--- product_id: 1512505 title: "Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond" price: "110.19 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1512505-failure-is-not-an-option-mission-control-from-mercury-to store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond **Price:** 110.19 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond - **How much does it cost?** 110.19 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1512505-failure-is-not-an-option-mission-control-from-mercury-to) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description This New York Times bestselling memoir of a veteran NASA flight director tells riveting stories from the early days of the Mercury program through Apollo 11 (the moon landing) and Apollo 13, for both of which Kranz was flight director. Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America’s manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA’s Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director’s role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy’s commitment to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. Kranz recounts these thrilling historic events and offers new information about the famous flights. What appeared as nearly flawless missions to the Moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses. When the space technology failed, as it sometimes did, the controllers’ only recourse was to rely on their skills and those of their teammates. He reveals behind-the-scenes details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success. A fascinating firsthand account by a veteran mission controller of one of America’s greatest achievements, Failure Is Not an Option reflects on what has happened to the space program and offers his own bold suggestions about what we ought to be doing in space now. Review: Revitalized my interest in NASA and Space Exploration - Very enjoyable read! I saw this recommended and I'm always a sucker for a book, so I bought it on a whim, listened to it, and got sucked into NASA history. I loved all of the history and details and leadership lessons it contained. Now I'm looking for more on the subject. Review: Great flight controller coming up through the ranks. Working with people.Not an egotist like Chris Kraft - I read almost all the astronaut books. This book was great explaining some of the ground control of Mercury through the Apollo program. We see Gene Krantz becoming a fighter pilot with the Saber's. Unfortunately the Air Force wanted Krantz to fly tankers. No way. He joins NASA and is mentored by Chris Kraft. He goes up the ranks working with various people and becomes a flight controller and then becomes "Flight" the head of the "white" crew. We see him working with telemetry members in the "trench". His wife makes him a white vest to wear on the missions with Gene at flight control. We see the first 4 inch launch, Al Shepard's first American in space launch and the rest of the Mercury shots. Then the Gemini and later the Apollo shots. Krantz and his white crew were in charge of the LM touching down and off the moon on Apollo 11. Krantz helps get Apollo 13 home after an oxygen tank explodes and takes out the entire side of the service module.The astronauts are so proud of ground control helping them. Ground control receives the Medal of Freedom award. After Apollo 17 Gene is promoted to a higher management level under Kraft so his days as being in direct control as "Flight" are over. Its incredible the pressure the controllers and Flight worked under. There was life and death decisions, and abort, go or no go decisions that had to be done sometimes in seconds. Only a select few had the mentality to function at this pressure level. Many washed out and those that were good many times got promoted to higher positions. What a great book. Much less ego busting and egotistical put downs like Chris Kraft did in his book Flight ( see my review 3 stars). Gene Krantz is a man that knew he needed help from other people who were smarter than he and was able to work in teams with hundreds of men.He learned much from many and gave credit to those who helped and were the best of the best in their job specialties. Gene was not afraid to tell people including Chris Kraft that he believed they were wrong in some aspects of a mission.Sometimes he was right sometimes wrong. We see the new breed of flight controllers trained that were faster and brighter with faster technology than the Kraft and Krantz generation.Krantz helped develop a degree of excellence and mission rules for the controllers and Flight that they must work through their problems, be prepared and have a deep mind set that "Failure is not an option". The torch is passed. A great ending of the book. Krantz tells us that NASA has deteriorated and does not have a clear direct to go deep into manned space. We need a leader like John Kennedy to set up a bold mission to go to Mars and beyond. Congress must get involved and support NASA. An excellent book that helps describe ground control in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras. Thanks Gene Krantz for your contributions to manned space. 5 stars ## Features - Author: Kranz, Gene. - Publisher: Simon & Schuster - Pages: 416 - Publication Date: 2009 - Binding: Paperback - MSRP: 14.02 - ISBN13: 9781439148815 - ISBN: 1439148813 - Other ISBN: 9780743214476 - Other ISBN Binding: print - Language: en - Quality Rating: 1 ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #18,742 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #13 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books) #23 in Scientist Biographies #26 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,991 Reviews | ## Images ![Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/814UXJDnbZL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Revitalized my interest in NASA and Space Exploration *by B***L on November 12, 2025* Very enjoyable read! I saw this recommended and I'm always a sucker for a book, so I bought it on a whim, listened to it, and got sucked into NASA history. I loved all of the history and details and leadership lessons it contained. Now I'm looking for more on the subject. