Apollo and America's Moon Landing Program: Command Module (CSM) Reference [Ring-bound]

World Spaceflight News (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000

THE BEST TECHNICAL, NUTS-AND-BOLTS DESCRIPTION OF THE APOLLO COMMAND AND SERVICE MODULE IN PRINT TODAY! The Command Module (CM) was the control center for the Apollo spacecraft, providing living and working quarters for the three-man crew for the entire flight, except for the period when the Lunar Module descended to the Moon for landing and return. The cone-shaped CM was the only part of the spacecraft that returned to Earth from space. The cylindrical Service Module (SM) was designed to support the command module and its crew, housing the electrical power subsystem, reaction control engines, part of the environmental control system, and the service propulsion subsystem including the main propulsion engine for insertion into orbit around the Moon, for return from the Moon, and for course corrections. The 22-foot long SM was attached to the command module until just before Earth entry, when it was jettisoned.

This WSN Special Report exclusively features the best NASA document on the CSM - the official Apollo Spacecraft News Reference. There are over 170 illustrations, cut-away drawings, schematics, tables and charts. From the docking system to the Service Propulsion System engine, every part of the Command Service Module is described in detail. It is a genuine treasure-trove of facts, figures, and historical information about man's greatest engineering achievement. If you are fascinated by the Apollo era, you'll want this spectacular report!

Please keep in mind that since this is a reproduction of an original historic document, it contains a few minor flaws and some pages with small text. Overall, however, the reproduction is very clear and sharp.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

World Spaceflight News has covered spaceflight and the Space Shuttle program since 1983. In addition to our flagship publication, we produce printed and electronic Special Reports and NASA videos, and the American Space Encyclopedia series of CD-ROMs. At WSN, our mission is simple: provide space enthusiasts and professionals around the globe with unique technical information and historical material about spaceflight. We hope that a better appreciation of the complexities and challenges posed by space exploration will foster increased support for man's continued voyage into space. Our love of spaceflight drives our publishing efforts, and we've been gratified over the years that readers from Austria to Australia have found great value in our work. We try to satisfy a wide range of interests by producing a broad selection of high-quality products with exclusive material not found elsewhere.

Product Details

• Ring-bound: 183 pages
• Publisher: Progressive Management; 1 edition (June 15, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 1893472086
• ISBN-13: 978-1893472082
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,362,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars awful, April 6, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Newcastle, Tyne & Wear England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apollo and America's Moon Landing Program: Command Module (CSM) Reference (Ring-bound)

The publishers and I use the term loosely, have made no attempt to clean up the poor scans this book was based upon. For some reason they have two A5 pages printed on one A4 side with the other side blank. These people were too lazy to even use a text bridge and because the scans are so poor the data in some areas is unreadable. The cover sticker is poorly printed by what appears to be a desktop printer and glued to the exterior of a child's school file. I was hoping for something that would give me an insight into space flight, the what, where, why, when and how things were done. I didn't get it. To add insult to injury, you can probably find all of the information used here on the Internet on the various Apollo tribute sights and in better condition too. I bought three other titles at the same time. If I'd know what pitiful things they were in advance, I would have saved my money for professionally produced books instead. awful

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Apollo information: highly recommended, April 15, 2001

By 

"brainyman" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apollo and America's Moon Landing Program: Command Module (CSM) Reference (Ring-bound)

Fantastic Apollo information - highly recommended!

Wow! Kudos to World Spaceflight News for coming up with these great Apollo documents! For discovering the nitty-gritty technical details of the Apollo moon program spacecraft, these books are absolutely unbeatable. None of the glossy picture books and autobiographies from the last 30 years explain the inner workings of Apollo like these original NASA references.

Every page is clearly printed, and there are A TON OF SPECTACULAR schematics and similar drawings. There are a few muddy black and white old-style photographs, but luckily most all of the "illustrations" are drawings! I found that everything (text and drawings) was legible and understandable.

One of the great things about this command module reference is the description of the guidance and navigation hardware which told the astronauts how to get to the moon. It explains the "verb" and "noun" keyboard inputs to the computer - it seemed that every air-to-ground conversation with the crew mentioned these confusing terms!

You won't compare this to a finely bound volume from a major publisher - but hey, this is the only way to get this "geeky" information. As a lifelong Apollo fanatic, I'm happy to get this material however it comes. I've searched the web for many hours, and I never found this book or anything like it on any website. It is, as they say, unique. Period.

If you love Apollo - you want this book. In fact, you want all three (CSM, Lunar Module, Saturn V) volumes. Highly recommended!