Prologue: "Go" or "no-go" -- Part I: A flying career -- 1. From Cartersville to Georgia Tech -- 2. Gunnery officer to naval aviator -- 3. Fighter pilot to test pilot -- 4. Pax River -- Part II: Into orbit -- 5. The new nine and Project Gemini -- 6. Countdown -- 7. Three orbits -- 8. Dual rendezvous -- Part 3: Lunar journeys -- 9. From a fire to the moon -- 10. Call sign Charlie Brown -- 11. From tranquility to a lost moon -- 12. To the Descartes Highlands -- 13. In the briar patch -- 14. The end of moon landings -- Part III: The shuttle era -- 15. Enterprise -- 16. "The boldest test flight in history" -- 17. Advent of the "operational" shuttle -- 18. A steep spiral staircase -- 19. The Challenger disaster -- 20. A mountain of memos -- 21. "The next logical step -- 22. On a wing and a prayer -- Epilogue: When worlds collide.