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Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon
Marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first moon landing, two former astronauts tell of the intense human drama behind the lunar race between two superpowers, and of the sacrifices and risks asked of the American crew.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1994
790 people are currently reading
4139 people want to read
About the author
Alan Shepard
14 books10 followersAstronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard, Junior, the first American in space on 5 May 1961, also commanded the mission of Apollo 14 to the Moon in 1971.
This retired rear admiral in the Navy of the United States, an aviator, the second person. Ten years later, he, the fifth such person, walked.
People original named him for Mercury in 1959. After Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, he the second such person, reached 116 miles of altitude during a suborbital flight. Prosper Ménière's disease, an inner ear condition, grounded him until an operation in 1969 fixed the problem. During the third lunar exploration from 31 January to 9 February 1971, he, the first and only such man, golfed.
Two years after diagnosis with leukemia, he died.
This retired rear admiral in the Navy of the United States, an aviator, the second person. Ten years later, he, the fifth such person, walked.
People original named him for Mercury in 1959. After Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, he the second such person, reached 116 miles of altitude during a suborbital flight. Prosper Ménière's disease, an inner ear condition, grounded him until an operation in 1969 fixed the problem. During the third lunar exploration from 31 January to 9 February 1971, he, the first and only such man, golfed.
Two years after diagnosis with leukemia, he died.
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October 21, 2022
This was a book I hoped to enjoy more, yet were left a little bit disappointed by. The book is written by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton and they take you on the journey of the American space program from the early days of Von Braun and his team of German scientists who built rockets, through the Mercury Seven to the end of the Apollo Program. Interweaved with this story is also the Space Race with the Soviets and how far along they were in comparison to the Americans which is real interesting.
The book focuses mostly on the two authors' journeys, but I was disappointed that all the other astronauts were not brought more into the story, especially the Mercury Seven men. Also there is a lot of dialogue in the book and sometimes it's easy to forget that this book is non-fiction... Still a nice book especially if you want to learn more about the golden age of space exploration and the Space Race.
The book focuses mostly on the two authors' journeys, but I was disappointed that all the other astronauts were not brought more into the story, especially the Mercury Seven men. Also there is a lot of dialogue in the book and sometimes it's easy to forget that this book is non-fiction... Still a nice book especially if you want to learn more about the golden age of space exploration and the Space Race.
April 29, 2012
Moon Shot is the ghostwritten account of Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton's experiences at NASA during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. This is, of course, fascinating stuff, and I had difficulty putting the book down in terms of the subject matter.
However, the writing is TERRIBLE. It is SO BAD. SO BAD, you guys. It's ridiculously flowery in the way of newspaper writers who have no clue how to write something other than a newspaper column. The book gushes like mad over the astronauts, almost completely ignoring their bad side. It's embarrassing. But what's REALLY embarrassing is how the writer gushes over reporters. Yes, reporters. He describes how the scum of the earth descended on the astronauts' wives and harassed them almost continually for years - and he does so glowingly. It's very, very, very obvious that this author is a reporter.
Here's one of the worst bits. The author is describing the time that Alan Shepard, a Navy pilot, lost his instrumentation and had to land on a carrier aircraft by feel. At night, during a storm. Shepard is clearly in trouble, and is contemplating declaring an emergency. But he's decided not to do so. The author says, "It had nothing to do with being macho. Alan Shepard was way beyond that nonsense. Neither was the issue one of inability to live with failure. No ego trip here."
Nothing to do with being macho, and no inability to live with failure. Okay, got it. Now check out the next paragraph: "To Alan, declaring [an] emergency...meant that he had already concluded in his own mind that he had flown himself into a hole from which he couldn't get out. No way."
Yeah, not even a hint of machismo there, am I right?
And the next paragraph: "Declaring an emergency meant that he couldn't handle his airplane in this situation by himself. That radio call was a blatant admission that he needed help. To admit that, he swore to himself meant that somehow he had failed, he no longer had that special something to handle his own problems."
I sure don't see any inability to live with failure there. No sirree.
And if you noticed a number of missing commas in the above quotations, rest assured that I transcribed the original exactly. There appears to have been a severe comma shortage while this book was being typeset.
Long story short, the subject matter is excellent, but the writing is so awful that I would very, very strongly recommend you find a different book on the topic.
Oh, and this edition is updated for 2011. It includes a new last chapter, a scathing denunciation of President Obama's lack of support for the space program.
Original review: It's hard to rate this book. For the content, naturally, it gets a million stars, but the writing! The writing is SO BAD. It was an obstacle I had to overcome to continue reading (kind of like Umbridge was for many readers of OotP). So I'm not giving it a rating right now.
Detailed review coming later.
However, the writing is TERRIBLE. It is SO BAD. SO BAD, you guys. It's ridiculously flowery in the way of newspaper writers who have no clue how to write something other than a newspaper column. The book gushes like mad over the astronauts, almost completely ignoring their bad side. It's embarrassing. But what's REALLY embarrassing is how the writer gushes over reporters. Yes, reporters. He describes how the scum of the earth descended on the astronauts' wives and harassed them almost continually for years - and he does so glowingly. It's very, very, very obvious that this author is a reporter.
Here's one of the worst bits. The author is describing the time that Alan Shepard, a Navy pilot, lost his instrumentation and had to land on a carrier aircraft by feel. At night, during a storm. Shepard is clearly in trouble, and is contemplating declaring an emergency. But he's decided not to do so. The author says, "It had nothing to do with being macho. Alan Shepard was way beyond that nonsense. Neither was the issue one of inability to live with failure. No ego trip here."
Nothing to do with being macho, and no inability to live with failure. Okay, got it. Now check out the next paragraph: "To Alan, declaring [an] emergency...meant that he had already concluded in his own mind that he had flown himself into a hole from which he couldn't get out. No way."
Yeah, not even a hint of machismo there, am I right?
And the next paragraph: "Declaring an emergency meant that he couldn't handle his airplane in this situation by himself. That radio call was a blatant admission that he needed help. To admit that, he swore to himself meant that somehow he had failed, he no longer had that special something to handle his own problems."
I sure don't see any inability to live with failure there. No sirree.
And if you noticed a number of missing commas in the above quotations, rest assured that I transcribed the original exactly. There appears to have been a severe comma shortage while this book was being typeset.
