Like many others, I’m fascinated by space travel. I imagine what it would be like to not be in this planet at least once a day (I’m sure you too). So bless all these astronaut and cosmonauts writing about their experiences—I get to vicariously fly through the atmosphere and live in zero gravity!

Following a Q&A format, retired astronaut Clayton C. Anderson (or Astro Clay) gives readers more than just a glimpse of what it’s like to live and work inside the International Space Station with this book. He responds to each question with as many details he can provide, and with such humility and openness that left me in awe. I mean, he’s kind of like a superhero, isn’t he?! (Well, reading between the lines, I think he secretly wants to be Superman.) He covers almost everything—from training to coming back to Earth, from how he slept and showered in the ISS to what he felt about the Challenger and the Columbia disasters.

More, I loved how his passion for what he does (or used to do) resonate in his every answer, and I also enjoyed how he is not afraid to let people know that he doesn’t know something. (There are parts in which he straight up replied along the lines of ‘I wish I could tell you but I don’t know!’) Here are some of my favorite parts, that had me giggling, pondering and yep, searching on Google for more!

On distance

My life’s priorities are not negotiable, and my family is right there at the top.
On applying as an astronaut
If there’s a key to success in these nerve-racking interviews, I would say you just have to be yourself. Don’t put on airs and try to be someone you’re not. (Reminds me of the story of the astronaut candidate who refused to sit down for his interview even after being told multiple times it was okay. He didn’t fare too well.) NASA wants to see if you are genuine; whether you have “platform skills,” or the ability to communicate effectively; and how you respond under pressure. Do you have a sense of humor? Can you clearly and efficiently present your ideas? Can you keep them from falling asleep? Those are the sort of things they are looking for.
On the Moon landings as a hoax
Hmmm, I guess a bunch of folks think that all of the Moon landings were hoaxes. Maybe they are also part of the group that thinks Earth is flat.

On extraterrestrial life

And let’s face it: if there’s an alien species out there capable of traveling through space and covering distances of light years to Earth, then they’re probably intelligent enough to contact us any time they want.
On sleeping in zero gravity

I love to sleep. If there were an Olympic medal for sleeping, I’d be right there, fighting for the gold.
On the veracity of his answers

I, Clayton C. Anderson, answer questions posted on social media platforms such as Quora and anywhere else on my own. I do not have a media management team—I can’t afford one—unlike some of my colleagues. I love trying to inform folks who ask questions via social media platforms, but I provide answers that are anecdotal in nature. I choose to not provide a bunch of highly technical information. You can google that stuff!
On spaceflight

Spaceflight is dangerous. Spaceflight is unforgiving of mistakes.

(^ But of course, we can all train for it, apply and hope for the best! As Astro Clay says, keep looking up!)

However, the book could be more structured or organized, like having sections specific to topics, to make it easier for the reader to follow the life of an astronaut in space.

All in all, 'It’s A Question of Space' by Clayton C. Anderson has science, humor and soul, and above all, it’s super easy to read. For those who are into space travel or the astronaut life, picking up a copy shouldn’t even be a question. *wink* Now onto adding his first book, The Ordinary Spaceman, to my TBR pile!

Librarian: Yes, I'll absolutely be recommending this book for purchase. As it happens my library is currently looking for more books on this subject, as the school recently added a space unit for our Year 5s, and between 4 classes of 26 students each we keep running out of books on the subject! Plus this book covers many of the sorts of things that the students are most interested in, so I can easily see it being a favorite.
Reader: I could totally see myself picking up this book. I've always been fascinated by space. When I was a kid I had dozens of books on the subject, and one of my favorite Christmas memories is the year that my Dad's family all teamed up to buy me a telescope. Even now space travel fascinates me. I have a tendency to gravitate towards it when I'm looking for a good nonfiction book to read.
That being said, I didn't find myself particularly drawn into this book. I found the Q&A format slightly off-putting. The tone just didn't sit right with me. That being said there was plenty of interesting information, and I'd probably pick up other things from this author.
3.5 Stars

I loved space growing up and always had a ton of questions about it. This book is the perfect place to find all those answers and more! The author doesn't know every answer, but he does have a lot of good resources to find the answers. (I checked a few of them out and they are awesome!) Space lovers should get their hands on this book as soon as it comes out!

Very cool, his enthusiasm and love for his work comes through powerfully. All the stuff you wanted to know and either weren't sure who or how to ask.

Really cool insider perspective on monumental achievement of getting into space, and getting back.

It maybe more fun to pick and choose than to read straight through- this is a book I will be happy to have to refer back to when I can't quite recall what I need to.
Fun, fascinating, do read!

Great read for those interested in the everyday of space travel. Anderson answered questions that I never even knew I wanted to ask.
My 9 year old son loved it too.

Written by an astronaut who was in space for five months, It’s A Question Of Space is certainly written by an expert in all things astro, and it shows in the answers to these serious to not so serious questions in this book.

There’s some really interesting questions that need to be answered about travelling in space and Anderson certainly answers these brilliantly. Keeping them human but also informative he shares his own personal experience of space travel in this book but also gives insights in how it all works.

A really great book for a kid, especially doing a school project as it answers everything you will ever need to know about space and what it takes to be an astronaut.

Disappointed in this book. The astronaut didn’t seem interested in answering the questions, only plugging his book.

I really love reading about space, about astronauts, about their life, about their adventures, so I was definitely looking forward to reading this book about an American astronaut. Sadly, it was just way boring and at times I wonder if this would really be for the YA/Teen age or if it would be better suited for the older audience.

I also had expected a bit of other things between the questions (like fun facts, or something about the space station, or well, anything actually), but instead it is just continually questions/answers with a few sporadically added photographs.

So not recommended.

Anderson's style of writing and his ego got in the way of this book totally for me. While it is important for astronauts to say that they can answer many questions from their own perspective this surely doesn't have to be mentioned in every other line. Anderson's false modesty and self flagellation also annoyed me. There are far better astronaut biographies and astronaut q&a books out there, there really was a reason why he was rejected from NASA so many times and I wonder if they regret actually giving him a place on the astronaut corps

Clayton Conrad Anderson is a retired NASA astronaut. He previously wrote The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut

In this book, Anderson answers questions that were asked on Quora. The questions are about the life of an astronaut, the International Space Station, space walks and aliens. Some of the questions I always asked myself (for example, is it difficult to get dressed in space?).

The answers Anderson gives in his book are easy to read and understand, nothing too technical. He writes from his own personal perspective. Some questions are answered with a serious tone, other answers have more humor ('I was Superman every day!').

This book gave me a nice insight in the life of Anderson as an astronaut. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves space or who dreams about being an astronaut.

This book very much reminded me of Tim Peake's Ask an Astronaut which I read at the beginning of the year. It was a book that consited of loads of questions which people had sent in; from the more serious to the downright silly!
As someone who is really interested in space I found this a really interesting read. I read this book so quickly and kept saying to myself that I would read 'just one more question'.
The only thing that stops me giving 5 stars is that some parts are a little repetitive, for example someone asks if he swallows toothpaste in space and he answers that yes he does, although this has already been spoken about earlier in the book when someone asked what his washing and getting ready routine was like.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free e-copy in return for an honest review.