Too Far From Home Chris Jones
288 hc pp
DoubleDay 2007
Front cover reads On February 1 2003 10 astronauts were orbiting the planet. Seven were headed back to Earth on the Space Shuttle Columbia. They never made it. The 3 men left behind found themselves.... Well you get it.
Chris Jones has given us an in depth description of what life was like aboard the International Space Station in the weeks and months after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. At times the story is poignant . At times it's extremely interesting. And at other times it is frightfully boring. Now your saying, how can any telling of the drama of being marooned in space be, well, boring. Jones has managed that feat....and done it well. Now am I saying that the book is a complete snooze fest? Oh hardly. The book is written in such a way that you feel like there is another seat in the cramped Soyuz tma -1 during a malfunctioning reentry module fires too long, or just beside astronaut Bowersox during an EVA to repair electrical connections. Or for that matter several other instances where Jones has all but sealed you into your own space suit and sent you on your way. The research he put into this book shows all through it and on every page. But for every firey reentry or heart stopping E.V.A. You get several instances of how things taste in space, or run on descriptions of astronaut's experiments and what can be more boring that a hugely descriptive telling of what is boring about being in space.
Plus Jones seaways into various other earlier mission that he uses to fill in knowledge gaps that the reader might have, especially when it comes to the finer points of the inner workings of NASA. Initially this seems like a good idea, however several times the seaways are longer than the section of the book they are meant to shore up. I found myself several times flipping through page after page when unending descriptions became very tedious. All this with the understanding that I am truly a space geek. So with that said, I loved most of this book, but at times Chris Jones has managed to take a truly awe inspiring event and make it mind numbingly boring. Thats not all the time mind you. I was amazed by the make-do attitude of the Russians and the cramped interior of the new Soyuz. This book is filled with so much insider knowledge that Jones must have been right there with them instead of just writing about it. And for that point alone I would recommend the book. However be warned, there are many places in the book that are frightfully hard to get through. Forewarned you should be able to enjoy this book and come away better informed about one of the most tragic moments in space exploration history.
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