The Astronaut Instruction Manual

A children's book by Mike Mongo

"The Astronaut Instruction Manual is a fantastic and vibrant preparatory guide for today’s youth—whether their futures are off in space or right here…on Earth.” — Lori Garver, Former NASA Deputy Administrator

Endorsed by authors, teachers, and congressman alike, Mike Mongo's Astronaut Instruction Manual excites a new generation of space explorers. The book, designed for children between the ages of 6 and 13, is a functioning, interactive instruction manual. Using mad-lib-style fill-in-the-blanks, Mongo encourages his readers to articulate and illustrate their own vision of next-generation space travel. The Astronaut Instruction Manual captures a new era of enthusiasm for space exploration, driven in part by new space celebrities (Commander Chris Hadfield, Elon Musk), and in part by a shift in popular interest in space (SpaceX rockets, The Mars Colonial Transporter, Kerbal).

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Audiobook
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Penguin Random House
Movie & TV
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Legendary Entertainment
Comic
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World English
Foreign Lang.
Book Comps
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Accolades
The Tracking Board
After hitting the market last week, author Mike Mongo’s eBook sensation THE ASTRONAUT INSTRUCTION MANUAL has quickly found its way into the hands of top producers and is already generating stellar offers.
Lori Garver, former NASA Deputy Administrator and General Manager, Air Line Pilots Association
An astronaut must be focused and prepared, but also dynamic and creative. The Astronaut Instruction Manual is a fantastic and vibrant preparatory guide for today's youth – whether their futures are off in space or right here at home on Earth.
Press
Examiner.com
October 12, 2015
The Astronaut Instruction Manuals: Practical Skills for Future Space Explorers by Mike Mongo is a wonderful introduction for children who hope to perhaps, one day, study and explore space.
MetaFilter
October 19, 2015
We discover the solutions to every challenge we face on earth today–energy, health, sustainability, inclusion, equality, even prosperity–by solving for the challenges of space.
Portal to the Universe
October 12, 2015
'Astronaut Instruction Manual' Introduces Kids to Space.
Discovery News
October 11, 2015
One of the things we need to do to prioritize as a nation is to right these wrongs, and space has the opportunity to do that, and when I say space is for everyone, kids get that,” Mongo says. “By pursuing space, we solve for every challenge on Earth today. Energy, health, inclusion, sustainability, even prosperity. This is my pitch.”
Wow! Signal Podcast via Stitcher Radio
August 01, 2015
In this short Wow! Signal Burst, Mike Mongo, Astronaut Teacher, tells us about his forthcoming book, which has just completed successful crowdfunding. The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Preteens.
Examiner.com
October 17, 2015
When it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to become an astronaut and then I realized why I had not become an astronaut, I wanted to make sure that other people, as they’re growing up, didn’t suffer that same consequence. And the great thing is that, right now, this moment we are in historically, is a terrific time to encourage students to pursue careers in space and astronautics.”
SpaceRef
September 02, 2014
Professional space educator and self-described ‘astronaut teacher’ Mike Mongo is on a mission: to get your kids to space.
As NASA plans for a human mission to Mars and while private companies like SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corp, and Lockheed Martin race to build commercial crew vehicles, the future of space exploration is looking much brighter. For this reason, The author of The Astronaut Instruction Manual, Mike Mongo, is on a mission to inspire the next generation of astronauts who will continue to push the boundaries of human spaceflight.
Nerdy Mama
March 18, 2016
Not only does it have some great activity ideas (like what to look up online to learn more about aeronautics and what it takes to be an astronaut, but it’s also got some just great critical-thinking advice for kids that are interested in the STEM careers.
Hollywood Reporter
July 12, 2016
Legendary Television is in early development to adapt The Astronaut Instruction Manual, the YA book by space enthusiast and first-time author Mike Mongo, for television.
It’s educational, inspirational, and now, it may get a fictional adaptation on television.
NBC News
October 12, 2016
By letting a kid go to space, we will inspire an entire generation of space explorers, Mongo said late last month at the Dent:Space conference in San Francisco.
International Business Times
October 11, 2016
Mike Mongo, the author of the 2015 book The Astronaut Instruction Manual, said recently he thinks a child will go to space in the next 10 years — and possibly sooner, Space.com reported exclusively Tuesday. By letting a kid go to space, we will inspire an entire generation of space explorers, Mongo said at a September conference. If we solve space for kids, they will solve the future for us.
Read part of The Astronaut Instruction Manual
Chapter 3
a 2 minute read

Which lead us to our next subject,
Life.

Our life’s end does not have to be the end of us,
but it is the end of our turn. So, when and if we have to die,
make the end of your turn become the completion of an extraordinary life story.

Yet, if you can,
why not just keep on living?

If you can successfully avoid getting hit by a runaway helicopter,
or having an old satellite fall the sky and land on you
or any other unluckiness which today might otherwise lead to your demise,
and you keep doing so at least until the time that you are 20 years of age,
chances are you will live another 100 years...or more!

Such is the promise
of humankind’s technological direction
at the very beginning of the 21st century.

Exactly how you will live another 100 years after age 20,
or what happens to make it so,
will be a surprise.

It wouldn’t be called a surprise
if we knew precisely what amazing things were to happen
or exactly how such things were going to take place.


There is no telling what discoveries
and advancements will be made over the coming years!

Consider this.

Approximately one hundred years ago,
in the first decade of the 20th century,society was without telephones,
automobiles, light bulbs, airplanes, or even radios,
almost anywhere.

Most of the world had not even heard of electricity—
because at that time it took scientists and researchers
nearly three months time to communicate new ideas and discoveries
to the rest of the world.

Nonetheless—only ten years later— by 1920,
telephones, radios, light bulbs, airplanes, and automobiles
were seen all over the world!

And at that time the whole world worked together

to build highways
and runways
and skyscrapers,
and to put up electric power poles and radio towers
...as fast as possible!

In just nine years, our world changed
from “horse-driven” to “automobile-driven”,
and everyone of us alive then helped make it happen together.

Now think about this.

Back around 1915,
it took three entire months
to send mail from one place to another.
And then another three months to get a reply!

Yet still, by 1924,
in ten years time,
everyone alive experienced and discovered
a world which had been completely reinvented.

Jump forward again,
one hundred years,
to the present,
here at the beginning of the 21st century.

We have even more discoveries and more inventions.

We have antibiotics, x-rays, microwaves, jet planes, nuclear submarines,
and space vehicles that have taken humankind to the moon and further!


We have satellites, fiber optics, silicon chips, video games, personal computers.
Plus all sorts of other inventions, discoveries, devices, utilities, and tools,
some of which are still brand new,
like the internet.

Where one hundred years ago
it took three months to get a letter from one place to another,
with the internet it now takes just three seconds to transmit mail
to anywhere on the planet.

Distance hardly makes a difference now.

And where our predecessors were there then
as horse-and-buggies
were to be replaced by automobiles and airplanes,
today...

Chapter 9
a 1 minute read



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