How to Astronaut

An Insider's Guide to Leaving Planet Earth

By: Terry Virts

Narrated by: Terry Virts

Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts offers an insider's guide to astronauting—a behind-the-scenes look at the training, the basic rules, lessons, and procedures of space travel, including how to deal with a dead body in space, what it’s like to film an IMAX movie in orbit, what exactly to do when nature calls, and much more, in 51 brief chapters.

©2020 Terry Virts (P)2022 Workman Publishing Company

Critic reviews

"There's something intriguing to be learned on practically every page… This book captures the details of an extraordinary job, and turns even the mundane aspects of space travel into something fascinating." — Publishers Weekly

"How to Astronaut is an amusing and enlightening insight into an astronaut's work life.... This is an eye-opening insider's view on what it's really like to be an astronaut: the joys, the dangers, the fear, and the day-to-day reality of it. Virts' writing is humorous, playful, down to earth, and often wise." — Booklist

"Virts' firsthand accounts are richly detailed and often snort-milk-out-of-your-nose hilarious." — Discover

A listening experience

This was both interesting and informative. A great listen.
Thank you for your honesty and insight, Terry Virts.

Don't miss this book.

This is very entertaining and well written, gives an inside look to pilots and astronauts lives. Answers questions you didn't even think to ask. Really loved this book.

A fun book to hear

Although the reading was occasionally dry (see chapter one on appropriate radio voice), the story was great. He added the occasional funny story and insightful observations to the mix. I loved hearing about science, space travel, and exploring new places. Well worth your time.

The Merits of Discipline

Col. Virts gives his first person accounts in a story-telling mode and does a good job of speaking to a general audience. He speaks often of the frame of reference for his entire career, which is that of a highly trained fighter pilot, and later astronaut. The value of that training and the discipline which accompanies it come thru as a principle of choice. Reflecting on his response to various events in his career, one is reminded of the great advantages of preparation--a factor which is often ignored in everyday life. Virts gives insight into space flight that our curiosity naturally demands. He also serves up a reminder that in many ways we actually can prepare for the challenges we all face in less dire circumstances. HIs observations on the existential questions which the space experience must inevitably imprint on adventurers such as he, are treated lightly, but with enough scope to underscore the deeper meaning that follows from someone fortunate enough to have glimpsed the universe in ways which others never will.

Great book!

I’ll look forward to listening to this again. Jam packet and fascinating!! One of the best space books ever.

Thanks for sharing!

Not all of us will get to experience space first hand. Descriptive accounts like Terry’s are the closest so many people will get. People whose efforts are directly or indirectly integral to extending humanity’s furthest reaches. Thanks Terry!

Fantastic! Highly recommended.

Fantastic, even more special narrated by Terry Virts. Highly recommended. I wont forget to take the med while on 0G;) Thanks

Interesting but

For the most part I enjoyed this book and learned from it. I had no problem with him reading his own book and liked the way it was like he was talking to us telling a tale. I liked how he described his experiences which wouldn’t have seemed authentic if someone else described them.
The ending chapters kind of killed the book for me. I can understand that he felt a greater being but his justification for it seemed quite a stretch. The talk about isolation also didn’t seem to really fit or really be the same as his other experiences. The acknowledgments while nice were just way to long.
Had I left off with the talk about visiting outer space I would have enjoyed this better.

Awesome book! Loved it.

Good sense of humor and
awesome information!
Defiantly a great listen.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in these kinds of things. It does not read like a manual which is nice.
Thank you for writing this book Terry,
I enjoyed it very much. :D

True to the title

This is a great account of the current job of astronaut. I have worked in Mission Control, Shuttle and Space Station Program offices, and recommend this book for anyone interested in wishing they had been or hope to hire-on as on astronaut.