Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery Paperback – September 25, 2018

Well done Scott Kelly, well done.Scott shares his whole life within these pages. Everything from growing up in New Jersey, his marriages, his travels, military career, and his time in space. I learned so much from reading this book. I thought his stories were exciting, and I didn’t want to put this book down.Here’s a few things that caught my attention.The chapters in this book don’t have any titles, and Scott, the author, jumped from one time period to another, so that confused me at first, but then it became easier and kind of neat to get different perspectives of his life.I was amazed and surprised that Scott did so poorly in school and was able to buckle down and do the work needed to make him eligible to be an astronaut.I was so encouraged how the Americans and Russians put their differences aside and worked together and became true friends; in addition, there were many differences in their equipment, procedures and expectations.For example, “The Russian space agency has a much different system for compensating their cosmonauts than we do: Their base salaries are much lower, but they get paid bonuses for each day they fly in space. (I get only five dollars per diem, but my base salary is much better.) However, their bonuses are decreased whenever they make “mistakes,” those mistakes defined rather arbitrarily. I suspect that complaining, even making very legitimate complaints, can be defined as a mistake, costing them money and, potentially, the chance to fly in space again.” This seems very risky.I’m so excited about the experiments they are doing on the space station. Scott Kelly told us that he was involved in over 400 different experiments during his stay and most of them dealt with effects of gravity, but the life changing results of these experiments are well worth the expense. These include learning about aging, our vision, cardiovascular health, and so much more. The list of experiments they are doing in space is way too long to include, but I would encourage you to read this book. It’s so worth it.On the lighter side, one of the astronauts even brought his bagpipe with him and woke up Scott one morning playing his bagpipe and Scoot loved it. Scott also loves classical music and brought his iPad with him to listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Struss to name a few. Scott also lived in Russia for a couple of years at Star City, which is Russia’s John F Kennedy’s Space Center equivalent.I never realized how many sites NASA had such as Ames in California, Glenn in Ohio, Goddard in Maryland, Michoud in Louisiana, Marshall in Alabama, headquarters in D.C., Kennedy in Florida.Regarding Mars, Scott shared that 2033 is a reasonable launch date for Mars, but that is not set in stone and needs to be continuously updated.In conclusion, I want to share this quote from Scoot Kelly that touched me. “I always think about what it meant to me to read The Right Stuff as a young man. I feel certain that I wouldn’t have done any of the things I have if I hadn’t read that book—if Tom Wolfe hadn’t written it. On a quiet Saturday afternoon, I called Tom Wolfe to thank him. He sounded truly amazed to hear from me.” Books change lives for the better. I wish more people loved books as much as I love books.

When Scott Kelly decided he was going to write a book he contacted Tom Wolfe, author of THE RIGHT STUFF, the book that inspired Kelly to become an astronaut. Kelly asked Wolfe how he should begin.“Begin at the beginning,” was Wolfe’s reply.And so Scott Kelly begins with his life growing up in New Jersey as the twin of his astronaut brother Mark. His parents, both liquor addicted police officers, were still inspirations to the burgeoning astronaut. Especially his mother, who was able to set goals and meet them, even at the hands of an abusive husband.Scott was an uninspired student through most of his high school years, and then he picked up a copy of Wolfe’s book, which is the story of the original Mercury astronauts. He was hooked.Kelly knew his grades would never get him into the Naval Academy at Annapolis, but they were good enough to get him into the Merchant Marine Academy, which was good enough to get him into the Navy. He became a pilot, and that led to becoming a test pilot, and that led to NASA. His first Space Shuttle mission was in December 1999, when he was pilot of Discovery STS-103, an eight day service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.In 2012 Kelly was selected for a 340 day mission aboard the International Space Station, a mission that began in March 2015 and ended in March 2016. He retired in April of the same year.Kelly has written a very engaging book about his life and his life in space, and the havoc that space travel wreaks on a human body. Kelly writes how his first marriage ended in divorce, hinting that marital infidelity on his part might have been one of the causes of that failure.Kelly is at his best when he writes about his life on earth. From a failing, uninspired student to becoming a paramedic, to becoming a test pilot and then an astronaut, he has written an inspiring story. It’s not an ‘if I can do it, you can do it’ type of story. Rather, it’s a story of overcoming the obstacles in your path and achieving your goals.His writing of his life in space is also quite interesting. I think we all realize how dangerous space travel can be, but I never realized how much of a toll it takes on an astronaut’s body. It affects their vision. It affects their neuromuscular structure. Too much inhalation of elevated carbon dioxide can lead to the bends, the same condition that afflicts divers. We now know that, thanks to medical tests performed on Scott and his astronaut twin brother Mark, that it also affects their DNA, as Scott’s is now slightly different than Mark’s. The research into how his year in space affected his body will go on for years.Scott Kelly has written a very good memoir, with just enough tension to make readers feel like they’re riding a missile into space alongside him. It also reminds us that, with enough hard work, we can attain the goals we set for ourselves.To keep up with Scott Kelly’s story, follow him on Twitter at NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly

I have been a US space program junkie since before the days of project Apollo so naturally I lean toward liking most books about the subject. I followed Mr. Kelly's long stay(s) on the ISS fairly closely through NASA.com and NASA TV, as I have other astronauts as well, but you never really know how the experience is affecting the inhabitants since there certainly has to be a code concerning what you should say and what not to say during communications with us all back on earth. The opportunity to get real insight directly from the man who 'lived it' was very interesting and enlightening. Hearing some of his honest (and sometimes not so favorable) opinions about certain conditions and situations that were obviously unavoidable during his stay(s) only reinforce for me that it takes a very special type of person to succeed at that job. As much as I have loved our space program throughout my life, I seriously doubt if I would have the "right stuff" to succeed as an astronaut. :(I was not put off by the fact that the book was written with the help of a professional writer, as I read in some other rather negative reviews of this book. I always felt as though I was more or less reading Mr. Kelly's words even if conveyed through another person. The sometimes 'colorful' and often very humorous language used throughout the book came across as very believable to me as coming from Mr. Kelly. I laughed out loud quite often at the funny situations that were shared.If you are a space fan like I am, I don't think you will be disappointed with this book. I feel like I know Scott Kelly (and definitely the ISS) much better now than I did before reading it.