Revised: Feb. 2011

Astronauts have been public figures from the day that the "Mercury Seven" met the press in the spring of 1959. Since then, NASA's astronauts have been part of America's cultural landscape. This webpage lists astronaut biographies and autobiographies written over the years and general information about the American astronaut corps. You may also find items of interest in our webpages on Launch Schedules and Mission Chronologies, American Human Spaceflight Accidents, or the NASA History Program Office.

All items are available at the Headquarters Library, except as noted. NASA Headquarters employees and contractors: Call x0168 or email Library@hq.nasa.gov for information on borrowing or in-library use of any of these items. Members of the public: Contact your local library for the availability of these items. NASA Headquarters employees can request additional materials or research on this topic. The Library welcomes your comments or suggestions about this webpage.

Biographies and Autobiographies

Abbey, Alan D. Journey of Hope: The Story of Ilan Ramon, Israel's First Astronaut. New York, NY: Gefen, 2003.

TL789.85.R36 A23 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Ackmann, Martha. The Mercury 13: the Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight. New York, NY: Random House, 2003.

TL789.85 .A1 A35 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Akens, David S. John Glenn, First American in Orbit. Huntsville, AL: Strode Publishers, 1969.

TL789.85.G6 A64 BOOKSTACKS

 

Aldrin, Buzz. Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon; with Ken Abraham. New York, NY: Harmony Books, 2009.

TL789.85 .A4 A3 2009 BOOKSTACKS

 

Bean, Alan. Apollo: An Eyewitness Account by Astronaut/Explorer Artist/Moonwalker Alan Bean; with Andrew Chaikin. Shelton, CT: Greenwich Workshop Press, 1998.

TL789.8 .U6 A518 1998 BOOKSTACKS

 

Boomhower, Ray. Gus Grissom: The Lost Astronaut. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Historical Society Press, 2004.

TL789.85.G7 B66 2004 BOOKSTACKS

 

Borman, Frank. Countdown: An Autobiography. New York, NY: W. Morrow, 1988.

TL789.85.B67 A3 BOOKSTACKS

 

Bredeson, Carmen. Shannon Lucid: Space Ambassador. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1998.

TL789.85 .L83 B74 1998 BOOKSTACKS

 

Buckbee, Ed. Space Cowboys. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books, 2005.

TL789.85 .A1 B89 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Burgess, Colin and Kate Doolan. Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2003

TL789.85 .A1 B86 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Carpenter, Scott, et al. We Seven by the Astronauts Themselves. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1962.

TL 789.8. U6 M11 BOOKSTACKS

 

Carpenter, Scott and Kris Stoeve. For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2002.

TL789.85 .C37 S76 2002 BOOKSTACKS

 

Cernan, Eugene and Don Davis. The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1999.

TL789.8 .U6 A525 1999 BOOKSTACKS

 

Conrad, Nancy. Rocket Man: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond. New York, NY: New American Library, 2005.

TL789.85.C657 C66 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Cooper, L. Gordon Jr. Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000.

TL789.85 .C66 A3 2000 BOOKSTACKS

 

Cooper, L. Gordon Jr., et al. The Astronauts, Pioneers in Space by the Seven Astronauts of Project Mercury. New York, NY: Golden Press, 1961.

TL789.8.U6 M46 1961 BOOKSTACKS

 

Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire; An Astronaut's Journeys. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974.

TL789.85.C64 A33 BOOKSTACKS

 

Corrigan, Grace. A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.

TL789.85.M33 C67 1993 BOOKSTACKS

 

Cunningham, Walter. The All-American Boys. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Ibooks, 2003.

TL521.312 .C86 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Gagarin, Yurii Alekseevich. Road to the Stars. Moscow: Foreign Languages Pub. House, 1962.

TL789.85.G3 A33 1962 BOOKSTACKS

 

Grissom, Betty and Henry Still. Starfall. New York, NY: Crowell, 1974.

TL789.85.G7 G74 1974 BOOKSTACKS

 

Grissom, Virgil "Gus". Gemini; A Personal Account of Man's Venture into Space. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1968.

TL789.8 .U6 G86 BOOKSTACKS

 

Hansen, James. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2005.

TL789.85.A75 H36 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Hoffman, Jeffrey. Astronaut's Journal. Washington, DC: National Public Radio, 1985.

TL789.85 .H64A 1985 AUDIO-COLL

 

Hohler, Robert. I Touch the Future: The Story of Christa McAuliffe. New York, NY: Random House, 1986.

TL789.85.M33 H64 BOOKSTACKS

 

Husband, Evelyn. High Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003.

TL789.85 .H87 H87 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Irwin, James Benson. To Rule the Night. Philadelphia, PA: A.J. Holman Co., 1973.

TL789.85 .I78 A3 BOOKSTACKS

 

Jemison, Mae. Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments From My Life. New York, NY: Scholastic Press, 2001.

TL789.85 .J4 J45 2001 BOOKSTACKS

 

Jones, Thomas D. Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir. New York, NY: Smithsonian Books, 2006.

TL789.85 .J66 .A3 2006 BOOKSTACKS

 

Lebedev, Valentin Vital'evich. Diary of a Cosmonaut: 211 Days in Space. College Station, TX: PhytoResource Research, Inc, 1988.

TL789.85.L38 A3 1988 BOOKSTACKS

 

Lenehan, Anne E. Story: The Way of Water. Berowra NSW, Australia: Communications Agency, 2004.

TL789.85 .M87 L36 2004 BOOKSTACKS

 

Linenger, Jerry M. Letters from Mir: An Astronauts Letters to his Son. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

TL789.85 .L56 L48 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Linenger, Jerry M. Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

TL789.85 .L56 A3 2000 BOOKSTACKS

 

Lovell, Jim and Jeffrey Kluger. Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

TL789.8.U6 A5488 1994 BOOKSTACKS

 

Mullane, R. Mike. Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut. New York, NY: Scribner, 2006.

TL789.85 .M86 A3 2006 BOOKSTACKS

 

Nelson, Bill. Mission: An American Congressman's Voyage to Space. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.

TL540 .N37 A3 BOOKSTACKS

 

O'Leary, Brian. The Making of an Ex-Astronaut. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1970.

TL789.85.O4 A3 1970 BOOKSTACKS

 

Pierce, Philip N. John H. Glenn: Astronaut. New York, NY: F. Watts, 1962.

TL789.85.G6 P5 1962 BOOKSTACKS

 

Schirra, Walter M. Jr. Schirra's Space. Boston, MA: Quinlan Press, 1988.

TL789.85.S35 A3 1988 BOOKSTACKS

 

Scott, Winston E. Reflections from Earth Orbit. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee, 2005.

TL789.85 .S3 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Sharpe, Mitchell R. "It is I, Sea Gull": Valentina Tereshkova, First Woman in Space. New York, NY: Crowell, 1975.

TL789.85 .N48 S5 BOOKSTACKS

 

Shayler, David. Around the World in 84 Days: The Authorized Biography of Skylab Astronaut Jerry Carr. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee, 2008.

TL789.85 .C377 2008 BOOKSTACKS

 

Shepard, Alan. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta, GA: Turner Pub, 1994.

TL789.8 .U6 A58 1994 BOOKSTACKS

 

Slayton, Donald K. "Deke". Deke!: U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle. New York, NY: Forge, 1994.

TL789.85.S55 A3 1994 BOOKSTACKS

 

Stafford, Thomas P. We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, c2002.

TL789.85 .S73 S73 2002 BOOKSTACKS, HQ HISTORY

 

Thompson, Neal. Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America's First Spaceman. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, c2004.

TL789.85 .S54 T49 2004 BOOKSTACKS, HQ HISTORY

 

Walton, Darwin McBeth. Overcoming Challenges: The life of Charles F. Bolden, Jr.. Austin, TX: Steck-Vaughn Co., 2000.

TL789.85 .B65 W35 2000 BOOKSTACKS

 

Westman, Paul. Frank Borman: To the Moon and Back. Minneapolis, MN: Dillon Press, 1981.

TL789.85 .B67 W47 1981 BOOKSTACKS

Compilations

Aldrin, Buzz and Malcolm McConnell. Men From Earth. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1989.

TL789.8.U6 A49 1989 BOOKSTACKS

 

Bourland, Charles T., and Gregory L. Vogt. The Astronauts' Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More. New York, NY, London: Springer, 2010

TL1560 .B687 A887 2010 BOOKSTACKS

 

Burns, Khephra. Black Stars in Orbit. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1995.

TL789.85.A1 B87 1995 BOOKSTACKS

 

Burgess, Colin. Australia's Astronauts: Three Men and a Spaceflight Dream. East Roseville, NSW: Kangaroo Press, 1999.

TL789.85 .A1 B88 1999 BOOKSTACKS

 

Cassutt, Michael. Who's Who in Space, The International Space Station Edition. New York, NY: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1999.

TL788.5 .C37 1999 READY REF

 

Caubarreaux, Eric M. For All mankind: Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2010.

CJ5805 .C383 F67 2010 READY REF

 

Chaikin, Andrew. Voices From the Moon: Apollo Astronauts Describe Their Lunar Experience, with Victoria Kohl. New York, NY: Viking Studio, 2009.

TL799 .M6 C434 2009 BOOKSTACKS

 

Chrysler, C. Donald. On Course to the Stars: The Roger B. Chaffee Story. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1968.

TL789.85 .C3 C55 1968 BOOKSTACKS

 

Congressional Research Service. Astronauts and Cosmonauts Biographical and Statistical Data. Washington, DC: GPO, March 1994.

KF24.8 .A1 FY1995 V.3 BOOKSTACKS

 

Ellis, Lee. Who's Who of NASA Astronauts. 1st ed. River Falls, WI: Americana Group Pub., 2001.

TL789.85 .A1 E44 2001 READY REF

 

French, Francis. Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.

TL789.85 .A1 F74 2007 BOOKSTACKS

 

Hawthorne, Douglas. The Men and Women of Space. San Diego, CA: Univelt, 1992.

TL789.85.A1 H38 1992 READY REF

 

Heiken, Grant. On the Moon: The Apollo Journals. New York, NY: Springer, 2007.

TL789.85 .A1 H45 2007 BOOKSTACKS

 

Hooper, Gordon. The Soviet Cosmonaut Team: A Comprehensive Guide to the Men and Women of the Soviet Space Programme. 2nd ed. London, UK: 1990.

TL789.85.A1 H66 1990 V.1 & V.2 READY REF

 

Huystee, Pieter van. The Red Stuff: The True Story of the Russian Race for Space. West Long Branch, NJ: White Star, 1999.

TL789.85 .A1 R44 1999 (DVD) VIDEO-COLL

 

Jones, Stanley P.and L.Octavia Tripp. African-American Astronauts. Mankato, MN: Capstone High/Low Books, 1998.

TL789.85 .A1 J66 1998 BOOKSTACKS

 

Kevles, Bettyann Holtzmann. Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003.

TL789.85 .A1 K48 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Lebedev, L.A. Sons of the Blue Planet. translation of Syny goluboi planety. NASA TT 72-52004. New Delhi, India: Amerind Pub Co, 1973.

TL789.85 .A1 L43 1973 BOOKSTACKS

 

MacKinnon, Douglas and Joseph Baldanza. Footprints: The 12 Men Who Walked on the Moon Reflect on Their Flights, Their Lives, and the Future. Washington, DC: Acropolis Books, 1989.

TL789.85.A1 M33 1989 BOOKSTACKS

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A Tribute to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Minority Astronauts: Past and Present. 2nd ed. NP 1999-06-238-HQ. Washington, DC: NASA, 1999.

TL789.85 .A1 T74 1999 BOOKSTACKS

Available through NTRS as doc. no. 20000056996.

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A Tribute to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Women Astronauts: Past and Present. NP 2001-12-226-HQ. Washington, DC: NASA, 2001.

TL789.85 .A1 T75 2001 BOOKSTACKS

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Astronaut Fact Book. Washington, DC: NASA, 2005.

TL789.85.A1 A86 2005 READY REF

Available online.

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Manned Space Flight Team. NASA-EP-11. Washington, DC: GPO, 1963.

TL789.85 .U55 1963 BOOKSTACKS

Available through NTRS as doc. no. 19630008049.

 

Nolen, Stephanie. Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race. Toronto, Can.: Penguin Canada, 2002.

TL789.8.U5 N64 2002 BOOKSTACKS

 

O'Connor, Karen. Sally Ride and the New Astronauts: Scientists in Space. New York, NY: F. Watts, 1983.

TL793 .O28 BOOKSTACKS

 

Phelps, Alfred J. They Had a Dream: The Story of African-American Astronauts. Novato, CA: Presidio, c1994.

TL789.85.A1 P43 1994 BOOKSTACKS

 

Russo, Carolyn. Women and Flight: Portraits of Contemporary Women Pilots. Washington, DC: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1997.

TL539 .R87 1997 HQ HISTORY

 

Sacknoff, Scott. In Their Own Words: Conversations With the Astronauts and Men Who Led America's Journey Into Space and to the Moon. Bethesda, MD: Space Publications, 2003.

TL789.85 .A1 T44 2003 BOOKSTACKS

 

Shayler, David J. NASA's Scientist-Astronauts. New York, NY: Springer, 2007.

TL789.85 .A1 S53 2007 BOOKSTACKS

 

Shayler, David, and Ian Moule. Women in Space: Following Valentina. Chichester, UK: Praxis Pub. 2005.

TL789.85 .W66 S53 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Smith, Andrew. Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth. New York, NY: Fourth Estate, 2005.

TL789.85.A1 S642 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

Whitfield, Steve. Project Gemini: Pocket Space Guide. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books, 2007.

TL789.8 .U6 G46 W45 2007 BOOKSTACKS

 

__________. Project Mercury: Pocket Space Guide. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books, 2007.

TL789.8 .U6 M47 W45 2007 BOOKSTACKS

 

Woodmansee, Laura S. Women Astronauts. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books, 2001.

TL789.85 .A1 W66 2002 BOOKSTACKS

TL789.85 .A1 W66 2002 CD ROM

Internet Resources

Dismukes, Kim. Astronaut Biographies. Jan. 3, 2011 [Feb. 17, 2011].

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

 

__________. Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. July 16, 2010 [Feb. 17, 2011].

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/oral_histories.htm

 

Garber, Steve. Biographical and other Personnel Information. July 17, 2009 [Feb. 17, 2011].

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/prsnnl.htm

 

McCann, Mike. Astronaut Selection. March 12, 2008 [Feb. 17, 2011].

http://astronauts.nasa.gov/

 

Wade, Mark. Astronaut. Oct. 16, 2010 [Feb. 17, 2011].

http://www.astronautix.com/fam/astonaut.htm