# Magnificent Failure

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/craig-ryan/magnificent-failure/9781588341419

![Magnificent Failure](https://quivercdn.com/covers/smithsonian-books/craig-ryan/magnificent-failure_978-15-8834-141-9.jpg?v=2026-06-13%2005%3A10%3A59)

- Book: [Magnificent Failure](https://www.bookquiver.com/craig-ryan/magnificent-failure) ([Magnificent Failure.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/craig-ryan/magnificent-failure.md))
- Authors: [Craig Ryan](https://www.bookquiver.com/craig-ryan)
- Publisher: smithsonian_books
- ISBN: 978-15-8834-141-9
- Pages: 320
- Published: 2003-10-17
- Language: en_US
- Binding: Hardcover

## Description

Locked in a desperate Cold War race against the Soviets to find out if humans could survive in space and live through a free fall from space vehicles, the Pentagon gave civilian adventurer Nick Piantanida’s...