Apollo

by Reynolds, David West

• ISBN13: 9780151009640
• ISBN10: 0151009643
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

NASA's Apollo answered President Kennedy's 1961 directive to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade. The astronauts, scientists, and mission control operators who took part in the fifteen manned Apollo missions not only accomplished this memorable triumph of courage and technical ingenuity, they stirred the world's imagination and redefined the notion of what is truly possible.In this captivating story of adventure and exploration, expert David West Reynolds presents a complete and engaging reconstruction of all the key events and personalities in the Apollo program. From the thrilling experiences of the astronauts to the men of extraordinary vision and skill who built a reality out of a dream, Reynolds captures the drama of this epic journey.Rendering complex and technical material into accessible terms for the uninitiated reader, while providing unusual details for the aficionado, Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon takes you along on the most unforgettable ride of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

David West Reynolds is the author of six books, including #1 New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Episode I, The Visual Dictionary. He holds a doctorate in classical archaeology from the University of Michigan. An expert in space exploration, Reynolds is directing a project with a group of lunar and astrophysical scientists to recover image data from a little-known 1973 Soviet moon landing. He lives in Marin County, California.

Wally Schirra, one of the Original Seven astronauts, is the only astronaut to have flown on all three NASA programs-Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. He lives in San Diego, California.

Von Hardesty is a historian and curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He is the editor of the Cambridge Centennial of Flight book series. He lives in Grottoes, Virginia.

Gene Cernan, a Gemini and Apollo astronaut, was the last man to set foot on the Moon. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Table of Contents

Foreword Liftoff	8	(10)
Wally Schirra
Introduction The Space Frontier	10	(4)
Von Hardesty
Dawn of the Space Age	14	(48)
Aiming for the Moon	62	(50)
Landing on the Moon	112	(52)
Moon Explorers	164	(58)
Beyond Apollo	222	(40)
Afterword Landfall	262	(2)
Gene Cernan
Apollo Mission Summary	264	(2)
Select Bibliography and Acknowledgments	266	(2)
Index	268