Destination Moon (Smithsonian) [Hardcover]

Rod Pyle (Author)

Book Description

Series: Smithsonian | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

The Apollo space program was the largest technological undertaking of all time, and let to the greatest adventure of the 20^th century. Born of the cold war, it was moved forward by the passion of 100,000 workers and $20 billion over ten years.

Over that time, 12 courageous individuals stepped out onto the lunar surface and thus changed the history of humankind, changing us into a space-faring civilization.

And then, it was gone. Three years, 9 missions, six men on the surface of the moon. They explored, they experimented, and they came home.

Here in one volume are the transcripted voices of the partipants, with expert commentary and retrospective reminiscences, explained and put into context. From the triumphs of Neil Armstrong to Buzz Aldrin, to the near disaster of Apollo 13 ("Houston, we've got a problem"), it's all here -- the science, the adventure, the glory, the letdown. One of the great stories of humankind's reaching for the stars.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Pyle's useful survey of the Apollo moon program includes a brief summary of each flight and attempted flight of the great effort, from the fatal fire on Pad 34 in 1967 to the landing of a scientist on the moon in Apollo 17 in 1972. Apart from the narrative, each summary contains a modest but excellent selection of photographs and long passages of the recorded dialogue of the astronauts themselves. Much of the latter hasn't appeared in a volume as easily accessible to the general public as this one. Here are such well-known lines as "Houston, we have a problem" and "The eagle has landed." More important, here are a great many less--famous utterances. Many of them are technical, and all variously reflect the stresses, emotions, triumphs, and worries of men who really were boldly going where nobody had gone before. Space collections of all sizes should welcome Pyle's book, and smaller ones will find it invaluable. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Rod Pyle is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and college professor. He has written for numerous science and science fiction magazines. He lives in Pasadena, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060873493
• ISBN-13: 978-0060873493
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,353,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Few of us have a chance to do what we really love and get paid for it. After years of working in many industries, including television, new media, academia and others, I have settled upon documentary production and writing. From this has come a rare opportunity to write books. I realize that the chance to create them is a blessing. I hope you enjoy them.

Like many of my generation, I was enthralled by the flights of Mercury, Gemini, and especially Apollo. As those ghostly images came down from the moon, improving on each flight, I stayed home from high school to savor every moment the networks were willing to show us (at the expense of the daytime soaps, which eventually won the airtime battle). As I grew older and matured into a career and family life, fond memories of NASA's "Golden Years" stayed with me. And then came the opportunities to write first "In Their Own Words: The Space Race" (an 8-hour audiobook), and later, "Destination Moon." In all cases the publishers were a delight to work with and in both cases the product is, I hope, something that will impart to you the thrill of reliving those experiences. Please feel free to share your thoughts after you read or listen to them.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Illustrated History of the Apollo Program, February 3, 2006

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Destination Moon (Smithsonian) (Hardcover)

Like clockwork celebratory books like "Destination Moon" appear in print just in time for the holiday shopping season. These books on the space program always take advantage of the stunning imagery of the Apollo missions to the Moon to capture the impressive nature of that undertaking. "Destination Moon" does this exceptionally well, and prints both iconic images burned into the public memory as well as less well-known photographs of the Apollo adventure. Compiler Rod Pyle couples striking visuals with excerpts from the voice communications between the astronauts and Mission Control in Houston. It is important to note that transcripts of those communications are also readily available on-line at NASA Johnson Space Center's history portal: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission_trans/mission_transcripts.htm. For each of the missions, which are listed chronologically, there are usually several different transcripts.

"Destination Moon" is a capable book and one that will be helpful to those unfamiliar with the Apollo program; it provides an accessible introduction to the Apollo Moon landings. It is, unfortunately, quite cursory as a work of history. Individuals who already understand the Apollo story will not learn much new here. If you want to understand the history of the program two other books are much better: Andrew Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts (Viking, 1994), and Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox's "Apollo: The Race to the Moon" (Simon and Schuster, 1989), both of which have been reprinted several times and are readily available. Even so, the imagery is worth the price of the book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apollo was the forerunner., November 15, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Destination Moon (Smithsonian) (Hardcover)

The years from 1961 to 1969 seem like almost magical years. The country had a purpose that united and excited the interests of an almost overwhelming percentage of the the people. As President Kennedy said, 'landing a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth.'

To be sure there were other problems during those years, the ongoing sore of Viet Nam, and the civil right issues that were just beginning to disrupt the south, and of course Kennedy's trip to Dallas. But perhaps we can overlook those issues and look with pride on what we did accomplish with the Apollo program.

This book is the Apollo story. Everything from the Apollo 1 and the Grisson/Chaffee/White fire to the splash down of Apollo 17. Most of the text of the story comes from the words of the astronaut's words. The absolutely beautiful pictures are mostly taken in space or on the surface of the moon.

Whatever happens with the new NASA program to return to the moon, Apollo was the forerunner. From here we began.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book about the Lunar Landings, January 27, 2006

By 

John R. Keller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Destination Moon (Smithsonian) (Hardcover)

Combining both famous and virtually unknown photographs from the Apollo missions with selected portions of the transcripts from the Apollo moon missions and informational text, the author attempts to recreate that magical time in history when mankind first walked on the surface of the moon. And he does a great job of doing just that.

The book opens with the tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire and then moves quickly to the early test flights of Apollo 7 through Apollo 10. After this brief introductory section, a chapter is devoted to each of the moon landing missions, including the failed Apollo 13 mission. Each chapter presents some of the best photographs obtained from each moon landing using what appears to be the same technique used by Michael Light in his book Full Moon thereby producing some very stunning pictures. Since the transcripts are the words of the astronauts and the photographs were taken on the moon by same individuals (probably while speaking these words), the reader gets a glimpse of what the astronaut must have seen and felt as they explored the moon.

While the serious collector of Apollo books and memorabilia may not find or learn much that is new, this is an excellent overview book with great photographs for anyone interested in the moon landings.