Publisher Description

Millions around the world watched as the Apollo 11 astronauts ""came in peace for all mankind"" to take humanity's first steps on the moon. Their mission's triumph was equally attributable to a less visible crew of nearly 400,000 people in hundreds of different organisations. This official NASA history reveals the human story behind an epic achievement. Written by a trio of experts, it chronicles the engineering and management contributions to the success of Project Apollo, starting with the creation of NASA itself and tracing the design and development of the project's spacecraft and lunar vehicles as well as their operation in space.Refreshingly free of jargon and technical language, this accessible account focuses on the coordination of efforts behind the production of the Apollo service, command, and lunar modules. It covers three phases of spacecraft evolution: defining and designing the necessary vehicles; developing and qualifying them for the task; and operating them to achieve their objectives. The authors conducted numerous interviews with the project's participants and relied heavily on NASA's extensive archives. In addition to several appendixes, the text is supplemented with more than 100 photographs and illustrations that recapture the efforts of the dedicated team of thousands who reached for the moon.

Author Biography

Courtney Brooks is affiliated with International Business Machines and a research associate in the History Department of the University of Houston. James Grimwood has been NASA Johnson Space Center Historian since 1962. Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., is Professor of History at the University of Houston.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION FOREWORD PREFACE CONCEPT TO CHALLENGE PROJECT PLANNING AND CONTRACTING CONTENDING MODES MATCHING MODULES AND MISSIONS COMMAND MODULE AND PROGRAM CHANGES LUNAR MODULE SEARCHING FOR ORDER MOVING TOWARD OPERATIONS TRAGEDY AND RECOVERY RACE WITH THE DECADE TASTES OF TRIUMPH THE TRAILBLAZERS TO LAND ON THE MOON TRIP TO TRANQUILITY EPILOGUE APPENDIX A. MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER SITE SELECTION PROCEDURE APPENDIX B. ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS APPENDIX C. APOLLO FLIGHT PROGRAM APPENDIX D. Apollo 11 EXPERIMENTS APPENDIX E. Apollo 11 LUNAR SAMPLES APPENDIX F. MAJOR SPACECRAFT COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS APPENDIX G. APOLLO PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MANNED SPACE CENTERS APPENDIX H. FUNDING-AS OF 30 JUNE 1969 SOURCE NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE INDEX LIST OF NASA PHOTOGRAPH NUMBERS

Long Description

This illustrated history by a trio of experts is the definitive reference on the Apollo spacecraft and lunar modules. It traces the vehicles' design, development, and operation in space. More than 100 photographs and illustrations.

Details