Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of NASA's Apollo Lunar Expeditions

by William David Compton

This official NASA history chronicles the behind-the-scenes conflicts and cooperation during the Apollo expeditions. It shows how the space agency's scientists, who were primarily interested in the Moon itself, worked out their differences with the engineers, who were charged with the astronauts' safe landing and return. The close collaboration between the scientists and engineers ensured the success of a program that remains a major achievement for both fields.
The first half of the book concerns the preparations for the Moon landings, tracing the development of the Apollo science program from the earliest days. The second half documents the flights that followed Apollo 11, during which twelve astronauts explored the lunar surface and returned with samples for investigation. The author drew upon the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center's collection of more than 31,000 Apollo-related documents and conducted more than 300 interviews with program participants to assemble this definitive survey.

Genres: Space, History, Science, Nonfiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1971

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Where to begin...

When I found Where No Man Has Gone Before, I have to admit that I wasn't entirely sure of what angle Mr. Compton was going to take in approaching his subject. And even without preconceived notions, he managed to surprise me.

Where No Man… is principally about the relationship between scientists (and scientific exploration) and the Apollo project. And that alone was a real eye-opener, because the 12-year-old kid in me who watched the first lunar landing in 1969 always assumed that the space program was about science when, in fact, it was more a question of engineering. "Can we get a man to the moon and back safely?" is an engineering question, right?

Even so, there were scientific opportunities once we answered the first question. "What can we learn about the moon while we're there?" is a scientific question. But, of course, the engineers were so overwhelmed with the engineering question — and the limited time afforded to them by John Kennedy's announced timetable — that sometimes the scientific question took more of a back seat than the scientific community was willing to accept. And the space program continued to face questions about why a manned lunar exploration (as opposed to unmanned) was even necessary. In the end, NASA managed to find a balance that accommodated scientific research and even the scientists seemed to agree that having someone on site turned out to be a great idea.

So, overall, Where No Man… provided an embarrassment of riches in conveying the questions, challenges, solutions, and outcomes of the scientific community's involvement in the Apollo space program. And if I were to rate the book based solely on how much information it provided, this would have easily been a five-star book. I rated it a little lower, however, because its sheer volume of information sometimes made it a little overwhelming and I can imagine a more casual reader than myself walking away because, frankly, at times it reads more like a text book with a lot of facts and figures and names that not everyone would be interested in remembering.

That said, this was still a very enjoyable book for me and if you are the type of person that wants to get knee-deep in the facts and figures and names of the Apollo space program, then I would heartily recommend it for you, as well.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know all the nitty gritty details of the Apollo program, this is the book for you. Plenty of background and detail about the program in the test. Data-laden appendices make up about 1/3 of the book. I've read other books about Apollo and this one doesn't read as easily as some others which is why I gave it 3 stars. But if I were to rate it as purely a reference volume, I'd probably give it a 4 or 5.

[Cole O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, Where No Man Has Gone Before A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions, written by William David Compton, is a source of abundant and plentiful information on the behind the scenes actions of the Apollo program. William David Compton provides the reader with intricate accuracy of the events following the startup of the Apollo missions and the underlying problems and concerns that would inflict and shape the development of these missions. These problems would include such things as science versus engineering, cost and profit of the Apollo missions, national prestige and much more. This book explained and traced the challenges of both scientists and engineers who were both involved in the Apollo Missions themselves. Among the big picture of this informative book, such technology, equipment, complex machines, facilities, and maneuvers were implemented to provide specific knowledge to increase the intricacy of the already known knowledge to the reader. The organization of events that would be laid out helped to simplify the coming of events for a complex timeline. Thus meaning that it was intended to have the first half of the book leading up to the Apollo missions and then focusing on the further missions that would carry on to the 70’s. Not only does the author provide information of the Apollo missions and the events that occurred within the walls, but also helps to explain the effects of Apollo on the nation, both good and bad. This important reflection allows for an expanse of knowledge outside of the space program itself. An important topic discussed was that of the Soviet Union versus the United States. Without this pre context, we would have not known the soul reason for the Apollo missions themselves. This is just another example of the way the author expands knowledge and informs the reader. For ones who are fascinated by the impacts of the Apollo program and have a passion for science exploration, this book will satisfy both.

[Brian Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of NASA’s Apollo Lunar Expeditions gets my vote for the most misleading book title about Project Apollo. Having read literally dozens of accounts related to NASA and the early U.S. space program I had overlooked this title, intentionally, as, judging by its title and the page count (only 270 pages), that it was merely a compact telling for readers wanting only a concise overview. It’s not that at all. Instead, author William David Compton delivers a comprehensive and scholarly account of how science and the scientific community became integrated into the Apollo program. It’s a complex tale, full of nuance. Here are a few items that surprised me: the first vision of a “lunar receiving laboratory” planned to fit in 100 sq. ft.; Apollo 11 came close to carrying no lunar science equipment; as originally planned, Skylab was to launch while moon landings were still taking place; and Dave Scott made the ultimate decision on a landing site for Apollo 15. Maybe I should flag this review for having spoilers :) But don’t worry, there’s plenty of other surprises in this well-written story of how the scientific community and the Apollo engineers (and managers) went from adversaries to at least a partial appreciation of the needs, goals, and desires of their counterparts. And when you’re finished with the text, Compton gives you 80 pages of appendices. This space nerd couldn’t be happier.

[Jorge Rosas · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was impressive and extensive, more focused on how they got there than what they did there, it tell us about the behind the scenes of the entire manned lunar program, with an extensive section dedicated to the previous things, development, events and decisions before Apollo 11. And afterwards it goes on telling about the details and complications of each other mission, it also tell us about the bitter ending of the program and the quote that summarizes its ending from the Time magazine “Apollo’s detractors were prisoners of limited vision who cannot comprehend, or do not care, that Neil Armstrong’s step in the lunar dust will be well remembered when most of today’s burning issues have become mere footnotes to history”. Its upper well documented and about 20% of the book is about appendixes, quotations and further reading it also includes an index about the cited material.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books about the Apollo program, one of the official NASA histories in summary form. This book gets into a good amount of detail about the program's origins, how the project came together, how the NASA centers interacted, and how the lunar science program was developed. It is somewhat too technical to be considered a popular history, but for those who want to peel off several layers of the onion of Apollo, this is not to be missed. I put off reading this for many years and now wish I hadn't. I'll be consulting this book for years to come.