Men from Earth

by Buzz Aldrin, Malcom McConnell

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed their Lunar Module on the moon's Sea of Tranquility and became the first two humans to walk on the moon. This unprecedented heroic endeavor was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. Marking the 20th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Buzz publishes Men From Earth, a detailed and astonishing account of America's race with the Soviets to the moon. The book ends with an epilogue venturing Outward, which looks toward future space travel through the year 2009.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Science, Autobiography, Memoir

312 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., January 20, 1930) is an engineer and former American astronaut, and the second person to walk on the Moon. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. He set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 (UTC) on July 21, 1969, following mission commander Neil Armstrong. He is also a retired colonel in the United States Air Force (USAF) and a Command Pilot.

Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., a career military man, and his wife Marion (née Moon). He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1946, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from MIT, and went to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters (Fay Ann) mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.

Buzz Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft.

Subsequent to the war, Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and next was an aide to the dean of faculty at the US Air Force Academy. He flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In 1963 Aldrin earned a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from MIT. His graduate thesis was "Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous", the dedication of which read, "In the hopes that this work may in some way contribute to their exploration of space, this is dedicated to the crew members of this country’s present and future manned space programs. If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!" On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut. His initial application to join the astronaut corps was rejected on the basis of having never been a test pilot; that prerequisite was lifted when he re-applied and was accepted into the third astronaut class, the first selection for which he was eligible.

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. After the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to back-up crew for the mission. The main objective of the revised mission (Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle, but when this failed, Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12. Aldrin set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft.

On July 21, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the Moon, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."

After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return to Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. His life improved considerably when he recognized and sought treatment for his problems. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration.

Reviews

[Jane]

It's very interesting to read a book that the current generation would consider history although the events were part of my generation's life experience. I remember where I was when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I remember when the flights leading up to the moon flight. I remember the problems with the Saturn rocket. Although my uncle didn't talk about it he was responsible for the design of the second stage of the Saturn V. This is a first person description of the Apollo 11 flight as well as a retelling of the Russian-American space race. The current generation may not understand how earnest and vital the competition was. What's ultimately ironic is that the totalitarian Russians have continued to press forward with space exploration while the capitalistic and democratic Americans are unable to do so because of a lack of consistent vision for the future. The book is a great read, but the last chapter, written in 1989, is a bit of a bummer. We had such vision, such a good start, and we fizzled out just like a spent firework.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buzz Aldrin's quite good, lightly biographical overview of the space race from the 50s to the early 70s. This provides a higher level view of his role than his previous biography, Return to Earth. This is a bit dry, but it's evenhanded and a pleasure to read, especially for those looking for an account of the space race in summary.

[Ross Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written at the time of the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, this book, written by one of the two guys there, examines the Space Race, from the 1940's with the V2 Rockets, to the days just after the return to Earth after having walked on the Moon.

Part memoir, part history book - All fascinating.

The Final "chapter" is Buzz's No Holds Bar look at the future of American;s (and World's) Space Program. Still a bit gun shy after the Challenger disaster, and years after funding was cut for any new exploration of space, it talks about how the Soviet Union is leading the world in Space travel and exploration. Sure, American had the shuttle, but it was more like a high tech U-Haul - Take up a satellite, drop it off, come back home, clean it up and doing it again.
(Back in the early 90's, I went on a tour of NASA with the Uncle of one of my Friends- he was just as outspoken about how low the Once Might agency had fallen. Of course, for me, It was my Space Geek greatest adventure - to see the pads and go in the launch vehicle assembly building; to see the shuttle upclose and to get a behind the scenes visit to the places where the 1st Mars Rover were being built and tested. And to to sit in on a meeting about the fire suppression system to be used in the ISS - nope, not boring. AWESOME!!! But I digress)

Today being the 50th anniversary of the first Moon Landing, I cant help but wonder what our future will hold. Will I see humans set foot on Mars? Will we ever get back to the Moon? Or will Space Force be a Space Flop?

(Disclosure - I have met and talked with Buzz Aldrin, so I might be a bit bias in my opinion about the book and how good it is)

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband checked out this book and didn't read it. I was about to return it to the library when I flipped open to a page about 1/4 way through and found myself very interested in the history the authors were providing.. and there was a LOT of history. Very detailed history. Like more than the average person needs to know. After about 50 pages I ended up jumping ahead to closer to mid 1960's and enjoyed reading about all the tests, trials, and challenges the teams had to overcome to make getting to the moon happen. For someone interested in a first hand account of how the astronauts got to the moon, this book is a good choice!

[Paul Riches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men From Earth: The Day History Changed



On July 20th, 1969, history changed forever.

That was the day humans landed on the moon.

Men From Earth by Buzz Aldrin and Malcolm McConnell tells the tale of how we reached this milestone, all in exquisite detail and massive scientific expertise.

As someone who has always been fascinated with space, spaceflight, and our role in the universe, I have only pecked at learning the entire history of how we got there. Manuals on the Space Shuttle and various satellites, along with a viewing of The Right Stuff, was the majority of the extent of my research.