Long story short, the subject matter is excellent, but the writing is so awful that I would very, very strongly recommend you find a different book on the topic.
Oh, and this edition is updated for 2011. It includes a new last chapter, a scathing denunciation of President Obama's lack of support for the space program.
Original review: It's hard to rate this book. For the content, naturally, it gets a million stars, but the writing! The writing is SO BAD. It was an obstacle I had to overcome to continue reading (kind of like Umbridge was for many readers of OotP). So I'm not giving it a rating right now.
Detailed review coming later.
February 17, 2018
Imagine finding Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton sitting in bar, nursing a couple of beers, and talking about old times. You notice them, they seem friendly, and you walk up and ask, “How did it all happen? What was it like?” This book is the story they would tell.
Moon Shot is a book taken from the minds of two people who’s youth culminated in similar achievements. They were both aviation test pilots at the dawn of the Jet Age, when the frontier of space represented the boundary of the envelope. It is from this background that the story is told. It’s conveyed with the pride of fighter-jocks who have experienced the humility of seeing Earth for what it is: a fragile piece of dust floating through the deadly nothingness of space.
If the writing is somewhat rudimentary or unworthy of literary praise, then these shortcomings reflect the bravery that was required to tell their story in their own way. To “clean up” their tale would result in losing the truth of their perspective. To present their tale as something that was more or less than it actually was would have been contrary to their lives, which were dedicated to working with reality as it actually happened. Finding fault in the writing is akin to wishing that life was other than how these two explorers actually perceived it.
As a book about that seemingly magical era that constitutes the race for the moon, Moon Shot certainly has a place on the enthusiast’s bookshelf. It could stand alone as a general history of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. All the major flights are covered and the particular problems that stressed those involved are explained without jargon and in terms intended to convey the experience. But most of all, this book represent two humans who had an outstanding vantage point while living through that era. This aspect alone makes this book worthwhile, enduring, and endearing.
Moon Shot is a book taken from the minds of two people who’s youth culminated in similar achievements. They were both aviation test pilots at the dawn of the Jet Age, when the frontier of space represented the boundary of the envelope. It is from this background that the story is told. It’s conveyed with the pride of fighter-jocks who have experienced the humility of seeing Earth for what it is: a fragile piece of dust floating through the deadly nothingness of space.
If the writing is somewhat rudimentary or unworthy of literary praise, then these shortcomings reflect the bravery that was required to tell their story in their own way. To “clean up” their tale would result in losing the truth of their perspective. To present their tale as something that was more or less than it actually was would have been contrary to their lives, which were dedicated to working with reality as it actually happened. Finding fault in the writing is akin to wishing that life was other than how these two explorers actually perceived it.
As a book about that seemingly magical era that constitutes the race for the moon, Moon Shot certainly has a place on the enthusiast’s bookshelf. It could stand alone as a general history of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. All the major flights are covered and the particular problems that stressed those involved are explained without jargon and in terms intended to convey the experience. But most of all, this book represent two humans who had an outstanding vantage point while living through that era. This aspect alone makes this book worthwhile, enduring, and endearing.
October 26, 2009
I'll give this two stars, but that's a bit of a charity rating. If it wasn't for subject matter that truly interests me, I probably would have closed this one permanently after the first few hundred pages.
It didn't take long for me to realize how poor the writing is. It's bad enough to induce groans and eye rolls all too often. The number of times a 'many tongued, fire spewing monster' carried the astronauts to a 'higher astral plane of lavish weightlessness' is actually embarrassing. It reads like a high school paper...the one where you have to interview somebody old. There's a high-praise quote from Carl Sagan on the jacket, but I think they must have water boarded him to get it.
If the writing isn't bad enough, worse was their glory days portrayal. The whole book reads like a transcript of some old astronauts rocking on the porch shooting the shit about the crazy stuff they did. The authors apparently feel that true men are defined by irresponsibility and anger as much as they are by hard work. Grissom crashes his Vette, Cooper buzzes the tower and almost costs himself his Mercury flight. Shepard comes off as an egomaniacal asshole who's shamelessly reckless with his life and the lives of his crewmen. Odd, considering that he's supposed to be part 'author'.
Slayton is the only guy that I felt any connection to. The history lesson of the progression of the space program was semi-informative, but the book fails to connect to any specific person outside of Shepard and Slayton. By the end of the book, I had a great deal of respect for the role Deke played in the space program, but couldn't help but feel that there are other, more worthy subjects in the world to focus a 400 page book on.
If you're a newcomer to space program history, this may prove a worthwhile read, but for those that have read The Right Stuff or Lost Moon, I wouldn't bother.
It didn't take long for me to realize how poor the writing is. It's bad enough to induce groans and eye rolls all too often. The number of times a 'many tongued, fire spewing monster' carried the astronauts to a 'higher astral plane of lavish weightlessness' is actually embarrassing. It reads like a high school paper...the one where you have to interview somebody old. There's a high-praise quote from Carl Sagan on the jacket, but I think they must have water boarded him to get it.
If the writing isn't bad enough, worse was their glory days portrayal. The whole book reads like a transcript of some old astronauts rocking on the porch shooting the shit about the crazy stuff they did. The authors apparently feel that true men are defined by irresponsibility and anger as much as they are by hard work. Grissom crashes his Vette, Cooper buzzes the tower and almost costs himself his Mercury flight. Shepard comes off as an egomaniacal asshole who's shamelessly reckless with his life and the lives of his crewmen. Odd, considering that he's supposed to be part 'author'.
Slayton is the only guy that I felt any connection to. The history lesson of the progression of the space program was semi-informative, but the book fails to connect to any specific person outside of Shepard and Slayton. By the end of the book, I had a great deal of respect for the role Deke played in the space program, but couldn't help but feel that there are other, more worthy subjects in the world to focus a 400 page book on.
If you're a newcomer to space program history, this may prove a worthwhile read, but for those that have read The Right Stuff or Lost Moon, I wouldn't bother.
