn't until he came to a spiritual crossroads and was able to give that dream up to discover the true desires of his heart before he actually got into the space shuttle program at NASA. Three failed attempts didn't daunt this driven pilot-and the fourth interview process,...

What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape, any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the...

"Meet Ellen Ochoa, history's first Hispanic female astronaut! Follow Ochoa's story as she works at NASA's Ames Research Center while attempting to become an astronaut. Her persistence pays off when she is chosen to be astronaut on her third try! Learn about her accomplishments from her space shuttle missions through her retirement as the director of the Johnson Space Center"--Provided by publisher.

"As the first American woman in space, Sally Ride broke barriers and made her dreams come true. But she wanted to do even more! After leaving NASA, she created science and engineering programs that would help other girls and women make their dreams come true as well." -- Amazon.com. "A biography of Sally Ride in the She Persisted series"--

"Scott wasn't sure what he wanted to be when he grew up. He struggled in school and often got in trouble with his twin brother, Mark. Then one day Scott discovered a book about test pilots and astronauts that set him on a new path. His new focus led him to fly higher and higher, becoming first a pilot and then an astronaut, along with his brother--the first twin astronauts in history. But his greatest accomplishment of all was commanding the International...

Looks at the life and career of the physician and NASA astronaut who became the first American woman in space in 1983.

A biography of Sally Ride, who in 1983 became the first American woman in space.

In First Man, Hansen explores the life of Neil Armstrong. Based on over 50 hours of interviews with the intensely private Armstrong, who also gave Hansen exclusive access to private documents and family sources, this "magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century" (Publishers Weekly, Starred Review) is an unparalleled biography of an American icon. When Apollo 11 touched down on the moon's surface in 1969, the first man...

Although Apollo 11 made Aldrin a famous person as he described the "alien world" of moon and space as "magnificent desolation," his celebrity status led to both personal trials and triumphs back on earth. "The twin demons of depression and alcoholism emerged -- the first of which Aldrin confronteed early and publicly, and the second of which he met with denial until it nearly killed him." He describes the failure of two marriages and renewal once...

A biography of the California astrophysicist who became, with the second mission of the Challenger spacecraft in June 1983, the first American woman and the youngest American astronaut to orbit the earth.