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Mike Mongo

Goodreads Author

Born

in Dunedin, FL, The United States

Website

https://www.mikemongo.com

Twitter

mikemongo

Genre

Children's, Science, Young Adult

Influences

Ray Bradbury, Robert Baden-Powell ...more

Member Since

February 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/mikemongo

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Mike Mongo is the best-selling author of The Astronaut Instruction Manual and founder of Mike Mongo’s Astronaut Job Fair. He is a champion of Space STEAM careers to students at schools, camps, universities, and special events in the US and abroad. As a host, speaker, and educator, Mr Mongo zestfully encourages STEAM-directed students to pursue careers in astronautics and Space-related industry.

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Mike Mongo The Astronaut Instruction Manual came to me in 2006 at age 41. I was a working researcher for Danger Charters eco-tour in Key West, FL, and was really…moreThe Astronaut Instruction Manual came to me in 2006 at age 41. I was a working researcher for Danger Charters eco-tour in Key West, FL, and was really just wrapping up my "adolescience"–working in marine sciences while determining what career direction I wanted to pursue.

One evening while wrapping up and putting away supplies in the office after a day on the water, I began actively contemplating my next move. So I started to think about what I had NOT yet accomplished in my life. Moving down the list–college student, journalist, publisher, computer sciences, military, even graffiti artist (!)–I landed upon "astronaut".

Suddenly it hit me. I was over 40. Seeing as I was not already actually trained to be an astronaut, chances were that I was NEVER going to be an astronaut! This was devastating!

To be fair, there is no career or goal in my life I have wanted more than to be an astronaut and to go to space. My new awareness that this was likely not ever going to happen.

At this point, no doubt many people would be devastated. Instead I instantly put on my thinking cap and recalibrated: "Ok," I thought, "if I can't be an astronaut then what is the next best thing to being as astronaut? Something good enough to sustain my interest for the next half of my life."

Here is where my then-current position at Danger came into play. As a working member of the crew, I got to go out and teach people about the science and story of the Florida Keys Marine Wildlife Preserve. Naturally, there were often young students aboard. Occasionally, a student would become so enamored, so taken with with what we experienced together–be it dolphins being communicative, or sea hares releasing lavender-y ink as a defense mechanism, or the power of jellyfish's nematocyst stinging mechanism, or even (frankly spectacular) weather and tidal patterns–that they would literally transform before our eyes. Everyone on board would witness these miraculous moments as science and wonder suddenly won over their worldviews. It was as if we were all seeing the advent of a lifetime of careers in science. This was so great to be part of AND I WANTED MORE!

So bearing in mind my existential quandary–"OMG I'M NOT GOING TO BE AN ASTRONAUT!"–and my newly-appreciated love of teaching, it dawned on me as an epiphany:

I would be an ASTRONAUT TEACHER.

My thinking was simple. While I may have missed my opportunity to be an astronaut, I realized that by pointing out our space future to young students I would have the thing I never got (ie permission to pursue a vocation and career in astronautics) and insure that today's students realize that tomorrow's jobs are in space.

And I started on writing The Astronaut Instruction Manual that very day.(less)

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Mike Mongo’s books

Average rating: 3.9 · 42 ratings · 17 reviews · 3 distinct works

	The Astronaut Instruction Manual 3.98 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Astronaut Instruction Manual: Practical Skills for Future Space Explorers did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mike Mongo's Kid Astronaut Training Manual by Mike Mongo (Goodreads Author), Raghav Arumugam (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Conversation with Sherlock Holmes: by Sherlock Holmes, Mike Mongo (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Mike Mongo rated a book it was amazing

