posted 01-29-2019 11:11 AM               

From the late 1950s to 1976 the U.S. manned spaceflight program advanced as it did largely due to the extraordinary efforts of Austrian immigrant George M. Low. Described as the "ultimate engineer" during his career at NASA, Low was a visionary architect and leader from the agency's inception in 1958 to his retirement in 1976. As chief of manned spaceflight at NASA, Low was instrumental in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

Low's pioneering work paved the way for President Kennedy's decision to make a lunar landing NASA's primary goal in the 1960s. After the tragic 1967 Apollo I fire that took the lives of three astronauts and almost crippled the program, Low took charge of the redesign of the Apollo spacecraft, and helped lead the program from disaster and toward the moon. In 1968, Low made the bold decision to go for lunar orbit on Apollo 8 before the lunar module was ready for flight and after only one Earth orbit test flight of the Command and Service modules. Under Low there were five manned missions, including Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing.

Low's clandestine negotiations with the Soviet Union resulted in a historic joint mission in 1975 that was the precursor to the Shuttle-MIR and International Space Station programs. At the end of his NASA career, Low was one of the leading figures in the development of the Space Shuttle in the early1970s, and was instrumental in NASA's transition into a post-Apollo world. Afterward, he embarked on a distinguished career in higher education as a transformational president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his alma mater.

From chronicling Low's escape from Nazi occupied Austria to helping land a man on the moon, The Ultimate Engineer sheds new light on one of the most fascinating and complex personalities of the golden age of U.S. manned space travel.

• Hardcover: 344 pages
  
• University of Nebraska Press (December 1, 2019)
  
• ISBN-10: 0803299559
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0803299559

posted 01-29-2019 12:19 PM               

After all, it was Low that first had the idea of orbiting Apollo 8 around the moon in Dec. 1968 when many of his colleagues within NASA's top brass had thought it was a crazy idea at first.

During my high school years and early studies about our manned spaceflight efforts, I came across his name many times and was aspired by his outstanding leadership of our space agency. I still cherish the letters Dr. Low had written to me during the early 1970s along with the autographed space photos and postal covers.

posted 01-30-2019 03:16 AM               

I do understand the anxiety of the authors and potential purchasers, but this has been the case since the outset of the series and all authors are made aware that there can be a year gap between submission and book release. The only consolation here is that even though the book is listed for a December release, it is more likely to be available around October.

posted 01-30-2019 09:58 AM               

I once contributed to a very obscure book-writing project so now better appreciate the time to get it right and time required for advance marketing.

posted 02-01-2019 04:02 PM               

News through just today from UNP that Rich's book is now entering the initial editing phase, in which his manuscript is handed on to a contracted copyeditor whose job it is to smooth out any rough edges and explore any queries with Rich. So stay with us, and I know you'll love the finished product.

posted 03-11-2019 10:09 AM               

It took four hundred thousand people for NASA to reach the moon, but one was absolutely essential: a soft-spoken, brilliant engineer named George Low. As this detailed, well-written account reveals, from Apollo's very conception to its recovery from tragedy to its historic triumphs, Low was Apollo's essential man.

— Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon

George Low is one of the unsung heroes of spaceflight, but there's never been a thorough examination of his life and the important contributions he made to Apollo and other NASA programs. The Ultimate Engineer finally fills this huge gap in human spaceflight history!

— Peter King, correspondent for CBS News Radio

The real book about NASA and human spaceflight should be about George Low.

— George W. S. Abbey, former director of the Johnson Space Center

This Austrian immigrant, a specialist in aerodynamics, proved to be the perfect leader of the Apollo spacecraft engineering team—as well as a key political operator in America's human space programs from Mercury to the Space Shuttle. In "The Ultimate Engineer" Richard Jurek tells Low's unique and inspiring story, filling a huge hole in the history of that effort.

— Michael Cassutt, novelist, screenwriter, and coauthor of "Deke!" and "We Have Capture"

George Low was a central figure in one of history's greatest engineering projects—the first human voyages to the moon. Even though Apollo was a team effort, it never would have happened without leaders of great dedication and talent. In this valuable new book, Rich Jurek gives us the first full-length portrait of one of the least-known but most important of these Apollo-era giants.

— Tony Reichhardt, senior editor of Air&Space magazine

posted 10-09-2019 11:06 AM               

Jurek gives a now obscure, yet vital, player in America’s space program his due in this solid biography...While according the most attention to Low’s professional achievements — which also included being named deputy NASA administrator in December 1969 — Jurek takes care to humanize his subject, with appealing descriptions of Low's devotion to his wife and to their five children...The result of Jurek's extensive research and careful use of detail is a comprehensive portrait of a figure vastly greater in significance than in name recognition.

posted 11-05-2019 01:42 PM               

Critically Acclaimed Author Richard Jurek to Speak at Museum

Lecture, Panel Discussion, and Book Signing Slated

Although collecting $2 bills seems like something anyone might do, the difference when Richard Jurek does it is that those bills have flown in space and been signed by astronauts. Jurek, an internationally known collector of space memorabilia and co-author of the best-selling book "Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program" will be at the New Mexico Museum of Space History to present the Launch Pad Lecture on December 6 and the following day will participate in a panel discussion and book signing. His newest book, "The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA's Visionary Leader George M. Low" is a tribute to the Austrian immigrant who led the space agency to the Moon in the 60s.

Jurek is scheduled to present the Museum's monthly Launch Pad Lecture on Friday, December 6 at 9:00 am. His topic will be "The Remarkable Life of George M. Low: The Ultimate Engineer". According to Time magazine in 1969, without Low "there would have been no Apollo 8 flight to the moon." Twelve year old Low immigrated to America in 1938 with his mother and two siblings, escaping Nazi Germany and embarking on a new life that would eventually lead him to become the head of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight. Jurek's new book focuses not only on Low's amazing engineering and leadership skills (he was frequently referred to as a "dirty-hands" engineer), but also on his personal life.

The next day, Saturday, December 7 at 2:00 pm, Jurek and Museum Executive Director Chris Orwoll will pull up their chairs on the Museum's first floor for an in-depth back and forth discussion about the Apollo era and Low's importance to it. Jurek's new book "The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA's Visionary Leader George M. Low" will be on sale after the talk and there will be a book signing. According to Publishers Weekly, "The result of Jurek's extensive research and careful use of detail is a comprehensive portrait of a figure vastly greater in significance than in name recognition."

The Launch Pad Lecture and the Saturday afternoon talk are both free to attend. Refreshments are courtesy of the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation. Both are held on the first floor of the museum.

The New Mexico Museum of Space History, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is a division of the NM Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, call 575-437-2840 or toll free 1-877-333-6589 or visit the website.

posted 11-15-2019 10:34 AM               

Joining me and Mike: Chris Orwoll, the Museum's Director. If you've got an hour to kill, we talk about "Marketing the Moon," "The Ultimate Engineer," and all kinds of Apollo and Moon topics.

posted 11-21-2019 09:12 PM               

Jurek provides a scholarly, yet accessible and engaging account of George M. Low (1926-1984), former NASA administrator and leader of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute.This well-researched book is as much a history of NASA as a biography of George Low, and as such is an important contribution to the history of the agency. Jurek’s detailed book will appeal to both fans and scholars of NASA and of the engineers like Low who make the agency’s spaceflights work.

posted 11-30-2019 07:27 PM               

I would also encourage you to review the book not only on Amazon, but elsewhere if you bought the book via Barnes and Noble or other fine book sellers; or perhaps even on Goodreads. (The same goes for the other books in the Outward Odyssey Series — reviews are always welcome and helpful!).