Spaceman : an astronaut's unlikely journey to unlock the secrets of the universe / Mike Massimino.

Prologue: A science fiction monster -- Part one: I want to grow up to be Spider-Man. A perfect good ; Most all-around ; Who you gonna get? -- Part two: Maybe you're not cut out for this. The smart-kid Olympics ; Force feedback ; Human factors ; Disqualified ; Yes or no -- Part three: The real right stuff. There's Mach 1 ; If you have a problem ; Spacewalker ; Shackleton mode -- Part four: The door to space. Seeing beyond the stars ; Ready to go ; Weightless ; Earth is a planet ; Maybe this is heaven -- Part five: Russian roulette. The story of space ; February 1, 2003 ; Why we go -- Part six: Worth the risk. From the ashes ; One last job ; Line 28 ; Grounded.

"A memoir by an unlikely astronaut who helped save the Hubble telescope describes his early attempts to gain admission into NASA, his first spacewalks, the loss of his fellow astronauts in the Columbia disaster, his decision not to return to space and his ongoing support of future space-travel ventures,"--NoveList.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself strapped to a giant rocket that's about to go from zero to 17,500 miles per hour? Mike Massimino has been there, and in Spaceman he puts you inside the suit, with all the zip and buoyancy of life in microgravity. Massimino's childhood space dreams were born the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Growing up in a working-class Long Island family, he catapulted himself to Columbia and then MIT, only to flunk his first doctoral exam and be rejected three times by NASA before making it through the final round of astronaut selection. Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the Hubble Telescope--which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with saving on his final mission--Massimino has written an ode to never giving up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible, revealing just what having "the right stuff" really means.--Adapted from dust jacket.