November 5, 2020
It would be hard for me to rate this lower than 4 Stars. Yes the writing is overheated at times, actually embarrassingly overwrought. The astronauts, all of them, are top of their class, top of their game, outstanding, sharp, highly intelligent, blah, blah, blah. Riding their fire dragons into space, looking out at the fragile Earth wishing peace to all. But the stories are just plain fun. You will recognize many parts from The Right Stuff but there are some interesting events that may be new to you, as they were to me. Not much time is spent on Apollo 11 but much more on other flights from the Mercury program to the Apollo-Soyuz final flight of an Apollo spacecraft. Excellent parts of this book cover the Soviet space program and how they were beating the pants off of us in the early days. Some great cosmonaut tales. And sad ones too. They suffered losses just like we did with Apollo 1. I always wanted to be an astronaut, fly to outer space and do cool things. Didn't happen. I do hope we return to the moon and go on to Mars, so my kids and all you out there that weren't alive or old enough to remember the moon landings can be a part of something so big, the entire world stops and watches. Reading this book takes me back to watching those black and white grainy videos of men walking on another small world. This book was just plain fun to read.
March 2, 2015
A more accurate title for this book would be "Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard are the Most Bad-Ass Astronauts Ever There Were, by Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard".
So yeah, obviously this is the US space program from the perspective of two of the original astronauts. There's a ton of amusing stories in this book. A number of them showed up in "The Right Stuff" so I guess Tom Wolfe talked to the right people when he wrote that book.
Some of the prose gets a little flowery and kind of overblown at points but mostly the writing is decent. The continual trumpeting of the awesomeness of Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard gets tiring though. I'm going to read Michael Collins' autobiography next to see how it stacks up.
So yeah, obviously this is the US space program from the perspective of two of the original astronauts. There's a ton of amusing stories in this book. A number of them showed up in "The Right Stuff" so I guess Tom Wolfe talked to the right people when he wrote that book.
Some of the prose gets a little flowery and kind of overblown at points but mostly the writing is decent. The continual trumpeting of the awesomeness of Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard gets tiring though. I'm going to read Michael Collins' autobiography next to see how it stacks up.
May 11, 2014
Fascinating subject matter, but it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a history or a novelization. I'm glad I read it, though, I learned a lot about the space program that I hadn't known before.
One thing at the end almost ruined the book for me, though. Right after a really lovely passage about Deke Slayton finally getting to view the Earth from space and musing about how there are no borders from above, no nations, no politics, just one beautiful world, the book immediately turns to a scathing tirade against president Obama's lack of support for NASA. I found it jarring and unpleasant. I wish our current administration were more supportive of the space program myself, but the passage left me with a bad taste in my mouth, not what I want to feel after finishing a book I enjoyed. The book was originally published in '94, so obviously it's a recent addition, and it weakens the message of the book. I wish it had not been added.
One thing at the end almost ruined the book for me, though. Right after a really lovely passage about Deke Slayton finally getting to view the Earth from space and musing about how there are no borders from above, no nations, no politics, just one beautiful world, the book immediately turns to a scathing tirade against president Obama's lack of support for NASA. I found it jarring and unpleasant. I wish our current administration were more supportive of the space program myself, but the passage left me with a bad taste in my mouth, not what I want to feel after finishing a book I enjoyed. The book was originally published in '94, so obviously it's a recent addition, and it weakens the message of the book. I wish it had not been added.
September 10, 2025
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✧｡･ﾟﾟ･☾ Review ☾･ﾟﾟ･｡✧
Phenomenal. Top science read of the year and it’s in the running for my overall top read. It was so well written and retold. Sometimes the recounts can be boring and lame but this was sooo good.
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✧｡･ﾟﾟ･☾ Quotes ☾･ﾟﾟ･｡✧
“ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ, ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ, ɪ ᴄʀɪᴇᴅ.”
“ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ɪꜱ ᴡᴀꜱᴛᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ.”
✧｡･ﾟﾟ･☾ Review ☾･ﾟﾟ･｡✧
Phenomenal. Top science read of the year and it’s in the running for my overall top read. It was so well written and retold. Sometimes the recounts can be boring and lame but this was sooo good.
✦⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆✦
✧｡･ﾟﾟ･☾ Quotes ☾･ﾟﾟ･｡✧
“ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ, ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ, ɪ ᴄʀɪᴇᴅ.”
“ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ɪꜱ ᴡᴀꜱᴛᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ.”
July 23, 2012
One of the unfortunate consequences of a world in which more and more books roll off the presses each day, is that all too many good ones are forgotten too soon. Such is the case with Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon. It’s an exciting chronicle of the American manned space program from the arrival of Werner von Braun and his team of rocket scientists on our shores, to the final flight of Apollo.
It’s not primarily a story of technology, it’s more a story of men: the politicians, the scientists and administrators, and most importantly, the astronauts. And it is a gripping tale. The book is written by two astronauts, Alan Shepherd and Deke Slayton, and two writers, Jay Barbree and Howard Benedict. The dialog and descriptions are authentic, the research outstanding, and the writing is surprisingly creative for a book about rockets.
Both the successes and failures—and tragedies—are recorded without whitewash or varnish.. The race with the Soviet Union for technological supremacy in space figures prominently in the book, as it was in truth one of the prime motivators of the manned space-flight program. The chapter relating the fire that destroyed Apollo 1 was heartbreaking but not maudlin; it was good crisp writing. The authors did not spare any one in the recounting of responsibility for the disaster..
At several points the book slows down to a blow-by-blow crawl of an event. Yet this is not tedious, it’s the payoff! The authors are at their best when you are in the capsule with them as they work their way through a launch, landing, rendezvous, or life-threatening problem.
The book was published in 1994, and it’s much too soon for it to be forgotten. It details a vitally important part of both American and technological history, and WE LANDED ON THE MOON, for crying out loud. If you love history, if you love stories of derring-do and amazing technology, you’ll love this book.
It’s not primarily a story of technology, it’s more a story of men: the politicians, the scientists and administrators, and most importantly, the astronauts. And it is a gripping tale. The book is written by two astronauts, Alan Shepherd and Deke Slayton, and two writers, Jay Barbree and Howard Benedict. The dialog and descriptions are authentic, the research outstanding, and the writing is surprisingly creative for a book about rockets.
