Scan barcode
dunguyen's review against another edition
3.0
Moon Shot by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton is their tale on the history of NASA, themselves and the race to the Moon.
This book is really great in the story told about NASA. All from the humble beginnings, how JFK pumped in more money to the Moon landing and the end of the Apollo program.
Some of the most interesting content I found was about the analysis of the political situation when JFK needed something to boost his popularity and put forth the mission to land a person on the Moon within the decade, the description of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and the detailed descriptions of most of the missions and the milestones set in order to reach the Moon.
What I found lacking was the actual Moon missions themselves. The book builds up the race and the payoff simply isn't there. The Apollo 11 mission is absolutely amazing to read about, 13 is described well due to being some of the best problem solving ever done in NASA under incredible stress, 14 is described in incredible detail because it's Alan Shepard's Moon mission and the rest of the actual Moon missions are simply glossed over.
Another aspect that annoyed me a bit is the focus on Shepard and Slayton. While Shepard's story is remarkable and Slayton has been instrumental for NASA, it just reads out as Shepard and Slayton bragging a lot. Both because anything involving the two is takes up 2-3 chapters but also because it seems like all the other astronauts who paved the road to the Moon, who landed on the Moon and cosmonauts doing just as admirable achievements are completely relegated to the background while Shepard, Slayton and the rest of the Mercury Seven are held up as the original heroes. I understand that they could only write about what they knew the best but it feels disrespectful to the others to give so much real estate to the Mercury Seven when the book is supposed to be about the entire NASA history up till the end of the Apollo program.
Lastly the last chapter also shouldn't have been included. The chapter is about the future of NASA and America's lack of enthusiasm in space. More specifically they lament the recent (Obama administration) cuts to NASA. This chapter just feels very much out of place. I don't quite understand why it's been added as it tarnishes the rest of the book.
I would still recommend it but I will be seeking out more books that can cover the intimate details of the Apollo programs, what the Moon landings discovered and NASA's later history. It is however great for describing the early days and there probably won't be any other book as good on the Mercury missions.
This book is really great in the story told about NASA. All from the humble beginnings, how JFK pumped in more money to the Moon landing and the end of the Apollo program.
Some of the most interesting content I found was about the analysis of the political situation when JFK needed something to boost his popularity and put forth the mission to land a person on the Moon within the decade, the description of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and the detailed descriptions of most of the missions and the milestones set in order to reach the Moon.
What I found lacking was the actual Moon missions themselves. The book builds up the race and the payoff simply isn't there. The Apollo 11 mission is absolutely amazing to read about, 13 is described well due to being some of the best problem solving ever done in NASA under incredible stress, 14 is described in incredible detail because it's Alan Shepard's Moon mission and the rest of the actual Moon missions are simply glossed over.
Another aspect that annoyed me a bit is the focus on Shepard and Slayton. While Shepard's story is remarkable and Slayton has been instrumental for NASA, it just reads out as Shepard and Slayton bragging a lot. Both because anything involving the two is takes up 2-3 chapters but also because it seems like all the other astronauts who paved the road to the Moon, who landed on the Moon and cosmonauts doing just as admirable achievements are completely relegated to the background while Shepard, Slayton and the rest of the Mercury Seven are held up as the original heroes. I understand that they could only write about what they knew the best but it feels disrespectful to the others to give so much real estate to the Mercury Seven when the book is supposed to be about the entire NASA history up till the end of the Apollo program.
Lastly the last chapter also shouldn't have been included. The chapter is about the future of NASA and America's lack of enthusiasm in space. More specifically they lament the recent (Obama administration) cuts to NASA. This chapter just feels very much out of place. I don't quite understand why it's been added as it tarnishes the rest of the book.
I would still recommend it but I will be seeking out more books that can cover the intimate details of the Apollo programs, what the Moon landings discovered and NASA's later history. It is however great for describing the early days and there probably won't be any other book as good on the Mercury missions.
ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
Written 25 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, this is a highly readable history of the U.S. space program from the perspective of men who lived that history.
The book begins, appropriately enough, with a minute-by-minute account of the moon landing in its last moments. The authors transport you expertly into the control room in Houston as the employees watch the fuel tanks in the lunar lander empty and draw perilously close to an abortion of the mission. When Eagle landed and Neil Armstrong uttered his famous quote, “The eagle has landed,” the lander had some 16 seconds of fuel left which Armstrong could use specifically for the landing. He manually flew the lander away from a boulder—strewn area where the computer would have landed them.
From that hair-raising chapter, we move back in time to the establishment of a U.S. army-controlled rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. So vivid is the writing we seem to hear as we read the warbly beeps of Sputnik that shocked and terrified America. Shortly thereafter, Americans attempted their first satellite launch and failed miserably at it. They eventually get it right in 1958, but there’s a sense that the U.S. is behind, and there’s a fear that it may always be.
There’s a fast-paced chapter on test pilots who became astronauts. It looks at the contribution of test pilots in the space program. You’ll read with fascination about a storm landing Alan Shepard did on an aircraft carrier when he had less-than five minutes of fuel left.
Chapter four details the announcement of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. Additional chapters focus on the training they endured and the publicity they dealt with. Many of us think of doxing as a new problem, but a photographer snapped a picture by the mailbox of one of the astronauts, and the entire nation had his address as a result. This was accidental, which makes it something other than doxing, but Americans deluged the poor family with mail once the address went public.
You ride along with a triumphant Alan Shepard in chapter nine, and it’s an exhilarating experience. The book guides you through the Gemini program including Neil Armstrong’s near tragedy when his ship lost control. A lesser pilot would have lost consciousness and died.
