Apollo 14: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee Books Space Series 14 [Paperback]

Robert Godwin (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Apogee Books Space Series | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

NASA documents uncover the 10 hours spent on the moon by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell.

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: 332 pages
• Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896522564
• ISBN-13: 978-1896522562
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Wings of Apollo, July 19, 2001

By 

Michael Eaton (West Valley City, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Apollo 14: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee Books Space Series 14 (Paperback)

First, I must make a terrible confession. I have purchased the majority of the NASA Mission Reports and undoubtedly will not stop until I have all of them. This compulsion is looked upon with disfavor by my wife, but I cannot help it. Second, I am completely amazed at how much the publisher is able to cram onto the enclosed CD's. On my latest purchase of the Apollo 14 Mission Reports, I guesstimate that there must be over 5 hours of just audio recordings, not counting all the video, documentation, and photos. My one and only caveat is that I wish the graphics and video were in higher resolution. However, in order to do that they would have to either delete some material or step up to multiple CD's or a DVD format. All-in-all, the NASA Mission Reports are a bargain for the astronautics/astronomy enthusiast. You get a closeup view of history in the making. Bravo to the author and publisher for making these available.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Excellent Book in the Series, April 8, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Apollo 14: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee Books Space Series 14 (Paperback)

Once again, Robert Godwin and Apogee Books have compiled a great set of NASA documents about the Apollo era of space exploration. This time, as the title indicates, he has chosen Apollo 14. This mission was the first mission after the aborted Apollo 13 flight and had Alan Shepard as the mission commander.

The book opens with the usual NASA mission press kit. Unlike earlier missions, the press kit is significantly smaller. The next portion of the books contains an excellent section devoted to describing the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) hardware that would be placed on the moon. In my many years at NASA, I have yet to see such comprehensive documentation of this hardware package. The book concludes with the post launch mission operations report and the crew debrief.

The debrief section, which is over half the book, contains the crew comments and feelings about various parts of the mission and for the most part 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 docking problems (which almost aborted the mission), lunar EVAs, and the lunar science conducted from orbit. I always find the crew debriefing quite enjoyiable, because it is the closest thing to being there.

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another valuable volume for the space enthusiast, January 31, 2002

By 

Kevin W. Parker (Greenbelt, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apollo 14: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee Books Space Series 14 (Paperback)

Apollo 14 may be best known for Alan Shepard's return to space (and perhaps his golf shot on the moon). But it was also the first serious science mission as well as the return to flight after the near-disaster of Apollo 13. As usual, the text includes the pre-mission press and internal reports, and the post-mission summaries and crew debriefings. The accompanying CD contains hundreds of photos from the mission as well as an interview with astronaut Ed Mitchell.

Yet another valuable volume for the space enthusiast.