Getting Off the Planet: Training Astronauts

Ever since I was a littel kid I have had the picture of Dr. Randall Chambers wearing the Mercury pressure suit on my wall. The picture has been a motivtion and is signed is dated 1961 and says it he is the son of Frank E. Chambers my grandfather is Joesph m and great greandfather is George B I want to know if we are related. Larry Chambers [email protected]

Getting off the planet is a quirky book that fills the space for those who wonder "How did they originally select the astronauts?" I enjoyed this book. Those of us that really follow the manned space programs from the beginning, often wondered how it has been done and only a few articles and one other book told how they were selected- from the MD's point of view. The cover shows the rigors of what had to be done in the Good Ole Days- before the Lisa Nowak incident! No one knew what would happen to the human bodies in space- could they breathe, bat their eyes, swallow, or even poop? Things that we take for granted today, were real unknowns in the early days. What would it be like to walk on the Moon? To land ANYWHERE in the world...and survive? This is a well written and illustrated document that you will read over and over every time you read "A man on the Moon", or "The Right Stuff". If you like that....you will enjoy this one

While hundreds of books have documented the technological challenges overcome by the engineers of the early space programs this book describes the physiological, psychological, and sociological challenges faced by researchers who helped send the first humans into space. The book provides a personal account of a dedicated scientist and how his research (along with his colleagues) was used to design and test vehicles and equipment necessary to sustain human life outside the Earth's environment. No, this is not a text book, encyclopedia, or chronicle of the astronaut training programs. But if you take the time to enjoy this short book you will get an overview of the critical work performed by these unsung researchers and the daunting challenges they overcame. You will also come to realize that for all the engineering and technological accomplishments of the space program, the human astronaut remains the most complex (and least understood) system onboard even the most modern spacecraft.

Excellent book. It covers everything you need to know about astronaut's training back in the 60's.