Great, informative biographical story of Scott Kelly an astronaut for NASA. After reading this book, I was inspired to check out other books about space missions. It really piqued my interest in the history of space exploration.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It hooked me from the beginning with the easy, natural voice of Mr. Kelly. And what a story! Kelly is truly an "everyman" who made the effort (and had the talent) to achieve his goal. His humility and gratitude are remarkable.

This is not a flawless book. The author relies on sayings and cliche a noticeable amount. The structure, the progression, is a pretty tried-and-true format. The audio adaptation also isn't stellar: Kelly isn't a natural narrator and it seems like he didn't have much coaching on his reading. He speaks far too low within his vocal range, so it can be uncomfortable to listen to. The pitch would also make it difficult to hear in noisy environments, particularly commuting. The main reason to have an author read xer own work, I assume/understand, is so xe can naturally emphasize and dramaticize the right parts. But the author's reading was pretty dry, almost monotone.

But! There was so much great information! I actually listened to this off and on while I was reading 2 different sci-fi novels in print, and the author's comments about training, weightlessness, transitioning to the station environment... it really showed where the novelists had just been making crap up. The details about daily life in training, in quarantine, and on the station will be a real treat for readers interested in what astronaut life is real like irl, not just in movies.

Highly recommended for anyone who reads fiction set in space!

Who didn't want to be an astronaut when they were young, at least for a moment? I know I did, and was a huge goal until I realized (at the time) how much math you had to have, and basically would need to be in the military to qualify, and I just didn't think I'd enjoy that. But my fascination with space has always remained, so I was eager to read this and hear about Kelly's year on the space station.

Kelly's story is both fascinating and revealing (like, I realized as much as spending time on a space station sounds amazing, I'd go crazy between the limited space and the politics). Kelly is a good narrator, and there is a nice balance between personal reflection, professional duties, and general difference of life off planet.

A good read for anyone interested in space, in the human condition, or just adventure.

I am of the age that I can clearly remember watching the first landing on the moon and the first time mankind walked on the moon. And I remember the Apollo-Soyuz Project and seeing the artist's conception of the two spacecraft docking, miles above the Earth (and what a strange-looking bug that Soyuz craft was to me). And because of this, I've grown up with a fascination and interest in the U.S. space program (which may explain why two of my children are pursuing dreams of working professionally in the space program). Memoirs such as astronaut Scott Kelly's <em>Endurance</em> hold a special fascination for me.

For those who don't already know, Scott Kelly has been to space a few times - as part of the space shuttle program and to the International Space Station (ISS). Most recently he was one of two astronauts (the other, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko) who spent nearly one entire year aboard the ISS - the longest anyone has been outside the constant pull of Earth's gravity to date.

There are many reasons to subject a human to this, just one of those being that we want to study the effects of long-term weightlessness on the human being because if we ever want to put someone on Mars, or even further away than that, we're clearly looking at some long-term weightlessness for those adventurers. That Scott Kelly has a twin brother, who is also an astronaut employed by NASA, helps with the study as a control subject.

What is particularly fascinating about this book is the first-hand account of the day-to-day work about the ISS. The reader gets the impression that Scott Kelly doesn't hold back on much and simply tells it the way he sees it - which isn't always flattering to NASA. But he also describes what might otherwise be considered a mundane work day (fixing toilets, dissecting mice, taking out the trash) except for the fact that it's done in space. The challenges he faces for some of the most routine tasks are often very interesting to read about.

And of course there are the fun facts that we really could only get from an astronaut, such as the smell of the exterior metal of the ISS when the capsule first docks. And the smell of the interior of the ISS. And the appearance of the dinged and pitted exterior walls from the plethora of micrometeors that strike the station.

The book is more than just a diary of Kelly's year in space. It is a memoir and we have alternating chapters so that we get a sense of who Scott Kelly is and how he came to be the astronaut who spent a year in space. From his early school days, his parents' relationship and goals, his attempts to get in to college once he knew what he wanted to do, and his drive to become an astronaut. Knowing these things about him helps us to understand why he would leave family on Earth for so long to put himself through what he did.

