Waystation to the Stars Author:Colin Foale When astronaut Michael Foale said good-bye to his family on May 16, 1997 to join the Russian space station Mir, it hadn't seemed like anything more than a routine mission. But within days of his arrival in space, everything started to go wrong. First there was a horrific collision, then a series of computer crashes which endangered the lives o... more »f the inhabitants trapped inside the ageing, orbiting module. Suddenly the dangers of space became terrifyingly real.All the way through his ordeal, Michael - whose quick thinking and natural leadership quickly earned him a reputation as the hero of the mission - was communicating with his parents on a daily basis, giving them the exclusive, inside account of the events as they unfolded. His father Colin Foale, found himself becoming the mouthpiece on earth for the events that were happening 240 miles above him in space. As a former RAF pilot, Colin had first hand experience of the kind of split-second life or death decisions his son was facing in space. In this case, he could only watch as the events unfolded. In this gripping account of a real-life space adventure, Colin Foale has painted a moving portrait of courage in the most hostile environment imaginable. Through Michael's early interest in space, family tragedy, NASA selection and training, this is Michael's extraordinary story as told by the one man who knows him best. WAYSTATION TO THE STARS is the only account of the Mir crisis to give the truth behind the headlines.« less