‘The Father, Son, and Holy Shuttle’ is the work of my son, Patrick J. Mullane. Books authored by astronauts could fill a small library but precious few have been written by their children. Pat does a terrific job of filling that void. Anybody who has read my memoir, ‘Riding Rockets’, knows how absorbed I was by my astronaut career. Meanwhile, my only son was coming of age in that whirlwind. His telling of that experience is at times hilarious, poignant, tearful, and revelatory.
For all of us, our journeys through middle and high school are, quite literally, the best of times and (far too often) the worst of times. Friendships form and dissolve, loves are gained and lost (sometimes in one Saturday night), libidos glow white-hot and we take our first tentative steps into the emotional quagmire of sex. And, of course, all of us lived this chapter of our lives under the crushing weight of teen insecurity. Now, imagine taking that same journey in a world where the ‘prime shuttle crew’ media spotlight periodically comes to rest on a parent..and, by association, on you. Imagine being a teenager in a world where reporters might shove a camera in your face to measure the fear you are experiencing while your parent is strapped in a rocket. Imagine experiencing the most tumultuous years of your young life in the shadow of high-performance machines that can bring instant and very public tragedy to families. This is the reality of any son or daughter of an astronaut and Pat tells the story wonderfully. I know such praise is expected from a parent, but I think readers will agree with me…‘The Father, Son and Holy Shuttle’ warrants such high praise!
Interested readers can learn more and purchase the book by following this link to Amazon’s store:
