Mike Mullane's book, Riding Rockets

[Ranb]

Part of the book involved the astronauts wondering just what in the heck they had to do to obtain a position on a flight.  Things got bad enough that Mullane went to see NASA's shrink to discuss the problem.  Mullane said he was not the only one who was dealing with the uncertainties of flight assignments by seeking medical help. 

[Dalhousie]

I don't recall his opinion on astronauts who did not have a "military" background - it's been a few years since I read it. What about astronauts who weren't pilots ot test pilots (wasn't he aircrew but not a pilot)?

Mullane's attitude towards the "post-docs" or astronaut candidates without a military background was unfavorable at first but he eventually came to respect them.  Mullane was a back-seater in the military so as an astronaut he was a mission specialist.  Mullane went on in length about certain payload specialists who used their political connections to secure a ride on the shuttle.  He felt that every politician, teacher and celebrity who tried to gain a seat on the shuttle was a lost opportunity for professional astronauts who worked hard  to get where they were in the program.

Only a handful and preferably if they were female and good looking.

If they differed from the space cowboy mind set he had no time for them.

[Ranb]

I'm reading various oral histories here; https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/participants.htm

James van Hoften had this to say in part about Mullane's book.

I thought it was horrible. He had a bunch of stories he was going to tell about my wife. My wife is pretty colorful, and she just told him, she said, “Mike, if you print any of those things, I’ll kill you personally.” I like Mike; he’s a very good friend. But that’s the kind of thing that I just said I will never do is go around and sell stories and make up things. Mike’s first book [Red Sky: A Novel of Love, Space, and War] that came out was probably the worst piece of junk I ever read in my life. I don’t know if you’ve read that.

[smartcooky]

I was reading his book again and a few quotes stood out.  They are written by Mullane about a deceased astronaut, so we only have his word these words were actually said.

"If a woman had to use all of these, she'd be dead from blood loss."  Judith Resnik commenting on the excessive number of tampons loaded into her locker prior to her 1st Space Shuttle flight.

"I'm probably the first woman in history to go to bed with five men and all of them have back aches."  Resnick commenting on the STS-41-D male astronauts complaining of backaches prior to the 1st night in orbit due to their spines elongating from the zero gravity.  Mullane says Resnik was the only one not complaining of a backache

"If you so much as breathe a word to MCC about my hair jamming the camera, I'll cut your heart out with a spoon." Resnik reacting to a mistake she made that was due to her long hair; she wanted to 'avoid anti-feminism blame' being placed on her performance.  The other astronauts complied with her demand.

Nice movie reference...

Sheriff of Nottingham : Locksley. I'll cut your heart out with a spoon.
Robin Hood : Then it begins.
Guy of Gisborne : Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?
Sheriff of Nottingham : Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more.