Apollo 13 - Junior Novelisation

by Dina Anastasio (adapted by)

A children's novelization of a film starring Tom Hanks. In the 13th minute of the 13th hour of the 13th day, the Apollo 13 mission to the Moon is doing well - until it hits disaster. The three astronauts now face the grim possibility that they might never return to Earth.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, History

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow a long on a dangerous historic ride of a lifetime as the astronauts of Apollo 13 head to the moon, but find things go wrong and they may not return, If you liked the movie grab this book that links book and screen.

[隻眼簽到 · Rating 4 out of 5]

太空船所受重力仍不小
It is Monday, April 13, 1970 and Apollo 13 is flying through space. Suddenly, something goes wrong. Oxygen is leaving the ship and power is losing. What can they do? What can their controllers in Houston do?
從前的教科書告訴我們太空沒有重力，這本書也犯了同樣的錯誤。根據《膨脹的宇宙》作者的計算，距離地面100英里(約160公里)遠的太空船(不知道這是什麼太空船？但googleAI說低軌道衛星距離地球300-2000公里)，它所承受的重力約是地面上重力的95%，只比我們少了5%。書上說：“衛星和飛船停在高處的軌道上，並不是它們不在落下，它們日日夜夜，每週七天都在落下。它們的竅門是地面往前跑得夠快，當它們下落一英尺時，地面也逃開一英尺。”。因為地球是個圓體，所謂逃開就是地表彎曲的意思。可以想像砲彈的拋物線。一旦火箭飛得夠高，使它的拋物線曲率等於地表的曲率，那麼太空船每下落一英尺，地面也彎下一英尺。再配合地球引力，所以，太空船才能很好的停留在軌道中。
而且，處在不斷下落狀態的太空人，感受不到重量。因為“飛船和其中的物體同樣在下落”，其中的物體包括太空船的地板和其他物品(如notebook、蘋果，甚至水滴等)。地板和太空人同速下落(才可以讓東西浮在空中)，所以不能給太空人支撐，太空人因此就感受不到重量。
雖然只是第二級的讀本，但因為題材關係，所以還是可以學到幾個生字。如command module意思是指揮艙，lunar module是登月艇，astronaut是太空人，tank是槽，pilot是駕駛，dock是停泊等等。有位英文教授曾告訴我，字彙量永遠都是最重要的。
這故事給我們的啟示是，想完全掌握一件事的所有細節幾乎是不可能的。即使像登陸月球這樣重大、精確、傾盡菁英、反覆檢核的事都會出錯(而且錯誤還不止一個)，更遑論一般的事件了。電腦、機器、人，莫不如此。

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great movie, and I think for all the complexity of the plot and the complexity of the language required to drive that plot, this book did a fairly good job of shortening it and simplifying it for ESL learners. The shortening and simplification, however, did drain it of a lot of the tension.

Because the book couldn't use a lot of technical jargon (for understandability with the ESL learners), many conversations got reduced to things like, "Move the control." "Okay. I'm moving the control." But because we didn't know what control it was or what it was supposed to do, or how hard it was to move it, or what would happen if they did it wrong, it lost the scariness.

That said, it's an exciting story with an interesting setting, and I think ESL learners will enjoy being able to read it in English.

[Yuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's embarrassing, I didn't know about Apollo 13 and haven't watched the movie about it. Therefore, I read this book without having completely knowledge. The hope of the astronauts, the things they looked and felt, I was also excited at them together. Then the terrible problems occured, them and their team fought to resolve them. We can gain excitement, brave and hope from this book.

[Fumiko Kawamura · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Apollo 13 was flying to the moon, a noise was heard and the ship started to lose its power and oxygen.

Reading this story was really suspensive which is never experienced situation for me and almost all humanbeing. In a way how they escaped from the crisis I could feel the existence of God.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story and this book is written for young adult readers, but all can grab it and read the adventure that had the world's attention.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The successful recovery of the Apollo 13 astronauts after an onboard explosion is one of the greatest on-the-fly engineering achievements of all time. The world was riveted as the reports came in of the problems as the Apollo 13 spacecraft rounded the moon and headed back to Earth. There was a great movie made from the story and this book is the novelization of that movie. It is written for the young adult market.
The calmness under duress, thinking out of the box creative solutions and the shear magnitude of the problem are all captured in this book. With very little margin for error and conducting a series of never done before actions and little power to spare, the command module was able to successfully re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. It is a well written, riveting account of the events.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What does this book remind me of?
- This film, an astronaut in April 1970 during a desperate crisis, an oxygen tank exploded over the right to return, miraculously, and Apollo 13 was reproduced on a true story arc.

Why do I like this book?
-Because make me touching.

Why do I dislike this book?
-I don’t like story about science.

What did I learn from this book?
- that the 'faith' and 'obsession' with the story depicted in this movie is touching

What is the best character and why?
- Best character is all astronaut. Because they did work together.

What will happen next?
-Apollo 14 go to Moon again

[Pradeep Badatiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timeless tribute to the enduring American spirit, Apollo 13 tells the story of America's fifth mission to the moon, a mission that nearly ended in catastrophe in April 1970. Only fifty-five hours into the flight, disaster struck for Jim Lovell and two other astronauts after an explosion left them with a rapidly declining supply of oxygen and power.

[Namiko]

I want to see the movie again.

[Huuro · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't so fun.

[Kevin Gfrerer]

Stellar book, a must read for sure

[Taewon Choi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3 astronauts going to moon.
But they have problem.
It's the command module oxygen tank number 1 and 2 is broken.

[Jase Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book because of the adventure, suspense, and the message convoyed through it. This book taught me to never to give up even when it's hard!