Jones, Chris

(Christopher Alexander Jones)

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

CAREER:

Journalist and author.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edward Goff Penny Award for the outstanding young journalist in Canada, 2000; National Magazine Award for feature writing, 2005, for "Home."

WRITINGS:

Falling Hard: A Rookie's Year in Boxing, Arcade Publishing (New York, NY), 2002.

Too Far from Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2007, published as Out of Orbit: The Incredible True Story of Three Astronauts Who Were Hundreds of Miles above the Earth When They Lost Their Ride Home, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2008.

Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including the National Post.

Contributor and former sports columnist, Esquire magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Chris Jones is a journalist and sports columnist. One of his articles, "Home," garnered him a National Magazine Award, and also served as the basis for a book-length work of nonfiction, Too Far from Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space. In the book, Jones explores an often overlooked aspect of the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia. When the Columbia tragically exploded on February 1, 2003, the remainder of the shuttle fleet was grounded indefinitely, leaving two American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station with no immediate prospects for a return home. Astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Don Pettit, along with Russian engineer and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin, had been in residence at the International Space Station since November, 2002, and were anticipating a ride back home on the Columbia. When the shuttle was destroyed, the spacefarers not only found themselves shocked and grieving over the deaths of their colleagues, but embroiled in the more immediate and practical matter of how they would survive during their unexpected extension of duty—and how, and if, they would finally leave orbit and return to solid ground.

Jones recounts in depth the ordeal of the three residents of the ISS, "who survived and even thrived during their stay in space," noted USA Today reviewer Don Oldenburg. Jones's narrative covers both the mundane and the cosmic, from the mechanics of eating and excreting in zero gravity, to the emotional toll of isolation in a place where rescue is difficult, to the constant danger of impact from pieces of space junk hurtling at ballistic velocities through space. Throughout, Jones also addresses the tension of their predicament, relating how the men coped with separation from their homes and families, and how their families back on earth dealt with the crisis and the very real prospect that the three astronauts might die in space. In the background, Jones touches on other issues, including the state of the U.S. space program, competition between American and Russian space agencies, and the determination and tenacity it takes to step away from the planet itself for the sake of science and knowledge. Ultimately, the astronauts returned to earth on a harrowing ride in a rickety Soyuz space capsule. "For all the professionalism and sang-froid described in Too Far from Home, though, there remains a real, underlying sense of what makes astronauts so far removed from the ordinary. Even when performing routine repairs, an astronaut may gaze at his or her foot and see behind it a similar-sized object that turns out to be Australia," observed Janet Maslin in the New York Times.

Library Journal reviewer John Carver called Jones's book a "first-rate account of the Expedition Six mission to the International Space Station." The book "combines gripping narrative and strongly defined characters," asserted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. "A smart read, the book proves to be an illuminating and enjoyable journey into the complexities of spaceflight's pernicious perils and tranquil beauty," Oldenburg concluded.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biography, spring, 2007, Chet Raymo, "Space Station Astronauts," review of Too Far from Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space, p. 313.

Booklist, March 1, 2007, Gilbert Taylor, review of Too Far from Home, p. 48.

Entertainment Weekly, March 9, 2007, Wook Kim, review of Too Far from Home, p. 115.

Library Journal, February 1, 2007, John Carver, review of Too Far from Home, p. 85.

New York Times, March 22, 2007, Janet Maslin, "The Astronauts Columbia Left Behind," review of Too Far from Home.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 18, 2007, Jon Caroulis, "Two Books Probe NASA's Track Record after the Success of the Man-on-the-Moon Program," review of Too Far from Home.

Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2007, review of Too Far from Home, p. 44.

Quill & Quire, January, 2007, Dan Rowe, "Space Is the Place," review of Too Far from Home.

Science News, April 28, 2007, review of Too Far from Home, p. 271.

USA Today, March 19, 2007, Don Oldenburg, "2003 Space Odyssey Too Far Hits Close to Home," review of Too Far from Home.