Both the successes and failures—and tragedies—are recorded without whitewash or varnish.. The race with the Soviet Union for technological supremacy in space figures prominently in the book, as it was in truth one of the prime motivators of the manned space-flight program. The chapter relating the fire that destroyed Apollo 1 was heartbreaking but not maudlin; it was good crisp writing. The authors did not spare any one in the recounting of responsibility for the disaster..
At several points the book slows down to a blow-by-blow crawl of an event. Yet this is not tedious, it’s the payoff! The authors are at their best when you are in the capsule with them as they work their way through a launch, landing, rendezvous, or life-threatening problem.
The book was published in 1994, and it’s much too soon for it to be forgotten. It details a vitally important part of both American and technological history, and WE LANDED ON THE MOON, for crying out loud. If you love history, if you love stories of derring-do and amazing technology, you’ll love this book.
February 25, 2021
The story of the great race to the moon by the courageous astronauts who were willing to sacrifice their lives to reach the moon. I loved the detail the authors provided but of course, they were astronauts.
December 2, 2013
Just became one of my favorite books! An inside report of the american space program, specially the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Written in a very nice way to present the personal point of view of Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, including their personal dramas of being grounded when history was being written and their colleagues were being sent into orbit and to the moon.
I watched 'The Right Stuff' again this weekend, and it's really a poor picture of what happened to the Mercury 7 astronauts. I can see a new movie or a TV series (HBO style) based on this book, culminating with Deke's flight. That would be awesome.
I watched 'The Right Stuff' again this weekend, and it's really a poor picture of what happened to the Mercury 7 astronauts. I can see a new movie or a TV series (HBO style) based on this book, culminating with Deke's flight. That would be awesome.
November 2, 2011
Things I Liked:
I'm pretty much a fan of space books and will get some enjoyment out of anything written about it. Though I haven't read much of anything nonfiction for a while, I still get a buzz from reading a flying in space. This book had a pretty good look at what astronauts experienced - the ups and downs of flying and failing and not making it. I liked reading about the earlier programs, Mercury and Gemini that don't get a lot of attention. I thought it was an interesting and even exciting book.
Things I Didn't Like:
I had a few problems with it (not including the kindle formatting issues which finally drove me to reading it on the computer). First, I got really annoyed at the overuse of cliched phrases and metaphors that almost made it too cheesy to read. Yes, the time of the space race was exciting and lots of extreme emotions were felt, but I thought it was a little over the top. [Here's an example:
Deke had wanted to sit back and enjoy the trip into orbit. Instead, he felt as if he were balancing atop a long rubber balloon fighting its way through wild winds, and at its very top, where the three astronauts rode, the motions went from up and down to simultaneous spiraling. A dog shaking water from its body with a twisting, swinging motion while its legs collapsed beneath the hapless animal was Deke’s description of his ride and he could only hold on and lock his spurs into the bottom of his seat. p 349]
Second, while I understand that since Shepard and Slayton are co-authors, their flights will be much more detailed. But, skipping entirely over some of the flights was ridiculous (Apollos 2-6 get no page time - literally). It seemed a bit too skewed towards what these two men experienced and not enough about other ones. Third, the dialog was awkward. There's no way for many of the conversations recounted in the book to be remembered, so they must have been invented. I would much rather have a summary of what was said than a created dialog to try and make it more interesting. It is a fairly good look at these programs, but I think there are better ones out there.
Full review at One Librarian's Book Reviews.
I'm pretty much a fan of space books and will get some enjoyment out of anything written about it. Though I haven't read much of anything nonfiction for a while, I still get a buzz from reading a flying in space. This book had a pretty good look at what astronauts experienced - the ups and downs of flying and failing and not making it. I liked reading about the earlier programs, Mercury and Gemini that don't get a lot of attention. I thought it was an interesting and even exciting book.
Things I Didn't Like:
I had a few problems with it (not including the kindle formatting issues which finally drove me to reading it on the computer). First, I got really annoyed at the overuse of cliched phrases and metaphors that almost made it too cheesy to read. Yes, the time of the space race was exciting and lots of extreme emotions were felt, but I thought it was a little over the top. [Here's an example:
Deke had wanted to sit back and enjoy the trip into orbit. Instead, he felt as if he were balancing atop a long rubber balloon fighting its way through wild winds, and at its very top, where the three astronauts rode, the motions went from up and down to simultaneous spiraling. A dog shaking water from its body with a twisting, swinging motion while its legs collapsed beneath the hapless animal was Deke’s description of his ride and he could only hold on and lock his spurs into the bottom of his seat. p 349]
Second, while I understand that since Shepard and Slayton are co-authors, their flights will be much more detailed. But, skipping entirely over some of the flights was ridiculous (Apollos 2-6 get no page time - literally). It seemed a bit too skewed towards what these two men experienced and not enough about other ones. Third, the dialog was awkward. There's no way for many of the conversations recounted in the book to be remembered, so they must have been invented. I would much rather have a summary of what was said than a created dialog to try and make it more interesting. It is a fairly good look at these programs, but I think there are better ones out there.
Full review at One Librarian's Book Reviews.
May 10, 2018
Interesting and factual...until the last chapter
I enjoyed this chronicle of the early American space program up until the Apollo Soyuz mission. The introspective narrative around Shepherd and Slayton have it a memoir feeling and the struggles these two men endured to fly were inspirational.
Then the afterword came. A vicious and biased screed accusing the Obama administration of purposely destroying NASA. Barbree showed his partisanship and pettiness. To point the finger at an administration facing the greatest economic crisis for cutting the budget is disingenuous...especially when ignoring the mess at NASA that led to multiple probes being lost and the Columbia disaster.
Good book until cranky Barbree decided to mislead and show his biases.
I enjoyed this chronicle of the early American space program up until the Apollo Soyuz mission. The introspective narrative around Shepherd and Slayton have it a memoir feeling and the struggles these two men endured to fly were inspirational.
Then the afterword came. A vicious and biased screed accusing the Obama administration of purposely destroying NASA. Barbree showed his partisanship and pettiness. To point the finger at an administration facing the greatest economic crisis for cutting the budget is disingenuous...especially when ignoring the mess at NASA that led to multiple probes being lost and the Columbia disaster.
Good book until cranky Barbree decided to mislead and show his biases.