What we don't get is the effects.

Kelly teases us at the start of the book with his just having returned to Earth and eating dinner with his extended family and suddenly having some health issues - to the degree that his partner wants to get him to a doctor immediately (to which he points out that very few doctors in the world would understand the symptoms and conditions of a man who'd just spent nearly a year in weightlessness).

But we never come back to this. We don't get the expected summary of what likely caused this health crises. We understand it's related to his living in space, but does it get better? What specifically caused it? How much of this has to do with the amount of time spent in space?

As much as I liked this book all the way through, I really miss the lack of follow through on this attention-getting opening.

Still, as we hope for expeditions further into our solar system, and beyond, this is an important step and it's good for all of us to understand the sacrifices.

Looking for a good book? Scott Kelly's Endurance, shares the spirit of adventure and exploration that Shackleton's Endurance had, but with a nod toward the future.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lot better than I thought it would be. Very well written. It provides an unvarnished view of what it's like to be an astronaut. It's not nearly as exciting as it's often portrayed and it is sometimes very hard and dirty work.

Biography
15-Adult
Scott Kelly has spent more time on the International Space Station than any other American astronaut – 340 continuous days. That record is likely to stand for a while, since his honesty and candour in describing the experience could give other candidates second thought! Kelly returned from the ISS in March 2016, along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail “Misha” Kornienko, there for the same length of time. Along with other astronauts on shorter missions, Kelly and Kornienko face mind-blowing challenges as they maintain the ISS and conduct numerous science experiments, including on their own bodies. It’s all part of the global effort to sustain human life off our planet, with the goal of perhaps, one day, sending astronauts on a mission to Mars. Kelly, with the help of co-author Margaret Lazarus Dean, alternates chapters between a narrative of his time on the ISS with a biographical take that dates back to his rough childhood in New Jersey with twin brother Mark (famously also an astronaut). A terrible student who was essentially failing first year, he finally found his motivation in Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. After changing schools and taking advice from his academically successful brother, he finished his degree with a near-perfect GPA and earned a spot in the military’s fighter pilot training program. The goal – to become a pilot for the ultimate flying machine, the space shuttle. He makes no apologies for being a pilot first, one who initially resisted the idea of a months-long mission on the ISS. Kelly reveals how, over several missions, he develops respect and appreciation for the work of scientists, though he peppers his book with criticisms of the bureaucracy of NASA and the Russian space agency. The writing is solid, and it’s interesting reading, but doesn’t get quite the recommendation I’d give to Chris Hadfield’s biography, a shorter but a more powerful memoir. My bias as a Canadian may be showing, but I found Kelly’s impatience and complaints wearying, even occasionally arrogant. He openly discusses his errors in his journey (we all make mistakes), but I can’t help feel this is a man who expresses humility rather than honestly feels it. Read it yourself and let me know what you think. My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing for the advance reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29947651

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! This in no way impacted my opinions of this book.*

Astronauts are always going to be a mystery to me. After all, there's nothing really on earth that can compare to visiting the stars, for however long or short a time. Kelly's journey to becoming an astronaut as well as his year aboard the ISS is nothing short of amazing. Yet, at the same time, it helped de-mystify this illusive group to me - astronauts are people too, and they only get to where they are as a result of incredibly hard work and determination. Definitely buying this one for my library, and I'd recommend it to space lovers I know as well!

This compelling account of astronaut Scott Kelly's unlikely path from unremarkable adolescent to focused, high- adrenaline pilot and astronaut will inspire and intrigue readers from teenagers to those who remember sputnik as teenagers. Kelly intersperses episodes of his personal journey with historical and scientific vignettes of NASA, the International Space Station and the United States Military to create a just-right balance of juicy insider knowledge and well-researched background to keep readers engaged and intrigued. Highly recommend for high school and public libraries.

