My 36 Years in Space: An Astronautical Engineer's Journey through the Triumphs and Tragedies of America's Space Programs (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780998456812)

My 36 Years in Space is a behind-the-scenes view of the exciting career of a pioneer in NASA's manned space programs. It describes the breakthroughs of a young engineer in writing flight software to guide astronauts to the moon, his heart-pounding experience in watching the Apollo 11 launch at the Cape, and his breathtaking moments in NASA's Mission Control Center while Armstrong and Aldrin dealt with computer alarms when they descended to the moon for the first time. His fun-filled relationships with his astronaut neighbors are unique. Kurth's firsthand account of his successful rise to General Manager of the Aerospace Systems Group in the Shuttle and Space Station era contrasts with his sudden fall to the unemployed at age 52. The reader experiences his struggle through the aerospace recession, before pulling himself back up with achievements in the USAF spy satellite programs prior to his retirement with TRW in 1999.