November/December 2007 Book Review

Failure is not an Option
Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Author: Gene Krantz
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Corporation, U.S. Reissue edition (May 2001)
ISBN-10: 0425179877
ISBN-13: 978-0425179871

This is a fascinating account of the NASA space programme, from the earliest Mercury missions through to the Apollo programme that placed astronauts on the moon in the late 60’s.

The commitment of the persons in Mission Control, together with those on board the spaceships in these early days, achieved fantastic successes in overcoming enormous risks and staggering odds of failure. If ever testing were to be championed as a means of mitigating risk, this period in science, exploration and history would form the perfect case study.

Starting with nothing but guts, good raw material in terms of test pilots, contract engineers, a small staff complement and John F. Kennedy’s challenge to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade, NASA forged magic.

Learn from ex-flight director Gene Krantz the importance of checklist procedures, fault root cause analysis, subject mastery, team trust and respect and negative scenario (simulation) testing as the means to risk mitigation where ‘Failure is not an Option’. See how the human element can overcome incredible odds when technology falters or is pushed to the limit.

A very readable and in my opinion accurate account based on detailed logs, data and recordings from the time, as well as interviews with fellow team members from the programme. The details are recounted by Gene Krantz, and I couldn’t help admiring his courage, leadership, and ‘can do’ attitude. Experience the extreme professionalism and dedication of the team through some of the most pronounced highs and lows that one can imagine.

Wayne Mallinson