Men From Earth starts off pretty much at the beginning, with World War Two and theresabouts as the Axis deploy V2 rockets against Britain. These powerful projectiles, created by scientist Werner von Braun, were devastating and very advanced for the time. As the War ended, von Braun managed to get all his people and research over to the Americans in very daring operation, all because he wanted to someday reach into space.

Unfortunately, that dream was put on hold for a long time as the political will and internal governmental infighting relegated them to doing not much. But all this changed, bit by bit, as the dreaded Soviets lobbed themselves into the new Space Race. While President Eisenhower was cautious about entering into this venture, he knew the United States had to. What was not known at the time, but is well documented here and elsewhere, is that the Soviets were barging headlong and almost completely recklessly into outer space.

This crazed rush got the Soviets to score multiple firsts, from a satellite in orbit to an animal in orbit to a man in orbit to a woman in orbit. It seemed like they were doing everything right and the United States everything wrong.

This blur of activity was met by the west very vigorously every step of the way. Many strides were made to catch up and beat them to the ultimate prize, the moon. NASA was formed, President Kennedy made his famous speech, the rockets were more fully developed – long considered by von Braum as the best way to reach the stars, and the future astronauts were chosen and unveiled.

But except for the glory and adoration for these amazing people, which only lasted so long, the reality of the grind of figuring out how to do the supposedly impossible still faced them.

Over the entire decade of the sixties, the slow plodding progress went on. Setbacks happened, including many unfortunate deaths on both sides of the Space Race. Sometimes, the history and people and situations sound too strange and outlandish and scary to be true. But as the extensive notes and index show, it all happened, every great and horrible thing.

As the sixties draw to a close, more things go right than wrong, and soon NASA is a go to launch. The crew for this amazing journey is all set, with Michael Collins selected to stay in lunar orbit, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would set down in the Lunar Module on the moons surface.

They launched for the moon

They traveled towards the moon.

They reached the moon.

They landed on the moon.

They walked on the moon.

And everything changed.

And the world will be as one.

From the first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903 to landing on our cosmic neighbour in 1969, it had been a tremendous and history smashing journey for all humanity.

And unfortunately, we collectively lost interest rather quickly. More moon missions occurred, each getting more complicated and enterprising in their scope. And one almost ended in disaster.

As time wore on, a space station called Skylab and a joint mission with our now friends the Soviets happened, all leading up to resurgence of our conquest of space with the introduction of the Space Shuttle. It launched in 1981 to much acclaim and great success. And now, after two tragedies over time, the Space Shuttles have been retired.

With probes now journeying through space and leaving our solar system, NASA and other space agencies are looking to maybe heading back to the moon, or, daring to choose to go to Mars.

Being a space junkie, I certainly hope this comes about, someday in my lifetime.

As for the book Men From Earth, it fulfilled my wish to know tons and tons more about the history of this Earth changing event. You can tell early on who wrote what parts, with the bulk of long story and major technical details being covered by Malcolm McConnell. The sections by Buzz Aldrin are the ones dealing with him and his life personally, along with as the story goes along, his professional remembrances of NASA and the actual mission.

Buzz also ends with his feelings on what NASA is doing right and wrong these days, with the end goal being the same, to get us further and further into the cosmos. He spends some time as well talking openly about his issues, including alcoholism and divorce. But his optimism for the future of space is still very apparent.

It is an optimism I wish more of humanity would aspire to.

Because someday I hope to say history changed forever again.

That will be the day humans land on Mars

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intrigued by the NASA space program, I have read many books about it. This is a good one with focus on the first men to walk the moon.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good personal account of a mans dedication to eventually travel to the moon.

[Bob Hathway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! Buzz Aldrin is one of the best-educated spacemen around. His exploration of the American space program in its formative stages was especially detailed and well-researched.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forty-seven years ago, men from Earth first stepped foot on the moon. There, they left medals commemorating the men of Apollo and Soyuz who perished in this quest for fire in the sky, and a plaque that declared their intentions: "We came in peace for all mankind." Buzz Aldrin was one of the first men to step foot upon the grey dust of the lunar surface, and in this account -- published in 1989, twenty years after the triumph of Apollo -- he provides a history of the early space race, a memoir of his own time in the Gemini and Apollo programs, and a final thought about the future.

While there is no shortage of astronaut memoirs, Aldrin's intrigued me at the start because I knew from other books that he helped create the orbital rendezvous procedures that were practiced in Gemini and essential to pulling Apollo off. The astronauts weren't just fighter jocks: advanced degrees were required of any astronaut candidate. While the account of the first-ever lunar landing is interesting in its own right, Aldrin attempts to record the whole of the space race. Not only does he devote early chapters to the beginning of German, American, and Russian rocketry, but throughout the book he follows developments on the Soviet side as well. He draws from other books here, then-recent scholarship. While sometimes the supporting authors are forced to speculate, given Soviet secrecy, the look across the iron curtain is most welcome. Both programs were beset with similar problems -- not only technical, but political, as program coordinators were being pushed for results by their respective governments for moral and propaganda purposes.