August 10, 2016
Great first hand History of how we got to the moon
Well written. Story of two astronauts, Shepard and Slaton, and how they overcame adversity and got back into space after being medically disqualified. It recounts through Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo the success and tribulation of American space flight. Over the last few pages the authors eviscerates the Obama Administration for gutting NASA and stopping manned space exploration.
Well written. Story of two astronauts, Shepard and Slaton, and how they overcame adversity and got back into space after being medically disqualified. It recounts through Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo the success and tribulation of American space flight. Over the last few pages the authors eviscerates the Obama Administration for gutting NASA and stopping manned space exploration.
May 31, 2017
This is a very entertaining story. It is very well done also.
August 27, 2022
Summarizing this book seems like a pointless exercise since the title tells you what to expect. What it doesn’t say, however, is that you absolutely must read it. I was born in 1959; so, I have lived through several very important historical events. There is no question that the moon landing was the most memorable and awe inspiring; nothing else even comes close.
IF you are young, you may find it hard to comprehend why I would make such a claim. IF you read this, you will understand.
This is not a listing of dates and statistics. Nor is it a detailed exploration of the science that made it all possible. It is a compelling look at the men who dedicated their lives to space exploration and to making sure President Kennedy’s dream of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s was realized.
These men who I have always viewed as heroes were real live human beings. They laughed, they cried, they joked, and they struggled in ways that we all do. This reminder that they were far from perfect makes me admire them even more. They were determined to reach the goals they set, and nothing could shake that determination.
There were many times when they got on each other’s nerves. Some had bad tempers, some were tactless, some were, at times, quite insensitive. Yet they figured out how to work through all of that to reach their goals. IF they hadn’t, man would never have set foot on the moon.
Nowadays, we hear a lot about “diversity, equity and inclusion;” yet we cannot seem to respect those who do not share our opinions and beliefs. We are so focused on what makes us different that we forget about what binds us together. We could all learn a lot from these heroes of our time and reading this gripping book would be a step in the right direction.
IF you are young, you may find it hard to comprehend why I would make such a claim. IF you read this, you will understand.
This is not a listing of dates and statistics. Nor is it a detailed exploration of the science that made it all possible. It is a compelling look at the men who dedicated their lives to space exploration and to making sure President Kennedy’s dream of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s was realized.
These men who I have always viewed as heroes were real live human beings. They laughed, they cried, they joked, and they struggled in ways that we all do. This reminder that they were far from perfect makes me admire them even more. They were determined to reach the goals they set, and nothing could shake that determination.
There were many times when they got on each other’s nerves. Some had bad tempers, some were tactless, some were, at times, quite insensitive. Yet they figured out how to work through all of that to reach their goals. IF they hadn’t, man would never have set foot on the moon.
Nowadays, we hear a lot about “diversity, equity and inclusion;” yet we cannot seem to respect those who do not share our opinions and beliefs. We are so focused on what makes us different that we forget about what binds us together. We could all learn a lot from these heroes of our time and reading this gripping book would be a step in the right direction.
April 11, 2023
I listened to this as an audio book and wow. The last 8 minutes or so were incredibly insightful-and decisive to some, I'm sure. But not wrong.
So many quotes in this book had me nodding, or texting a friend, or wanting to share this book with someone. I brought it up in casual conversation-the nature of my job made this book actually pretty relevant-and...well, among other things, this book made me yearn for NASA's glory days, and wish I had been alive through the hay day of the space program. Listening to Deke Slayton NEVER give up on his dream made me remember the kid I still am inside, and how much she yearned to work at NASA-and made me think that little girl would be pretty proud of the woman she would become.
Overall, a book that inspired introspection and introduced me to new thoughts I hadn't considered and gave me perspective I hadn't had before. As the rating indicates, 5 stars.
So many quotes in this book had me nodding, or texting a friend, or wanting to share this book with someone. I brought it up in casual conversation-the nature of my job made this book actually pretty relevant-and...well, among other things, this book made me yearn for NASA's glory days, and wish I had been alive through the hay day of the space program. Listening to Deke Slayton NEVER give up on his dream made me remember the kid I still am inside, and how much she yearned to work at NASA-and made me think that little girl would be pretty proud of the woman she would become.
Overall, a book that inspired introspection and introduced me to new thoughts I hadn't considered and gave me perspective I hadn't had before. As the rating indicates, 5 stars.
June 28, 2021
If The Right Stuff is the trashy tabloid tell-all, Moon Shot is the authorized biography version of the heroic age of the American space program, from Mercury to Apollo. The overall tone is one of awed cosmism. Astronauts are larger than life figures, top test pilots and engineers who manage to save their own lives and the mission by taming faulty space capsules. Beyond the atmosphere, floating weightless in zero-G, and looking down on our fragile blue marble, they serve as both the most exceptional Americans, and as pan-national unifying archetypes. Arrayed against them is of course the hostility of space, but also the small-minded cowardice of bureaucrats and Congress, who are unwilling to let these brave men risk it all.
The book is structured as a mission by mission account, and is light on technical details in favor of somewhat repetitive purple prose. Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton are the clear protagonists, two of the original Mercury 7 astronauts grounded by medical issues, who beat the doctors to eventually fly on Apollo missions.
I did learn something from this book, like how vital Gemini was as a bridge to maneuvering in space, performing the precision burns and dockings vital to the Apollo mission plan. Shepard's Apollo 14 was almost a failure, with a docking problem between the capsule and LEM solved by ramming the docking ring at higher than designed speed, and a radar fault in the LEM fixed by turning it off and turning it back on again.
Moon Shot is a decent, if unambitious history, and probably a good first pass for more extensive reading on the space age.
The book is structured as a mission by mission account, and is light on technical details in favor of somewhat repetitive purple prose. Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton are the clear protagonists, two of the original Mercury 7 astronauts grounded by medical issues, who beat the doctors to eventually fly on Apollo missions.
I did learn something from this book, like how vital Gemini was as a bridge to maneuvering in space, performing the precision burns and dockings vital to the Apollo mission plan. Shepard's Apollo 14 was almost a failure, with a docking problem between the capsule and LEM solved by ramming the docking ring at higher than designed speed, and a radar fault in the LEM fixed by turning it off and turning it back on again.
Moon Shot is a decent, if unambitious history, and probably a good first pass for more extensive reading on the space age.
