Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes [Paperback]

Billy Watkins (Author), Fred Haise (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2007

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. It seemed like an impossible mission and one that the Russians—who had launched the first satellite and put the first man into Earth orbit—would surely achieve before the Americans. However, the ingenuity, passion, and sacrifice of thousands of ordinary people from all walks of life enabled the space program to meet this extraordinary goal. This is the story of fourteen of those men and women who worked behind the scenes, without fanfare or recognition, to make the Apollo missions successful.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Journalist Watkins takes advantage of decades of close attention as he recounts the stories of some of the thousands of men and women who made getting to the moon their daily work and uncanny passion. He includes the story of a publicist who lobbied for a television camera on Apollo 11, without which we would not have seen Neil Armstrong take that step, specialists on signal-jamming USSR submarines and lightning, and the lucky folks who got to design the Moon Rover. It is clear Watkins would like to acknowledge the efforts of all (picking just 14 must have been agonizing) but those appearing here are truly representative of a breed of scientist and engineer whose pie-in-the-sky thinking actually worked.”—SciTech Book News

(SciTech Book News )

"After reading Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes, you''ll realize how little we all know about those who made the small steps and giant leaps possible."—Robert Pearlman, CollectSpace.com, member of the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Foundation Board of Directors

(Robert Pearlman )

"This book is ''new news'' to all those who followed Apollo--including me. It not only captures the sense of team spirit and a desire to assure success, but it really brings out the human interest side of the program and highlights the contributions of those removed from the ''firing line.'' It''s a winner!"—Fred Haise, Apollo 13 astronaut

(Fred Haise )

"Open up the pages of Watkins'' in-depth view of the unsung heroes of the Apollo mission, and you will get a clear idea of why the Apollo Program was so successful. Meet the people behind the scenes of our journey to the moon as Billy Watkins magnificently portrays the human dedication of many people to achieve man''s greatest adventure."—Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 astronaut

(Jim Lovell )

"Every story as a heart and a sould, and Billy Watkins hands these rich gifts to the reader with respect and perspective."—Lynne Russell

(Lynne Russell )

"I met Billy just prior to the Columbia tragedy. After one conversation I realized that this was not your typical ''hometown'' reporter but someone who could ask me questions regarding Human Spaceflight three or four layers deep and from a historical sense knew more about NASA''s accomplishments than I did. Over the years, Billy has become a trusted personal friend and someone I trust to tell the personal side of this highly technical business. I am sure you will enjoy this historical account of the Apollo era."—Bill Parsons

(Bill Parsons )

Review

"This book is 'new news' to all those who followed Apollo- including me. It not only captures the sense of team spirit and a desire to assure success, but it really brings out the human interest side of the program and highlights the contributions of those removed from the 'firing line.' It's a winner!"

(

Fred Haise, Apollo 13 astronaut

) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books; 1st Nebraska Pbk. Printing edition (December 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803260415
• ISBN-13: 978-0803260412
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating stories and unique viewpoints of the Apollo program, February 5, 2006

By 

David M. Scott "David Meerman Scott" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes (Hardcover)

In Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes, author Billy Watkins delivers 14 fascinating stories of little known people from the Apollo program. For those of us who read a lot about Apollo, this book adds some well-needed alternative views of the program. I've read most of the astronaut biographies and many of the histories of Apollo-after a while I'm looking for some nook or cranny of information that I did not know already.

The chapters in Apollo Moon Missions are similar to the wonderful 12 page riff in Stages to Saturn about the Super Guppy aircraft that was used to transport the Saturn S-IVB stage. In Stages to Saturn, this story is told partly by profiling flamboyant entrepreneur John M. Conroy and his company Aero Spacelines that built the Super Guppy. I like this kind of story because it personalizes the Apollo program. The accounts in Apollo Moon Missions of people like Sonny Morea, the lead designer of the Lunar Rover, Julian Scheer, the NASA publicist who got TV cameras onto Apollo 11, and Joe Schmitt, suit technician, who was often the last person the astronauts saw before the hatch was closed on the launch pad are fun and unusual.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Celebration of the Thousands Who Made the Dreams of Spaceflight Real, November 29, 2007

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes (Paperback)

The Apollo program that took Americans to the Moon in the latter 1960s and early 1970s literally involved a cast of thousands. At the height of Apollo NASA's civil servants numbered 36,000 people and its contractor workforce had 376,700. One estimate of the people associated with the program was one of twenty in the United States, when counting all aspects of the Moon landing program. That is a lot of unsung heroes. The astronauts who went there acknowledged as much, always remembering to thank the thousands of unnamed people who made it possible for them to journey to the lunar surface and return safely to Earth.

Billy Watkins seeks in this book to recount the story of a few individuals who made it possible to reach the Moon. He profiles fourteen different people who worked in the program in some manner. They include Bruce McCandless, an astronaut who did not get to fly on the program; public affairs official par excellence Julian Scheer; launch controller Joann Morgan; Navy frogman Clancy Hatteberg; mission control engineer Gerry Griffin, and others. These profiles are just a few of the thousands that could be offered about people who ensured the success of the Apollo program. They rescue from obscurity the contributions of these unique and unsung heroes.

Billy Watkins's book is celebration of the devotion of those who worked on the Apollo program. It is a welcome reminder of a single-minded devotion to duty. Our thanks are due to all those who took America to the Moon. This book helps to spotlight some of their stories.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and enjoyable, June 30, 2009

By 

D. Stringer (Southern US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes (Paperback)

This was the first book I read about the space program and it will be one I read again. It was a great read in itself, but it also motivated me to learn more about the Apollo missions (and read Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon"). I was one of those young teens glued to the TV the summer of the moon landing. How little I understood of the human effort and significance of what I was seeing! Watkins' book helped fill in the blanks. Highly recommended.