Mercury brought us into the skies, Apollo took us to the Moon. But what about Gemini, the important but often overlooked middle child? Hardly anyone remembers the achievements and dangers of its two-year, twelve-mission program that paved the way for all that followed. Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon hopes to right that wrong.
Immediately from the prologue, this book had me hooked. We open onto the spacewalk of Gemini 9 which had come perilously close to fatal. From there, we step back in time to the beginning of NASA and to President Kennedy's pledge to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. It was a gutsy and ambitious pledge, but once made, NASA took it as a promise and proceeded to run with it.
This book covers every Mercury and every Gemini mission, and it's fascinating stuff. Every crewed outing (six for Mercury, ten for Gemini) carried enormous risks for the astronauts and contained objectives that must be met in order to move the program closer to its boots-on-the-Moon promise. And in almost every single mission, something went wrong. The combination of quick thinking, ingenuity, and plain luck that kept everyone safe made for a thrilling tale.
Kluger's a terrific writer. His style is very zippy and engaging, so it pairs well with nonfiction, really bringing history to life and keeping the reader riveted. He's faithful to the technical stuff, but he also understands that this story isn't just about that. The human parts are just as important, and he is able to bring to life all the key players and every astronaut that made the Gemini achievements possible.
Kluger also has an eye towards humor, and when you have bureaucracy, posturing on the national and international stage, and good old human folly all mixed in together, there is sure to be some unintended funny moments. The space race with Russia was particularly predisposed to being droll, even if inadvertently so, and Kluger's take on it added a lot of zing to the whole thing.
When it comes to nonfiction, one of the most important factors is whether there is enough content to fill out a book, and that's a resounding yes over here. In fact, it's quite a task to distill a dozen missions and the history leading up to them down to just 300 pages, so Kluger is able to pick and choose the most interesting bits, and as a result, every page of this book comes across with urgency and insight.
What an exhilarating read, especially at this moment in history when the Artemis program looks to be on the verge of bringing us to the lunar surface once more. What is old shall be new again, and so we're right back on the stepping stones to the Moon.
If you're a space buff like me, or just a nonfiction fan in general, I don't think you'll regret picking this up and learning all about Gemini, And in case you're wondering, the correct pronunciation is "gem-min-ee" according to NASA.
Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!
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