I really enjoyed this. It flowed well between the portions about the space station and the flashbacks to the author's childhood. The narrative was engaging and everything was vividly described. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in the space program or wants an interesting read.

great book, very informative and will be enjoyed by all interested in space travel

Great voice, great details, detailed explanations of not only WHAT happens on the ISS but WHY. Inspiring that a guy who was not the perfect candidate could reform himself enough to get a realistic chance at becoming an astronaut, and then improve enough to actually succeed!

Absolutely the most captivating book I've read this year! A deeply personal sharing that accomplishes a perfect blend of personal & mission centric anecdotes. Wholly uplifting, inspirational and awe inspiring. Pilot, astronaut, scientist, husband, father, human AND a writer!? I'd pay to attend a session with MISTER Kelly. My thanks, gratitude, and respects to you, Sir. Very well done!!

I’m an absolute sucker for astronaut biographies, so I had to read this. There haven’t been a ton of books written by astronauts who have flown on the ISS. Scott Kelly is a Shuttle astronaut as well as a Russia-launched ISS astronaut, so he speaks about spaceflight from multiple perspectives. His military background comes across strongly in the way he writes – straight forward, tell it like it is. I initially had a hard time getting into this one, but I became engrossed at about the 30% mark, then tore through the rest.
For those expecting a book just about the Year in Space program, you may come away disappointed. The book really wasn’t centered on that program, and he didn’t really give a lot of detail about what went on, experiment wise. He does talk a lot about life on the ISS, so that was very interesting. We get his life story, his military career story and the story of how he was selected to be an astronaut. This book gave the best descriptions about life on the ISS that I’ve encountered so far. It was really neat to see the difference between how the Russian modules are run versus the US run modules.
I think this book will appeal to non-fiction fans, especially those interested in NASA, the ISS and space science. I’m not sure this will appeal to a wide variety of people, but it is what it is.

Endurance is an amazing book. As a long time space nerd, I eagerly looked forward to reading it and I was not disappointed. Scott allowed me to enter the exclusive astronaut club and become a part of the crew. I was there on his space walks and on his visits to the Russian cosmonauts. I shared his frustrations and the wonder of seeing the Earth from above. Thank you, Scott, for taking me along the trip of a lifetime.

Scott Kelly spent a year at the International Space Station. This book outlines his journey to the space station as well as time spent inside. I thought this book was so-so. It was very repetitive and talked in minute detail about mundane topics. Other topics were breezed over, creating an unbalanced feel to the book. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.

Scott Kelly's memoir is not just a story of a man in space for a year (though that in itself is an amazing story). It is a well-told tale of a family that produced not one, but two astronauts. It is the story of the space program itself, the international nature of space exploration, the funny, exciting, exhilarating nature of one of the last real frontier. Especially apropos at this time of budget cuts, international tension and suspicion of science, this memoir reminds us of the greatness that can result when goals are high, people of all stripes strive for the stars (and eventually Mars!), and teams of engineers, pilots, doctors, astronomers, and importantly, friends and family pull together to accomplish big things.

The kindle edition was sadly light on those things that can interest me most: photos (much talk of- no actual), maps, diagrams and the like. Here's hoping the physical edition is stuffed with them.

Astronaut Scott Kelly takes us inside his life: how he went from being an indifferent student, to a Navy pilot, to an astronaut and ISS inhabitant. He doesn’t sugar coat anything, admitting that he was not the model husband or father. He does shine, however, in his remarkable description of life on the International Space Station and aboard the Space Shuttle. This book is not only a must read for space geeks, but also offers plenty of fascinating insights to general readers like me--highly recommended.

Scott Kelly has done a very good job of relating his experiences as an astronaut in a way that someone without technical knowledge can understand. Some of his stories made me laugh out loud. It did kind of drag for me near the end, but his book sparked my interest in the ISS, NASA, and a possible mission to mars.