The chapters on the Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath are vivid and memorable.
It’s true that authors have written whole books about various segments of the history of manned spaceflight, this one does a nice job of digesting and comprehensively encapsulating that history. Apollo 8 gets a chapter as does Apollo 13. Again, authors have crafted whole books about Apollo 13, but these guys are adept at giving you what you need to know and keeping the story interesting. Read this chapter to learn how one subcontractor sent another a bill for $400,000 for towing services. Who says bean counters have no sense of humor!
Alan Shepard’s return to the moon gets an extremely detailed treatment, but what the heck; it’s his book. Why not? You watch with sadness as the authors detail NASA’s descent from innovator to bureaucrats intent on covering butts and just keeping the old 9 to 5.
There’s a chapter on the Apollo Soyuz docking mission, and I enjoyed that one because I knew so little of the event and paid so little attention to it as the self-absorbed teenager I was that year.
Deke Slayton’s mental meanderings in the concluding chapter bored me a bit, but you might find them poetic and worth reading.
I realize I’ve pointed out early in this review that this is a highly readable book. I wish I had a less clumsy way to reemphasize that for you. This isn’t a litany of confusing names and dates. It puts a human face on the space program in ways that few other books achieve. The chapters are solid but not overly long. They give you what you need to know without bogging you down. Perhaps you suspect the viability of a nearly 30-year-old book? I don’t know how to respond to your concern other than to say if you kick this to the curb assuming newer books will contain better information, you’ll miss a gripping nonfiction experience that might have enriched your life.
The book begins, appropriately enough, with a minute-by-minute account of the moon landing in its last moments. The authors transport you expertly into the control room in Houston as the employees watch the fuel tanks in the lunar lander empty and draw perilously close to an abortion of the mission. When Eagle landed and Neil Armstrong uttered his famous quote, “The eagle has landed,” the lander had some 16 seconds of fuel left which Armstrong could use specifically for the landing. He manually flew the lander away from a boulder—strewn area where the computer would have landed them.
From that hair-raising chapter, we move back in time to the establishment of a U.S. army-controlled rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. So vivid is the writing we seem to hear as we read the warbly beeps of Sputnik that shocked and terrified America. Shortly thereafter, Americans attempted their first satellite launch and failed miserably at it. They eventually get it right in 1958, but there’s a sense that the U.S. is behind, and there’s a fear that it may always be.
There’s a fast-paced chapter on test pilots who became astronauts. It looks at the contribution of test pilots in the space program. You’ll read with fascination about a storm landing Alan Shepard did on an aircraft carrier when he had less-than five minutes of fuel left.
Chapter four details the announcement of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. Additional chapters focus on the training they endured and the publicity they dealt with. Many of us think of doxing as a new problem, but a photographer snapped a picture by the mailbox of one of the astronauts, and the entire nation had his address as a result. This was accidental, which makes it something other than doxing, but Americans deluged the poor family with mail once the address went public.
You ride along with a triumphant Alan Shepard in chapter nine, and it’s an exhilarating experience. The book guides you through the Gemini program including Neil Armstrong’s near tragedy when his ship lost control. A lesser pilot would have lost consciousness and died.
The chapters on the Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath are vivid and memorable.
It’s true that authors have written whole books about various segments of the history of manned spaceflight, this one does a nice job of digesting and comprehensively encapsulating that history. Apollo 8 gets a chapter as does Apollo 13. Again, authors have crafted whole books about Apollo 13, but these guys are adept at giving you what you need to know and keeping the story interesting. Read this chapter to learn how one subcontractor sent another a bill for $400,000 for towing services. Who says bean counters have no sense of humor!
Alan Shepard’s return to the moon gets an extremely detailed treatment, but what the heck; it’s his book. Why not? You watch with sadness as the authors detail NASA’s descent from innovator to bureaucrats intent on covering butts and just keeping the old 9 to 5.
There’s a chapter on the Apollo Soyuz docking mission, and I enjoyed that one because I knew so little of the event and paid so little attention to it as the self-absorbed teenager I was that year.
Deke Slayton’s mental meanderings in the concluding chapter bored me a bit, but you might find them poetic and worth reading.
I realize I’ve pointed out early in this review that this is a highly readable book. I wish I had a less clumsy way to reemphasize that for you. This isn’t a litany of confusing names and dates. It puts a human face on the space program in ways that few other books achieve. The chapters are solid but not overly long. They give you what you need to know without bogging you down. Perhaps you suspect the viability of a nearly 30-year-old book? I don’t know how to respond to your concern other than to say if you kick this to the curb assuming newer books will contain better information, you’ll miss a gripping nonfiction experience that might have enriched your life.
jamie_'s review against another edition
3.0
A solid timeline, heavily focused on Shepard and Slayton. Interesting how it fits in with perspectives in other books, would be fun to read several concurrently.
kpeeps111's review against another edition
3.0
A quick and fun read. If you're interested in the history of the American space program from the point of view of the first astronauts involved, this is the book for you. It's very clearly and cleanly written, almost like a newspaper.
josethi's review against another edition
3.0
It is very interesting to read about the journey to the moon from people who lived it.
But writing...
I, personally, read non-fiction to know the facts. Sometimes I can stomach slight colorization. But this was so hard to digest, I got through it on pure willpower.
If the topic didn't interest me, I would give it max 2 stars.
But writing...
I, personally, read non-fiction to know the facts. Sometimes I can stomach slight colorization. But this was so hard to digest, I got through it on pure willpower.
If the topic didn't interest me, I would give it max 2 stars.
More...