REVIEWS
In Never Panic Early, Fred Haise appears to go out of his way not to emulate prior astronaut autobiographies. He briefly details his youth in Biloxi, Mississippi, before moving on to his real passion: flying airplanes. In 1952, at the age of 18, Haise enrolled in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program, and you can practically taste his enthusiasm when he writes about military aviation. The sections about flight training are the most enjoyable parts of the book.
After the Soviet launch of Sputnik I in 1957, Haise became a research pilot with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the forerunner of NASA) and made his way to Edwards Air Force Base to work alongside Chuck Yeager. Haise mentions his application to the space program only briefly, and it seems that being passed over would not have upset him. He even suggests that if he had had the opportunity to fly the X-15 at Edwards he might not have applied at all.
Haise’s account of his time at NASA is surprisingly flat. His description of Apollo 13 occupies only a small portion of the entire manuscript, as though Haise has discussed the mission to the point of exhaustion, so he sees no need to repeat it. Similarly, he dismisses with a wave
