Click on the items below to download information for purchase.

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FREE Space History Book

This book is free for anyone who wants it.  The  only restriction is – you MAY NOT SELL IT – but you can give it away to anyone you want.  The goal is to share our space history with anyone who cares.

  Click to read it online or download it with no restrictions.

Exploring Space: Opening New Frontiers

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IKE’s Memoir Promo

IKE: The Memoir of Isom “Ike” Rigell

Book Signings and Memory Sharing From A Local Man Who Is Special In Many Ways!

Ike Rigell is a Marine Veteran of World War II. After honorably fighting for his country at the battles of Iwo Jima, Midway, Saipan, and Tinian, Ike went on to earn a degree from one of the top engineering schools in the country, Georgia Tech. After graduation, he went to work for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), which was later transferred to NASA in 1960.

At NASA, Ike was an original member of the launch team at Cape Canaveral, FL. He was a member of the launch team for the Free World’s first satellite, Explorer I (1958), the Free World’s first man in space (1961), Chief Engineer and Deputy Director for all Apollo Space Program launches (12 men walked on the surface of the moon), Skylab, the United States first laboratory in space, and Director of Launch Operations for the Apollo-Soyuz launch in 1975 (a joint U.S. and Russian rendezvous in space).

After his time at NASA, he worked for ten more years in the space program for United Technologies and retired as the Vice President of USBI, Florida Operations. Ike and his wife, Kathryn, live in Titusville, FL.  He’s written a memoir that is filled with personal stories and observations about his life and his experiences in ways that make it easy to relate. 

Ike is a great story teller with a good memory and a kind heart.  You can purchase the book at Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/y3lq24qv and Barnes and Noble at https://tinyurl.com/y3nh34zd. Look for his book signings at locations near you.   Proceeds will go to the NASA Alumni League Scholarship Fund; American Space Museum, and similar charitable groups in the Titusville area.

 

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NASA Logo Shirts for NAL Members

Lamar Russell has come up with quality, affordable shirts sporting the NASA logo that NAL members can purchase.  Shown below are several colors and styles for review and advance ordering.  If you are interested, please download the order form, complete it and email it to Lamar at famruss376@cfl.rr.com for inclusion in his next order.

CLICK HERE to access the NAL NASA Logo Shirt Order Form shown below.

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Earlier Version NAL Logo Shirts

For more information on these shirts, email:  hharris65@cfl.rr.com

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NEIL ARMSTRONG, A Life of Flight

Captures His Humility and Humanity

 

Reviewed by Hugh Harris, Retired Director of Public Affairs, NASA, Kennedy Space Center 

Published by St. Martin’s Press on July 8, 2014. Available for pre-ordering now. In bookstores July 8.

 

Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon, looked down. He saw a little lizard scooting toward the bar in a Cocoa Beach restaurant. His friend, NBC correspondent, Jay Barbree quickly caught it in a napkin. “Don’t kill it,” Armstrong said!

“Wouldn’t think of it,” Barbree said as he moved toward the door. “I’m just taking it outdoors, where it belongs.”

Armstrong’s humanity, coupled with humility, strong ethics and an intellect that focused on a problem with pin-point accuracy, made Armstrong the perfect choice to be the first human to land on another heavenly body.

The easy rapport that developed between Armstrong and Barbree, over a 50 year period, made Barbree the perfect writer to tell his story.  “Neil Armstrong; A Life of Flight” is the definitive book about a man who tried hard to avoid fame but will forever be famous.

Even though you know he survived, you will find yourself holding your breath as the book details the many times that Armstrong could have been killed if he were a second late in making a decision and taking action.

The book reads like a fictional crime thriller except it showcases the real people who advance the frontiers of knowledge and our civilization. There have been many histories written. None captures the self effacing Armstrong as successfully as Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight.

Starting with chapter one you’ll be gripped by the way he calmly, but quickly, works out the problem of flying a fighter jet with much of its right wing missing. You will be with him as he and fellow astronaut Dave Scott spin close to the point of a blackout and death in space, and, perhaps for the first time, grasp the near reality of crashing into huge boulders on the moon as he ran out of rocket fuel. When you’re a quarter-million miles from home, the control rooms full of bright young engineers on Earth can’t really help much. As Cap Com astronaut Charlie Duke said after the landing, “You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.” We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.”

Instead of politics, he chose to teach and mentor bright engineering students at the University of Cincinatti. Instead of the spotlight, he was willing to guide the investigation of the Challenger disaster from behind the scenes.

Armstrong was not just a superb flyer, he also thought deeply about the future. You’ll learn the direction he would like the space program to go. It is a road map he left to the future that is practical, adventurous and makes maximum use of scarce tax dollars.

Jay Barbree has captured the essence of one of the most exciting and meaningful lives of our era. You’ll read Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight more than once and share it with your children and grandchildren.

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On a very different note, here’s another interesting read from a different perspective.

This book by Lynn Sherr provides a more personal view of another “space legend” found in this biography of Sally Ride.

It chronicles her life from early days until her death and includes personal aspects of her life, including a focus on sexuality.

 

 

 

 

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Jan. 28, 2014, the 28th anniversary of the Challenger accident, was marked with the publication of a new ebook titled, “Challenger: An American Tragedy” by former Kennedy Space Center Director of Public Affairs, Hugh Harris. Former astronaut Robert L. Crippen welcome readers with the introduction. Told from inside shuttle launch control, the ebook is available now from Amazon other electronic book venues. While not available in print, it also available is via the publisher’s website.  (You can click on the hot links for Amazon and publisher’s website to purchase).