EarthLight: The Power of EarthLight and the Human Perspective

by Dr. Sian Proctor

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Mike Mongo said: " Earthlight: The Power of Earthlight and the Human Perspective is an accomplishment of science, art, and vision. Ever since I heard poet-astronaut Dr Sian Proctor's poem, "Earthlight" read live I believe I have been taken in with the concept of earthl Earthlight: The Power of Earthlight and the Human Perspective is an accomplishment of science, art, and vision. Ever since I heard poet-astronaut Dr Sian Proctor's poem, "Earthlight" read live I believe I have been taken in with the concept of earthlight. Yet what makes the earthlight idea so intoxicating to me is the premise that the light that exists here on Earth is unique, sunlight that has been transformed by the nature of our world to have a life-sustaining quality as important to us as creatures as is water and air.
What very much catches my imagination is the necessity of experiencing the phenomena of earthlight from space–as Dr Proctor did on Inspiration4's 2021 3-day orbit around the planet. Indeed, being removed from earthlight is what gave the poet-astronaut the perspective necessary to experience, discern, and communicate the importance of earthlight.
It is entirely appropriate that the foreword is written by none other than Frank White, pioneering scientist and author of The Overview Effect, who themself named the effect upon realizing astronauts were having a specific perspective-altering experience upon viewing the Earth from space and orbit. Dr Proctor's work is more than a compliment to this idea; it is the catalyst of it.
Previously, it seems we had widely held that the overview effect was entirely the consequence of seeing the Earth from space, a matter of scale and grandeur. With Earthlight, Dr Proctor's poses a provocative insight into the overview effect: Being removed from natural earthlight–the singular light generated and produced by the process of light from the sun filtering through our atmosphere and being uniquely "charged" (my word) into an important state essential for the sustenance of life–allows us to perceive and appreciate it.
The way the book builds and flows gives readers the feeling that something wonderful is unfolding, like an argument being made for greatness that has been beheld and is now being honored. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the book's lovely matching of photography, art, and poetry to the history and science of earthlight. There can be no doubt this book would have been impossible to craft much less author without the life-changing experience of Dr Proctor's own mission to space.
(Incidentally, I was reminded of the profound 2021 spaceflight of actor William Shatner aka Star Trek's Captain Kirk aboard Blue Origin New Shepard, himself also a poet. Upon landing and returning safely to Earth from his sub-orbital trip to space, high enough to exit the radiant embrace of the planet, Shatner was visibly overcome by his report and recounting of the experience. "It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered," the actor said. "The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness." This is a testament to the "the warm nurturing" nature of earthlight. And a clue to the merit and genuine historic significance of Dr Proctor's pioneering book on the topic. Dr Proctor herself along with her three crew members was in space for three days of viewing and study in orbit around the Earth, as mission pilot of a SpaceX Crew Dragon.)
Also worth noting is the nature of the window Dr Proctor was able to take in and consider the phenomena of earthlight, the spaceship's extraordinary dome cupola, was the largest single piece window ever flown to space. It allowed the geoscientist and poet to extend herself outwards slightly from the Crew Dragon spaceship, and provided for an exceptional vantage for study. This is evidenced by the many breathtaking photos she herself took from inside the clear dome cupola.
Earthlight: The Power of Earthlight and the Human Perspective is space science writing that is empowered by art, personal experience, and poetry. Earthlight is very much like the subject it introduces and transcends, light which becomes induced to be even more grand that its own very nature through a filter of phenomenal life. For astronaut artist poet photographer geoscientist author Dr Sian Proctor, there is no doubt: Earthlight is a magnum opus. ...more "

Jul 20, 2024 03:37AM · see review

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The Book of Awesome

by @Fakegrimlock

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May 25, 2017 10:36PM

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Mike Mongo rated a book it was amazing EarthLight: The Power of EarthLight and the Human Perspective by Dr. Sian Proctor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Earthlight: The Power of Earthlight and the Human Perspective is an accomplishment of science, art, and vision. Ever since I heard poet-astronaut Dr Sian Proctor's poem, "Earthlight" read live I believe I have been taken in with the concept of earthl ...more
Jul 20, 2024 02:41AM · like · see review