Moonshot

January 15, 2024
Former astronaut Massimino (Spaceman) mines his career for an upbeat manual on becoming “whatever want to be.” Recalling how he overcame his subpar eyesight to get accepted into NASA’s astronaut program in 1996 (he did eye exercises for months until he passed the vision test), Massimino asserts that the “only way to make a task truly impossible is to not try or give up in the face of adversity,” and that even pursuing dreams that don’t pan out can confer new skills or insights. Teamwork gets covered at length, too, as the author describes how NASA’s collaborative spirit (“Whatever your technical job description, you were part of that team getting people to space”) taught him to celebrate each team member’s unique strengths and take collective responsibility when mistakes occur. Massimino’s behind-the-scenes peeks into NASA operations and reverent descriptions of gazing at the “blue marble” of Earth from space breathe new life into his commonsense advice, though he has a tendency to lean on platitudes (“Successful people are not those who never failed. Successful people are those who never let failure stop them”). Still, this is a solid guide for readers chasing big ambitions.