The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon

by Todd Zwillich, Angelo Di Loreto (Reader)

The story of John C. Houbolt, an unsung hero of Apollo 11 and the man who showed NASA how to put America on the moon. Without John C. Houbolt, a mid-level engineer at NASA, Apollo 11 would never have made it to the moon.   Top NASA engineers on the project, including Werner Von Braun, strongly advocated for a single, huge spacecraft to travel to the moon, land, and return to Earth. It's the scenario used in 1950s cartoons and horror movies about traveling to outer space.  Houbolt had another Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. LOR would link two spacecraft in orbit while the crafts were travelling at 3,600 miles an hour around the moon. His plan was ridiculed and considered unthinkable. But this junior engineer was irrepressible. He stood by his concept, fired off memos to executives, and argued that LOR was the only way to success.  For the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 , hear the untold story of the man who helped fulfill Kennedy's challenge to reach the moon and begin exploring the final frontier.

Genres: Audiobook

Audio CD

Published March 31, 2020

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened on Audible to this. It's an interesting perspective through which to view the moon race. It's fascinating to hear about the people who were involved in making it possible for us to reach the moon, especially when you compare where technology was back then to where it is now.

[Stefani Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book about John C. Houbolt, NASA engineer who, with stubborn self confidence, pushed the benefits of lunar orbit rendezvous as the only way for Apollo 11 to land astronauts and bring them back.

[Brian McQueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked learning the story of the first man on the moon - behind the scenes