Aldrin's writing is detailed, but shouldn't scare off readers who are wary of too much technical detail. The descriptive writing is sound -- not poetic, but it's hard to compete with A Man on the Moon on that note. One sight is especially well conveyed, the eerie and abrupt transition of light when Armstrong and Aldrin left the shadow cast by their lander. According to Aldrin, the effect was total: if he stepped out of the shadow and cast his arm behind him back into it, it almost seem to disappear into another realm. There was no transition between dark and light; when they left the shadow, the blinding drama was though they'd transported from the depths of Carlsbad Caverns into the middle of the Sahara. Also of note here is a final chapter, covering '1969-2009'. Writing in the eighties, when the shuttle fleet was active and routine, with the International Space Station still in the future, Aldrin seemed disappointed but optimistic. He is wary of the Soviets, who continue to support manned spaceflight. While they would collapse within a year or so of this book being published, these days NASA astronauts still hitch rides with Soyuz up to the ISS, so Aldrin's concern is not that far off. Aldrin remains a space booster, recently writing a book encouraging a manned mission to Mars.

Men from Earth is a shorter history of the space race than A Man on the Moon, but if you're looking for a history of Apollo as whole it might not satisfy,. He ends with Apollo 11, and some of the most interesting lunar missions -- scientific endeavors with go-karts! -- were thus not mentioned. Still, for a recap of Mercury and Gemini it's quite good, and especially so when the coverage of the Russians is taken into account.

Related:

Two Sides of the Moon, Alexei Leonov and David Scott. Joint memoir between an astronaut and a cosmonaut.
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....

A Man on the Moon, Andrew Chaikan. The definitive Apollo history
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot.....

[Nick Carraway LLC · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) ''Five days later [after Vostok 2], Red Army engineers and East German border guards rolled prefabricated concrete barricades and barbed wire entanglements into place on the border between East and West Berlin: the Berlin Wall, dividing the former German capital into two parts, had been created. This was why Khrushchev had needed a counterbalancing 'progressive' Soviet space achievement and why Korolev had been forced to fly the risky 24-hour mission before the Vostok system was ready. Korolev's carefully engineered space program was a hostage to such event as long as Khrushchev was in power.''

2) ''The crew now had three radio call signs: Scott in Spider, Jim in Gumdrop, and Schweickart, the EVA man, now known as 'Red Rover.'''

3) ''Neil Armstrong was a no-frills kind of guy who didn't talk a whole lot, but usually said what he meant. But there was also a more complex side to Neil, and I think at this point we were both beginning to realize just how important being the first man to set foot on the moon was. Neil hemmed and hawed for a moment and then looked away, breaking eye contact with a coolness I'd never seen in him before. 'Buzz,' he said, 'I realize the historical significance of all this, and I just don't want to rule anything out right now.'''

4) [Before entering the CSM] ''The only sound I could hear was the whirring ventilator fan. When I walked I could feel my soft pressure boots twang on the grating. The sun was just rising. Surf rolled soundlessly onto the beach, half a mile away. Across the Banana River thousands of cars were parked around the VAB. Millions of people lined the roads and beaches around the Cape, all gazing at this launch pad. Across America and Europe, millions more were watching on television. But here I was completely alone, breathing cool oxygen inside the sterile cocoon of my suit. A feeling of calm confidence rose inside me.''

5) ''After lunch that day I asked Neil if he knew what he was going to say when he stepped onto the lunar surface. He took a sip of fruit juice and shook his head. 'Not yet,' he said. 'I'm still thinking it over.'''

6) ''I was grinning ear to ear, even though the gold visor hid my face. Neil and I were standing together on the moon.''

[Rod Pyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Buzz Aldrin. What a complex man. But to his eternal credit, whatever ups and downs he has experienced in his life, he is a part of a small cadre of people who have lived a life of extreme adventure in space and has kept the flag flying since then. The man is, in his mid 80's, a tireless promoter of space exploration.

If you want that latter part of his mind, refer to the new "Mission to Mars" which he co-wrote with Leonard David, a sensational space journalist- turned- author. For the Buzz Aldrin story from NASA's beginnings to the hight of his own career in Apollo, "Men From Earth" is the book for you. Breezy, easy reading. A bit informal at times even by pop journalism standards, the book is clearly dominated by Aldrin's voice as well-told by McConnell. It's also one of the few places besides Chris Kraft's "Flight" where I have seen a solid narrative telling of the Gemini years.

Enjoy it. I did.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the great honor of meeting Buzz a long while back. He is riveting to listen speak of his space adventures and this book is his history and gives lots of details about the selection, training, and conduct of the race to the moon.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is partly Buzz Aldrin's account of his life in aviation and spaceflight, and partly his account of the entire space race from World War II through Apollo 11. I'm pleased to say that I have now read four Aldrin books.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was compelling, I couldn't put it down. I would have given it 5 stars but it was overly technical and hard to follow in many places.

[Leo Sadovy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autographed by Buzz Aldrin

[Jason Mahoney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overly technical and not a lot of new insights to the space program, especially if you've read his other books, Return To Earth and Magnificent Desolation.

[Phillip Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book that shows the point of view of Buzz Aldrin and was filled with history about the space race. It was mainly focused on the American view point instead of the Soviet Union.