How NASA Learned to Fly in Space: An Exciting Account of the Gemini Missions: Apogee Books Space Series 46

This is a very readable account of the Gemini missions of 1965-66 which were launched at the breathtaking pace of one every other month. Harland intersperses accounts of the plannning and execution of the missions with the dialogue of the astronauts and mission controllers in such an absorbing way that it is difficult to put the book down at times. The intricacies of orbital rendesvous are explained lucidly and should be easy to follow by anyone with basic technical knowledge. The photos are in sharp black and white and complement the text nicely. A lot of them first appeared in the original Nasa Fact Sheets which I still have. I would recommend this to anyone interested in spaceflight as it comprehensively covers a programme which is all too often overshadowed by the glamour of project Apollo.

Lots of good reviews here, but I just wanted to say that what made this book for me were great personalities like Wally Schirra, who (rightly) brags about his first rendezvous in space while (again rightly) trashing the Soviet Union's claims of rendezvous. The Gemini spacecraft was a dream, too, and we learned a hell of a lot while using it. This book captures those pioneering days well.

I love this book. It explains in an easy to read format just how important the Gemini program was in getting us to the moon. Gemini was described as a test pilots dream and this book shows why, with many stories I had not previously been aware of and I read lots of space books. I am very pleased to see Apogee Books branching out with books by exceptionally talented authors like Harland.

Just finished David Harland's account of Project Gemini, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Harland does a great job of explaining the nuts and bolts of this often overlooked program. His account of the intricacies of mastering both rendezvous and EVA demonstrate that without Gemini, Apollo just doesn't happen. Many great photos accompany the text, and it is too bad that Apogee decided against a CD with this book.