May 13, 2020
Focussing on the contributions of Mercury 7 astronauts Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, who both moved into the administrative side of NASA after being grounded for medical reasons, this book offers a decent overview over the early American space programme from its beginnings through the Apollo missions. However, it pales beside Andrew Chaikin's superb A Man On the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts, which is both far more detailed and better written. If you'd prefer the quicker, more gossipy read, you might pick this one, otherwise skip it and go with Chaikin for the far more informative account.
August 11, 2022
A solid timeline, heavily focused on Shepard and Slayton. Interesting how it fits in with perspectives in other books, would be fun to read several concurrently.
September 8, 2022
A look at America’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs from the perspective of Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, two of the original seven astronauts.
June 14, 2022
Written 25 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, this is a highly readable history of the U.S. space program from the perspective of men who lived that history.
The book begins, appropriately enough, with a minute-by-minute account of the moon landing in its last moments. The authors transport you expertly into the control room in Houston as the employees watch the fuel tanks in the lunar lander empty and draw perilously close to an abortion of the mission. When Eagle landed and Neil Armstrong uttered his famous quote, “The eagle has landed,” the lander had some 16 seconds of fuel left which Armstrong could use specifically for the landing. He manually flew the lander away from a boulder—strewn area where the computer would have landed them.
From that hair-raising chapter, we move back in time to the establishment of a U.S. army-controlled rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. So vivid is the writing we seem to hear as we read the warbly beeps of Sputnik that shocked and terrified America. Shortly thereafter, Americans attempted their first satellite launch and failed miserably at it. They eventually get it right in 1958, but there’s a sense that the U.S. is behind, and there’s a fear that it may always be.
There’s a fast-paced chapter on test pilots who became astronauts. It looks at the contribution of test pilots in the space program. You’ll read with fascination about a storm landing Alan Shepard did on an aircraft carrier when he had less-than five minutes of fuel left.
Chapter four details the announcement of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. Additional chapters focus on the training they endured and the publicity they dealt with. Many of us think of doxing as a new problem, but a photographer snapped a picture by the mailbox of one of the astronauts, and the entire nation had his address as a result. This was accidental, which makes it something other than doxing, but Americans deluged the poor family with mail once the address went public.
You ride along with a triumphant Alan Shepard in chapter nine, and it’s an exhilarating experience. The book guides you through the Gemini program including Neil Armstrong’s near tragedy when his ship lost control. A lesser pilot would have lost consciousness and died.
The chapters on the Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath are vivid and memorable.
It’s true that authors have written whole books about various segments of the history of manned spaceflight, this one does a nice job of digesting and comprehensively encapsulating that history. Apollo 8 gets a chapter as does Apollo 13. Again, authors have crafted whole books about Apollo 13, but these guys are adept at giving you what you need to know and keeping the story interesting. Read this chapter to learn how one subcontractor sent another a bill for $400,000 for towing services. Who says bean counters have no sense of humor!
Alan Shepard’s return to the moon gets an extremely detailed treatment, but what the heck; it’s his book. Why not? You watch with sadness as the authors detail NASA’s descent from innovator to bureaucrats intent on covering butts and just keeping the old 9 to 5.
There’s a chapter on the Apollo Soyuz docking mission, and I enjoyed that one because I knew so little of the event and paid so little attention to it as the self-absorbed teenager I was that year.
Deke Slayton’s mental meanderings in the concluding chapter bored me a bit, but you might find them poetic and worth reading.
I realize I’ve pointed out early in this review that this is a highly readable book. I wish I had a less clumsy way to reemphasize that for you. This isn’t a litany of confusing names and dates. It puts a human face on the space program in ways that few other books achieve. The chapters are solid but not overly long. They give you what you need to know without bogging you down. Perhaps you suspect the viability of a nearly 30-year-old book? I don’t know how to respond to your concern other than to say if you kick this to the curb assuming newer books will contain better information, you’ll miss a gripping nonfiction experience that might have enriched your life.
The book begins, appropriately enough, with a minute-by-minute account of the moon landing in its last moments. The authors transport you expertly into the control room in Houston as the employees watch the fuel tanks in the lunar lander empty and draw perilously close to an abortion of the mission. When Eagle landed and Neil Armstrong uttered his famous quote, “The eagle has landed,” the lander had some 16 seconds of fuel left which Armstrong could use specifically for the landing. He manually flew the lander away from a boulder—strewn area where the computer would have landed them.
From that hair-raising chapter, we move back in time to the establishment of a U.S. army-controlled rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. So vivid is the writing we seem to hear as we read the warbly beeps of Sputnik that shocked and terrified America. Shortly thereafter, Americans attempted their first satellite launch and failed miserably at it. They eventually get it right in 1958, but there’s a sense that the U.S. is behind, and there’s a fear that it may always be.
There’s a fast-paced chapter on test pilots who became astronauts. It looks at the contribution of test pilots in the space program. You’ll read with fascination about a storm landing Alan Shepard did on an aircraft carrier when he had less-than five minutes of fuel left.
Chapter four details the announcement of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. Additional chapters focus on the training they endured and the publicity they dealt with. Many of us think of doxing as a new problem, but a photographer snapped a picture by the mailbox of one of the astronauts, and the entire nation had his address as a result. This was accidental, which makes it something other than doxing, but Americans deluged the poor family with mail once the address went public.
You ride along with a triumphant Alan Shepard in chapter nine, and it’s an exhilarating experience. The book guides you through the Gemini program including Neil Armstrong’s near tragedy when his ship lost control. A lesser pilot would have lost consciousness and died.
The chapters on the Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath are vivid and memorable.
It’s true that authors have written whole books about various segments of the history of manned spaceflight, this one does a nice job of digesting and comprehensively encapsulating that history. Apollo 8 gets a chapter as does Apollo 13. Again, authors have crafted whole books about Apollo 13, but these guys are adept at giving you what you need to know and keeping the story interesting. Read this chapter to learn how one subcontractor sent another a bill for $400,000 for towing services. Who says bean counters have no sense of humor!
Alan Shepard’s return to the moon gets an extremely detailed treatment, but what the heck; it’s his book. Why not? You watch with sadness as the authors detail NASA’s descent from innovator to bureaucrats intent on covering butts and just keeping the old 9 to 5.
