Never Panic Early, Fred Haise
Never Panic Early, Fred Haise
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Never Panic Early
An Apollo 13 Astronaut's Journey

Author: Fred Haise, Gene Kranz

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2022

Synopsis

The extraordinary autobiography of astronaut Fred Haise, one of only twenty-four men to fly to the moon.In the gripping Never Panic Early, Fred Haise, Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 13, offers a detailed firsthand account of when disaster struck three days into his mission to the moon. An oxygen tank exploded, a crewmate uttered the now iconic words, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and the world anxiously watched as one of history’s most incredible rescue missions unfolded. Haise brings listeners into the heart of his experience on the challenging mission—considered NASA’s finest hour—and reflects on his life and career as an Apollo astronaut.In this personal and illuminating memoir, Haise takes an introspective look at the thrills and triumphs, regrets and disappointments, and lessons that defined his career, including his years as a military fighter pilot and his successful twenty-year NASA career that would have made him the sixth man on the moon had Apollo 13 gone right.Many of his stories navigate fear, hope, and resilience, like when he crashed while ferrying a World War II air show aircraft and suffered second and third-degree burns over sixty-five percent of his body, putting him in critical condition for ten days before making a heroic recovery. In Never Panic Early, Haise explores what it was like to work for NASA in its glory years and demonstrates a true ability to deal with the unexpected.

About Fred Haise

Fred Haise served as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 before serving as the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 13 mission. He worked with NASA for nine years after Apollo 13, serving on the backup crew for Apollo 16, commanding free flight test missions for the space shuttle program, and was scheduled to command Apollo 19 before its cancellation. He left NASA in 1979 to work as an executive for Grumman Aerospace Corp.

About Bill Moore

Bill Moore is the author and coauthor of several books and periodical stories about aviation and space, and he produced the documentary counterpart to his book Oklahomans and Space. Like Fred Haise, Bill is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oklahoma.

About Gene Kranz

Gene Kranz is a former NASA Mission Control flight director and the corecipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work leading the Apollo 13 teams.

About Joe Barrett

Joe Barrett, an actor and Audie Award and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials.

Reviews

Goodreads review by jaydro on May 12, 2022

Another autobiography that is refreshing because it reads like the author actually wrote it, but that also has limitations because it's not that well-written. The best part is the first three-quarters, which covers Haise's life up until his involvement in the shuttle approach and landing test progra......more

Goodreads review by Wayne on June 06, 2022

Didn't like this as I thought I would. Didn't like the authors writing style. Too much like an engineer. Not good at story writing but good at facts without the story. Also needed personal emptions which was lacking. Sad because he had a good story to tell. Should of had someone else write it.......more

Goodreads review by Ben on December 28, 2022

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages.... wait... no... Houston, We Have A Problem. Recounting Fred Haise's career, this is a very interesting overview of the Space program in America, from the " Original 19" Apollo Astronauts to the development of the Space Shuttle and the privatization o......more

Goodreads review by Karen on March 10, 2023

Interesting story at least through the Apollo years. He definitely did a lot of cool stuff! Unfortunately, once he left NASA and got to work as a contractor, the story became a lot more about bureaucracy and government work, which is as thrilling as it sounds. Highly recommend the first half; the se......more

Goodreads review by Janet on June 10, 2023

If you are a different breed of nerd, one who loves aeronautics, engineering, physics, etc you will love this book. I’m rather nerdy but coasted through much of the engineering content that is not in my wheelhouse. It was well written for the physics nerd. It would be interesting, if not incredibly......more

Quotes

“A triumphant story of survival.” Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 astronaut

“A straightforward autobiography about a man who will be forever linked with Apollo 13, but whose career in the military, at NASA, and in industry goes far beyond that single spaceflight.” Space Review

“[With] blunt, often humorous candor, Never Panic Early is the consummate story of how one man overcame enough adversity to fill several lifetimes but ceaselessly kept moving forward.” Ad Astra magazine

“Haise’s passion for flying is unmistakable…This is an illuminating personal history of NASA’s space program.”  Publishers Weekly

“Dense with detail of the day-to-day reality of being a Marine pilot, engineer, and astronaut…it’s a down-to-Earth counterpoint to the typical dramatizations about the space race." Booklist

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