Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Vol. 2 [Paperback]

Robert Godwin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1896522491 | ISBN-13: 978-1896522494 | Publication Date: July 1, 1999 | Edition: 1st

Contains the entire crew of Apollo 11’s personal observations upon returning to earth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Likely to appeal to someone who likes to delve deeply into the workings of NASA..." -- Astronomy Now, August 2001. "An essential read, Apogee should be applauded for producing this material in such an attractive format..." -- Spaceflight, August 2002.

About the Author

Robert Godwin, Editor

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Apogee Books / Collector's Guide Publishing; 1st edition (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896522491
• ISBN-13: 978-1896522494
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,638,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fantastic piece of work !, July 13, 2000

By 

James Gillam (Stoney Creek, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

Amazing ... the detail of this book ... facts and figures like I've never read before. This book, page after page documents the monumental struggles overcome by NASA personal in the quest to keep the United States space program alive. It's format is so easy to follow and details fall easily at hand. The rich color sections add to this book as does the fantastic CD included and at what value. I am hooked and will be reading the rest in this line. What a fantastic tool for schools ... this is the Space program like I've never seen it captured before.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, July 31, 1999

By 

Jim McDade (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

Robert Godwin's series of Mission Reports gets better each time a new one comes out. I can't wait for Apollo 12 to come out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs a little more, August 19, 2006

By 

John R. Keller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

Over the years, Robert Godwin and Apogee Books, have compiled a variety NASA documents, press kits, crew interviews and the like, which recount the early days of the space race, focusing on the Apollo missions. This time, they have released a second volume of information dedicated in the first lunar landing of Apollo 11, which includes a CD with television footage of the lunar EVA and an excellent companion NASA publication, the technical briefing. Apollo 11 was the only the third manned mission to the moon. This mission was commanded by Neil Armstrong who was accompanied to the surface by Buzz Aldrin with Michael Collins as the Command Module pilot. Compared to the other two Apollo 11 volumes, this book and its CD does not contain as much material.

The entire book only contains one NASA produced report, the crew debriefing. The report contains the crew comments and feelings about various parts of the mission and generally avoids the technical language that many of the NASA documents include. The crew debrief contains crew comments from the suiting up phase to the landing, plus comments about the training (did it or did not help the crew). There are many sections that provide a thorough crew description about the problems, the flight to the moon, the moon walk (or EVA), and the lunar science conducted from orbit. As one would expect, most of the debriefing is focused on the moon landing and the first moon walk, and as a result, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong do most of the talking. I always find the crew debriefing quite enjoyable, because it is the closest thing to being there.

This compact disc which accompanies the book contains the entire television transmission of the first moon walk, a 30 minute interview of Buzz Aldrin and a QuickTime panoramic movie of the landing site. While some readers/viewers will find the quality of this television footage poor, it is important to note the quality of television transmission in 1969 was just as poor. At least that's how I remember it.

Some general information that might be useful.

1) These reports are just scanned-in documents from previously released NASA press kits, etc., In order to preserve the spirit of the original reports, all typographical and grammatical errors have NOT been fixed.

2) Proceeds from the book goes to "The Watch" an asteroid impact research project of the Space Frontier Foundation. In other words, Apogee Books is making very little off the sale of US government produced books.

3) Many people have asked why the post mission reports are not included. Since NASA has published many books with hundred of pages (The NASA SP series), and the data from these missions is still being analyzed, it would be impossible to do.