Apollo Pilot - (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight) by Donn Eisele (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In October 1968 Donn Eisele flew with fellow astronauts Walt Cunningham and Wally Schirra into Earth orbit in Apollo 7. The first manned mission in the Apollo program and the first manned flight after a fire during a launch pad test killed three astronauts in early 1967, Apollo 7 helped restart NASA's manned-spaceflight program.

Known to many as a goofy, lighthearted prankster, Eisele worked his way from the U.S. Naval Academy to test pilot school and then into the select ranks of America's prestigious astronaut corps. He was originally on the crew of Apollo 1 before being replaced due to injury. After that crew died in a horrific fire, Eisele was on the crew selected to return Americans to space. Despite the success of Apollo 7, Eisele never flew in space again, as divorce and a testy crew commander led to the three astronauts being labeled as troublemakers.

Unbeknownst to everyone, after his retirement as a technical assistant for manned spaceflight at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1972, Eisele wrote in detail about his years in the air force and his time in the Apollo program. Long after his death, Francis French discovered Eisele's unpublished memoir, and Susie Eisele Black (Donn's widow) allowed French access to her late husband's NASA files and personal effects. Readers can now experience an Apollo story they assumed would never be written as well as the story behind its discovery.

Review Quotes

"Apollo Pilot is a lost treasure of the golden age of space exploration, a critical and controversial time that people talk about, but that no one has ever heard like this. This first-person account of Apollo 7's Donn Eisele is a vital missing piece of the history of NASA's journey to the moon."--David Hitt, coauthor of Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story -- (2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"[Donn Eisele was] a sharp-eyed witness to space history, to the darker side of Apollo, and we are lucky to have his memories."--Michael Cassutt, coauthor of Deke! and We Have Capture
-- (2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"A posthumous memoir gives an unsung astronaut his due."--Kirkus-- (9/8/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"At long last, the enigmatic Donn Eisele tells his story. Eisele holds nothing back in his memoirs discussing 1960s-era NASA and his historic Apollo 7 mission. His blunt reminiscences make other Apollo astronaut autobiographies look like kids' books. His memoirs illuminate his frustrations with astronaut life, his unique, often quirky sense of humor, and his thrill at the view from Earth's orbit. Like it or not, Eisele tells it like it is--his long-silenced voice is finally brought to vivid life."--Emily Carney, space historian
-- (2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"I came away astounded, frankly, by [Donn Eisele's] brutally honest depiction of life in the heyday of NASA. I felt like I was there with Eisele, only a step or two behind him during the colorful phases of selection, training, and flight operations that marked his time as an Apollo 7 crewmember."--Jay Gallentine, space historian and award-winning author of Infinity Beckoned: Adventuring Through the Inner Solar System, 1969-1989
-- (3/14/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Raw, unvarnished, and edgy, this is Eisele, unplugged. His highly personal account is both sweet and sour but, ultimately, one hell of a unique and fascinating read."--Richard Jurek, coauthor of Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program-- (2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Donn Eisele (1930-87) flew the Apollo 7 spacecraft in 1968 and served as backup command module pilot for the Apollo 10 moon mission. After retiring from the air force and the space program, he became director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Thailand. Francis French is the director of education at the San Diego Air and Space Museum and the coauthor of Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Nebraska, 2007). Susie Eisele Black (1939-2014) was the widow of astronaut Donn Eisele.