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great flight controller coming up through the ranks. Working with people.Not an egotist like Chris Kraft *by T***N on October 5, 2010* I read almost all the astronaut books. This book was great explaining some of the ground control of Mercury through the Apollo program. We see Gene Krantz becoming a fighter pilot with the Saber's. Unfortunately the Air Force wanted Krantz to fly tankers. No way. He joins NASA and is mentored by Chris Kraft. He goes up the ranks working with various people and becomes a flight controller and then becomes "Flight" the head of the "white" crew. We see him working with telemetry members in the "trench". His wife makes him a white vest to wear on the missions with Gene at flight control. We see the first 4 inch launch, Al Shepard's first American in space launch and the rest of the Mercury shots. Then the Gemini and later the Apollo shots. Krantz and his white crew were in charge of the LM touching down and off the moon on Apollo 11. Krantz helps get Apollo 13 home after an oxygen tank explodes and takes out the entire side of the service module.The astronauts are so proud of ground control helping them. Ground control receives the Medal of Freedom award. After Apollo 17 Gene is promoted to a higher management level under Kraft so his days as being in direct control as "Flight" are over. Its incredible the pressure the controllers and Flight worked under. There was life and death decisions, and abort, go or no go decisions that had to be done sometimes in seconds. Only a select few had the mentality to function at this pressure level. Many washed out and those that were good many times got promoted to higher positions. What a great book. Much less ego busting and egotistical put downs like Chris Kraft did in his book Flight ( see my review 3 stars). Gene Krantz is a man that knew he needed help from other people who were smarter than he and was able to work in teams with hundreds of men.He learned much from many and gave credit to those who helped and were the best of the best in their job specialties. Gene was not afraid to tell people including Chris Kraft that he believed they were wrong in some aspects of a mission.Sometimes he was right sometimes wrong. We see the new breed of flight controllers trained that were faster and brighter with faster technology than the Kraft and Krantz generation.Krantz helped develop a degree of excellence and mission rules for the controllers and Flight that they must work through their problems, be prepared and have a deep mind set that "Failure is not an option". The torch is passed. A great ending of the book. Krantz tells us that NASA has deteriorated and does not have a clear direct to go deep into manned space. We need a leader like John Kennedy to set up a bold mission to go to Mars and beyond. Congress must get involved and support NASA. An excellent book that helps describe ground control in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras. Thanks Gene Krantz for your contributions to manned space. 5 stars ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Not a bad book - not a great one either. *by A***T on January 16, 2007* "Failure is Not An Option" is not a bad book, but it is not a great one either. Kranz provides certain insight into the role of NASA Flight Directors and the book is interesting to the extent it serves that function. However, Kranz occasionally gives major events fairly short shrift, while writing at length on an array of banal topics which are of limited interest. The reader is often left wanting greater details about events that shaped the space program and less information on subjects such as Kranz's management style or his trademark vests. Moreover, Kranz's writing style is a little too compact and terse to make this book a consistently engaging read. Kranz uses the word "crisp" in seemingly every other paragraph. His writing style might be described in the same way. Unfortunately, it can make sections of "Failure Is Not An Option" a bit tedious at times. Lastly, although a small point, Kranz makes no attempt to hide his political bent. The book is replete with praise for Kennedy and obvious (though unarticulated) disdain for Nixon. Kranz speaks with almost boy-like ardor of Kennedy's far-sightedness and vision for the space program despite the fact that many regard Kennedy's interest in space to have arisen solely out of a political desire to beat the Soviets - not for scientific or human advancement as Kranz would have the reader believe. At times, the political commentary proves irritating and distracting and Kranz's idolatry of Kennedy excessive and simplistic. That said, this book is worth the read for the information it does impart and to supplement other texts on the space program, but it is not as gripping or engaging as "Lost Moon" or a host of others. ## Frequently Bought Together - Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond - Apollo 13 - Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1512505-failure-is-not-an-option-mission-control-from-mercury-to](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1512505-failure-is-not-an-option-mission-control-from-mercury-to) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-03*