Review: Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space by Chris Jones

Title: Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space
Author: Chris Jones
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: March 6, 2007 (first published February 23rd 2007)
Edition: ebook (304 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• History
• Science
• Space Exploration

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Too Far From Home..." is the story of three astronauts, two American and one Russian, who went into space as crew for the International Space Station in November, 2002. With the tragic break-up of Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, their expected transportation back to earth is gone, and NASA and their Russian counterparts have to figure out how to get these men home. Will they? Can they?

This story is much more too. Like "Comm Check...: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia" by Michael Cabbage and William Harwood, Chris Jones chronicles much of the story of the US and Russian space race, the Columbia Shuttle disaster, and the emotional and physical sacrifice of astronauts and their families. The tone of this book is quite different from "Comm Check..." At first, I found it a bit off-putting. However, the more I read, the more I came to appreciate the writing style and approach Chris Jones used. In the end, I appreciated this book just as much, maybe even a little more, in some respects.