Moon Men Return: USS Hornet and the Recovery of the Apollo 11 Astronauts

by Scott W. Carmichael

This book documents the role played by USS Hornet (CVS-12) in the recovery of the Apollo 11 Command Module after its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969. The book covers a period of time leading up to the recovery of Apollo 11, from approximately 5 June - 24 July 1969, during which crewmen of USS Hornet plus specialized NASA and DoD spaceflight recovery units prepared for the recovery operation. It offers a detailed account of those preparations, drawn from both historical records and the personal memories of 80 men who served on board USS Hornet and directly participated in the recovery operation. The purpose of this book is to document for future generations the Navy's role in the successful final phase of the historic flight of Apollo 11 - the manned spaceflight which culminated in man's first walk upon another celestial body, the moon.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The presentation I heard in Wapakoneta, Ohio this summer by the Apollo 11 frogmen has sparked my interest in the last phase of the mission, the splashdown that achieved the last part of President John F. Kennedy's goal: "Land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth." Longtime Defense Intelligence Agency employee Scott Carmichael has written an engaging account of this last phase: the recovery of the spacecraft and crew by the USS Hornet. Historians have a wealth of accounts about what the astronauts did aboard the spacecraft or on the lunar surface, but not until near the 40th anniversary did this author devote an entire book to what the crew of the Hornet did. The ship was near the end of her service life, having begun operations during World War II, when the word arrived in early June 1969 that she would recover the Apollo 11 crew. Carmichael goes on to explain the special burdens that the Hornet's crew faced over the following weeks: training exercises with a boilerplate spacecraft (amid the sharks of the Pacific Ocean), a constant media presence, a visit from U.S. President Richard Nixon and his Secret Service entourage, and the need to avoid contamination from potential lunar germs brought home by the Apollo 11 crew. Carmichael draws upon many contemporary sources in telling this story, but also unearths more recent insights from the interviews he has done. For instance, he reveals that two members of the Hornet crew had to take a searchlight from another ship before the ship could sail to the splashdown site. He explains that an Air Force captain drew upon data from a secret weather satellite to learn that the original planned splashdown site would experience storms on July 24 that would threaten the descending spacecraft. Not until decades later did the world learn the source of this information, which resulted in a shift of the splashdown site to more than 200 miles away. Besides this, he conveys the sense of wonder that the crew felt in seeing the Moon in the night sky and knowing that they would play a vital role in assisting the first astronauts to walk on its surface, while preparing for all of the contingencies that might come along with this. By the end of the book, the reader understands the meticulous care that the Navy placed in the recovery. The result was that Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, and Buzz Aldrin moved safely from their spacecraft into their quarantine facility with the whole world watching, while the spacecraft and its precious cargo of moon rocks moved onboard with them.

[Peter Flucke · Rating 4 out of 5]

As non-military person, the first half of the book, with so many acronyms, ranks and classifications, was a struggle to get through. But, I was intrigued enough by the back stories of an event I remember from my childhood that I pushed through. I'm glad I did. So many things could have gone wrong with the entire Apollo 11 mission but the dedication of thousands of highly motivated individuals working toward a common goal made it a success. I'm excited to read more about this period of history which I lived but only experienced through the eyes of a child.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses on the second part of JFK's moon dare, the return of those men to the earth and their recovery. Working off of documentation and interviews with on board personnel, the Carmichael clearly shows the excellence and effort that the USN put forth in making sure to recover the astronauts of Apollo 11. Very enjoyable to read of the seriousness of a major part of the mission that is often overlooked in documentaries and books. It was so good I read it in two days.