Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction 1. A Routine Training Flight Capt. Theodore Cordy Freeman, USAF 2. Gemini Twins Elliot McKay See Jr. Capt. Charles Arthur Bassett II, USAF 3. Countdown to Disaster Lt. Col. Virgil Ivan Grissom, USAF Lt. Col. Edward Higgins White II, USAF Lt. Cdr. Roger Bruce Chaffee, USN 4. By the Light of a Soviet Moon Russia's Cosmonauts 5. A Lonely Stretch of Road Maj. Edward Galen Givens Jr., USAF 6. "Mayday, Mayday!" Maj. Clifton Curtis Williams Jr., USMC Epilogue Sources Index

About the Author

Colin Burgess is the author or editor of several books on spaceflight, including Footprints in the Dust: The Epic Voyages of Apollo, 1969–1975 (Nebraska, 2010) and Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the "Challenger" Legacy (Nebraska, 2000). Kate Doolan is a longtime space researcher and writer. Bert Vis is a Dutch space analyst who conducts research on the Soviet/CIS space program. Capt. Eugene A. Cernan lives and works in Texas and is the author of The Last Man on the Moon.

Reviews

“Emotionally moving, factually detailed portraits. . . . Fallen Astronauts should be on every space enthusiast’s reading list.”—Rick W. Sturdevant, Air Power History
 

“A fascinating, often sad, but uplifting account. . . . Though there are many space explorers no longer with us, their achievements should not be forgotten. This book goes a long way to preserve the memory of sixteen of them.”—Dave Shayler, Spaceflight

“Well written and will be enjoyed by enthusiasts of the history of spaceflight.”—Choice

“This wonderful book, which brought back many fond and sometimes painful memories of a few who sadly never realized their dreams, is a long-overdue tribute to fallen comrades from a truly amazing era in American history.”—Walter M. Schirra Jr., Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut

“In this fine history, Burgess and Doolan have made an important contribution to the history of space flight.”—Scott Carpenter, Mercury astronaut

“Fallen Astronauts is a long-overdue tribute to a group of men who paid the ultimate price for their tragically unfulfilled dreams of spaceflight.”—Michael Cassutt, author of Who’s Who in Space and coauthor of We Have Capture