Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond Book

Whether he was hot-dogging at Mach 2, test-flying every supersonic jet the Navy developed (and some they shouldn't have), orbiting the Earth at almost 20,000 mph, or redlining his Corvette, Pete Conrad loved pushing the envelope.

The guy every NASA pilot wanted to happyhour with after work-and would kill to fly with-Pete had a natural outspokenness that got him removed from the Mercury program. But the "Comeback Kid" came roaring back-flying two Gemini missions, walking on the Moon as the commander of Apollo 12, commanding the first Skylab, and logging more time in space than all the original astronauts combined.

This is a surprisingly candid insider's view of the greatest ride in history: America's glorious race to the stars, as seen through the eyes of a real space cowboy.