There’s a chapter on the Apollo Soyuz docking mission, and I enjoyed that one because I knew so little of the event and paid so little attention to it as the self-absorbed teenager I was that year.
Deke Slayton’s mental meanderings in the concluding chapter bored me a bit, but you might find them poetic and worth reading.
I realize I’ve pointed out early in this review that this is a highly readable book. I wish I had a less clumsy way to reemphasize that for you. This isn’t a litany of confusing names and dates. It puts a human face on the space program in ways that few other books achieve. The chapters are solid but not overly long. They give you what you need to know without bogging you down. Perhaps you suspect the viability of a nearly 30-year-old book? I don’t know how to respond to your concern other than to say if you kick this to the curb assuming newer books will contain better information, you’ll miss a gripping nonfiction experience that might have enriched your life.
July 29, 2013
I'm waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars. My personal fangirling makes me read anything to do with these people (and these two in particular) through rose-colored glasses, so of course I enjoyed the hell out of it; but to be honest the writing was a bit overdone for my taste. It's narrative prose (the "nonfiction novel") and somebody really wanted it to be dramatic. Which is fine of course - this stuff is dramatic! - but when you're reading long conversations you know can't possibly be verbatim, it takes away a bit of believability. Still, there was a lot of stuff in here I didn't know, which pretty much cancels out any quibbles.
side note #1: the wives get a few brief mentions, but only to describe how unswervingly devoted and swooningly in love and 100% happy they were. Quelle surprise.)
side note #2: the intro by Neil Armstrong is flipping amazing.
side note #1: the wives get a few brief mentions, but only to describe how unswervingly devoted and swooningly in love and 100% happy they were. Quelle surprise.)
side note #2: the intro by Neil Armstrong is flipping amazing.
April 13, 2013
Excellent first-person descriptions of the early days of America's space program. While some sections can get technical for the passing reader, it is still a glimpse of an important (if not forgotten) part of our history.
September 30, 2015
The exuberant prose style can be a bit hard to take after a while, but it does have an inimitable 'I was there' feel (b/c at least two of the author were in fact 'there') which might be lacking in other books on the same topic.
May 28, 2016
Contains some fascinating and entertaining stories about the space race. Some of the writing was a bit over the top, but overall it was amusing to read. Some of the dialogue was questionable and I'd rather have a summary of what happened rather than made up dialogue.
November 20, 2015
Sort of boring, with flowery language that seems out of place at times. Did not finish; I have better things to do with my time.
July 27, 2019
I just finished Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings by journalist Jay Barbree and astronauts Alan Shephard and Deke Slayton. This book was a fascinating account of one of the greatest achievements by humanity to occur in my lifetime; the launch of humans into space, followed by a landing on the moon, and then a joint mission by American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts.
I was born at the right time, 1957, to remember every space launch with child-like wonder. I can recall sitting in front of our black and white TV at home or the behemoth of a TV that was rolled from classroom to classroom as we sat transfixed for every launch.
I remember sitting in the living room of our apartment on the evening of January 27th, 1967 watching TV when whatever show we were watching was interrupted to announce the death of astronauts; Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee in a tragic fire during pre-flight testing of Apollo 1. This 9-year old cried.
I remember sitting in front of the same black and white TV on July 20th, 1969, as astronaut Neil Armstrong said: “The Eagle has landed.” My eyes were locked on that TV all night waiting to witness a human’s first steps on the moon, and capturing the moment for posterity with my Argus C3 camera pointed at the TV. Just two years after the Apollo 1 tragedy, this eleven-year-old was amazed at what humanity could do.
Today I often ponder where humanity would be if there had been no space program. Would I be writing this on a computer in my own home if there had been no space program? It seems likely that I would not be posting what I’ve written on Facebook with a smartphone, vastly more powerful than the computers that safely guided Apollo 11 to and from the moon. The journey to the moon brought us much more than moon rocks. Humanities advances in communications, computers, and medicine were all beneficiaries of the space program.
President John F. Kennedy gave us a vision and a goal when he committed us to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The times were far from perfect, but that vision resulted in progress on many fronts.
Today, more than ever before, the whole world needs leadership with a similar forward-thinking inspirational vision. Sadly, we seem to have de-evolved into fractious tribes who think only of ourselves. Preparing our species and the planet to survive climate change will require a more resolute effort than the moon landing. I only hope we are up to the challenge.
I found Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings to be inspirational and yet also a cautionary tale about what could become of humanity if we fail to continue to aspire and dream.
I was born at the right time, 1957, to remember every space launch with child-like wonder. I can recall sitting in front of our black and white TV at home or the behemoth of a TV that was rolled from classroom to classroom as we sat transfixed for every launch.
I remember sitting in the living room of our apartment on the evening of January 27th, 1967 watching TV when whatever show we were watching was interrupted to announce the death of astronauts; Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee in a tragic fire during pre-flight testing of Apollo 1. This 9-year old cried.
I remember sitting in front of the same black and white TV on July 20th, 1969, as astronaut Neil Armstrong said: “The Eagle has landed.” My eyes were locked on that TV all night waiting to witness a human’s first steps on the moon, and capturing the moment for posterity with my Argus C3 camera pointed at the TV. Just two years after the Apollo 1 tragedy, this eleven-year-old was amazed at what humanity could do.
Today I often ponder where humanity would be if there had been no space program. Would I be writing this on a computer in my own home if there had been no space program? It seems likely that I would not be posting what I’ve written on Facebook with a smartphone, vastly more powerful than the computers that safely guided Apollo 11 to and from the moon. The journey to the moon brought us much more than moon rocks. Humanities advances in communications, computers, and medicine were all beneficiaries of the space program.
President John F. Kennedy gave us a vision and a goal when he committed us to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The times were far from perfect, but that vision resulted in progress on many fronts.
Today, more than ever before, the whole world needs leadership with a similar forward-thinking inspirational vision. Sadly, we seem to have de-evolved into fractious tribes who think only of ourselves. Preparing our species and the planet to survive climate change will require a more resolute effort than the moon landing. I only hope we are up to the challenge.
I found Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings to be inspirational and yet also a cautionary tale about what could become of humanity if we fail to continue to aspire and dream.
February 14, 2020
A Book So Good It's Out of This World!!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🚀🌛
Many nonfiction books about historical events I am already familiar with can be written in such a textbook way that I become bored with the simple regurgitation of the facts and lack of new information or insight and I sometimes find it difficult to finish reading the book. This was certainly NOT the case with "Moon Shot"! From the moment I began reading it I was hooked. I suddenly found myself immersed in the late 1950's flying high in the sky with America's greatest test pilots and sitting in the cockpits with them while they flew dangerous missions in WWII or landed a scrap metal plane on a stormy night on a aircraft carrier tossed at sea. Then I found myself sitting next to the Mercury 7 as they were originally introduced to the world and became the very first astronauts. I got to know each one of them and watch them form bonds that would last a lifetime. I cheered each of NASA's accomplishments and felt disheartened by their setbacks. I also felt jealous every time the Soviet Union took a step forward and we fell another step behind. I cried when Gemini 8 went to the Moon and Borman, Lovell and Anders showed the world the first pictures of our nightly visitor and the first pictures of ourselves. I cried again when Apollo 1 burned up on the launch pad and 3 brave men died, Grissom, White and Chaffee. And again when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps ever taken there. I'm not trying to ruin the book. I assume anyone thinking about reading this book probably knows about those few events. If not, I apologize. I shared all of this to show how well-written, immersive and personal this book is. It doesn't read like a textbook or even a history book, it's more like a memoir of several people mixed with a spectacular novel, except that the story is completely true. Every day I would tell my husband more exciting information about the astronauts, or the Apollo program or the Gemini program, even the Moon itself. It was such an interesting, exciting and awe-inspiring book filled with historical events, fun facts and unforgettable stories of friendship, commitment, ambition, courage, sacrifice and success that is out of this world. I am so glad I read this wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the Space Race or the early history of NASA. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Many nonfiction books about historical events I am already familiar with can be written in such a textbook way that I become bored with the simple regurgitation of the facts and lack of new information or insight and I sometimes find it difficult to finish reading the book. This was certainly NOT the case with "Moon Shot"! From the moment I began reading it I was hooked. I suddenly found myself immersed in the late 1950's flying high in the sky with America's greatest test pilots and sitting in the cockpits with them while they flew dangerous missions in WWII or landed a scrap metal plane on a stormy night on a aircraft carrier tossed at sea. Then I found myself sitting next to the Mercury 7 as they were originally introduced to the world and became the very first astronauts. I got to know each one of them and watch them form bonds that would last a lifetime. I cheered each of NASA's accomplishments and felt disheartened by their setbacks. I also felt jealous every time the Soviet Union took a step forward and we fell another step behind. I cried when Gemini 8 went to the Moon and Borman, Lovell and Anders showed the world the first pictures of our nightly visitor and the first pictures of ourselves. I cried again when Apollo 1 burned up on the launch pad and 3 brave men died, Grissom, White and Chaffee. And again when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps ever taken there. I'm not trying to ruin the book. I assume anyone thinking about reading this book probably knows about those few events. If not, I apologize. I shared all of this to show how well-written, immersive and personal this book is. It doesn't read like a textbook or even a history book, it's more like a memoir of several people mixed with a spectacular novel, except that the story is completely true. Every day I would tell my husband more exciting information about the astronauts, or the Apollo program or the Gemini program, even the Moon itself. It was such an interesting, exciting and awe-inspiring book filled with historical events, fun facts and unforgettable stories of friendship, commitment, ambition, courage, sacrifice and success that is out of this world. I am so glad I read this wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the Space Race or the early history of NASA. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
March 19, 2018
Overall an entertaining read. I do agree with some that the writing at times got a little flowery. For those interested in the beginnings of the US space program and the origins of NASA this book provides a good start. The early astronauts are real American heroes and even a little insight into their personal struggles and challenges made for very interesting reading.
The book touched a little on the prevailing politics at the time which provided some context but didn't go so far as to take focus off the astronauts or the missions they were assigned to. I was surprised to read the scathing summary of the policies of the Obama administration and the impact they have had on NASA. While I had issues with several Obama era policies, I believe that NASA advocates are looking for a place to lay blame. The conditions that existed for the nation to rally around the space program have subsided. The space program was magical in at this time for two reasons; man conquered the wonder of space travel and we prevailed over our strongest adversary. Without these kinds of conditions to focus the attention of the nation, it is hard to repeat the glory days of space program.
Frankly speaking, the relentless torrent of technological progress will also serve to dilute the amazement of continued progress of the space program. Even the technological advancements in film making insulate us from future space success. Case in point, much of the country has already been to Mars with Matt Damon. There was no way to credibly simulate the moon landing in the late 60's. CBS ran simulated landing and there was no way it could be confused with reality. Today, a real landing has to compete with a very exciting and realistic landing created by Hollywood. In terms of 'amazing' the American public, NASA has a lot of competition.
The special time that existed during the space program is one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. The late 60's were an incredible time of chaos and transformation for the country. Some of it represented the worst of our nature, but the space program at that time embodied the very best of what America could be.
The book touched a little on the prevailing politics at the time which provided some context but didn't go so far as to take focus off the astronauts or the missions they were assigned to. I was surprised to read the scathing summary of the policies of the Obama administration and the impact they have had on NASA. While I had issues with several Obama era policies, I believe that NASA advocates are looking for a place to lay blame. The conditions that existed for the nation to rally around the space program have subsided. The space program was magical in at this time for two reasons; man conquered the wonder of space travel and we prevailed over our strongest adversary. Without these kinds of conditions to focus the attention of the nation, it is hard to repeat the glory days of space program.
Frankly speaking, the relentless torrent of technological progress will also serve to dilute the amazement of continued progress of the space program. Even the technological advancements in film making insulate us from future space success. Case in point, much of the country has already been to Mars with Matt Damon. There was no way to credibly simulate the moon landing in the late 60's. CBS ran simulated landing and there was no way it could be confused with reality. Today, a real landing has to compete with a very exciting and realistic landing created by Hollywood. In terms of 'amazing' the American public, NASA has a lot of competition.
The special time that existed during the space program is one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. The late 60's were an incredible time of chaos and transformation for the country. Some of it represented the worst of our nature, but the space program at that time embodied the very best of what America could be.
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