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Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

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Apollo 13 is one of History's great voyages regardless of how long one extends the time frame into the past. If the mission had transpired faultlessly, it still would have qualified for the astonishing, remarkable achievement it would have been. With the malfunctions that cascaded upon the 3 crewmen, they, together with the men and women on the ground, created their own miracle when the splashdown with the 3 crewmembers was completed. The return, in spite of the overwhelming odds that were against them, places this trip in category of great human achievement, even as it is hoped it never need be repeated.

One fact helped to put the trip into perspective for me. If you have a hand held calculator nearby, pick it up. The chances are the computing power you hold in your hand surpasses that available to the crew in their effort to come home. The movie demonstrated this with slid rules and math completed with paper and pencil. The whole event is almost unimaginable.

The book is worth reading because as hard as it may be to fathom, the actual trip was even more hazardous, the problems even more numerous than the movie portrayed. I am not suggesting the movie was flawed, only that it was limited by time for telling the entire story.

I met Mr. John L. Swigert when I was quite young. My memories are limited but I have a picture that was taken with him that is a treasure. Several years ago I heard Mr. Jim Lovell speak, and his remarks confirmed that the actual trip held hazards the movie did not depict. As he related parts of the story the impression was of a man who was always in control, a leader, and utterly confident in the men he flew with, and those they relied so heavily upon at Houston and other ground facilities. There was nothing about him that gave the impression that what he did was special. He is part of that "Greatest Generation", and he represents that group faultlessly.

I was able to meet him after the dinner, and I had my photo of Mr. Swigert with me. He was as cordial as anyone could be. There was no artifice about him, no sense that he was special. He took time to chat both with me, and a young man who also was at the dinner.

Speaking and listening to him, you felt that you were in the presence of someone who was unique, not only for his remarkable career in the service of his Country, but for the man he was. He is a hero. I cannot describe the feeling of speaking with him, but I hope everyone has a chance to meet such a man. When you stand next to him, you stand next to History in all its splendor and modesty.

The book tells a story that happened only once, and cannot happen the same way again. If you were on the edge of your seat during the movie, the book is no different. If you feel lightheaded, it's because you have forgotten to breathe.

Jim Lovell's dreams of landing on the moon were literally blown away in April 1970, when an oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13's service module exploded less than a day away from lunar orbit, forcing the crew to limp home under perilous circumstances. More than two decades after surviving that mission, Lovell (with his co-author Jeffrey Kluger) has written an excellent account of that ill-fated moon flight.

LOST MOON is one of the best of the Apollo books I've read, especially one concerning a single mission. This is also one of the best books about the work of mission control, who were the key figures behind the successful return of the crew. It is as complete a description of this mission as we are ever likely to see. The attention to detail is on a very high level, and the amount of transcripted dialogue is plentiful, well presented, and from a myriad of sources. There are a number of slightly testy exchanges between Lovell's crew and mission control, highlighting the tension of the situation in an honest and unapologetic manner. The examination of exactly how the accident happened, as told in the epilogue, is covered exceptionally well.

An aspect of the book that bothered me was the decision to use a third-person narrative throughout (which is defended unconvincingly in the author's notes). I had never before read any autobiographical account in which the central figure is treated in the third person. Basically, I was looking forward to reading Lovell's descriptions of events using his own voice and experience, and that didn't quite happen. To read Lovell -- one of the most engaging personalities of all the early astronauts -- diminished by such an impersonal, veiled perspective was disappointing. It adds nothing to the writing, and ultimately I felt it was a disservice to the book, though a minor one. If the authors had their doubts about mixing third-person and first-person perspectives successfully, they could have taken some cues from Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, who wrote two books in that style and who is regarded as perhaps the best writer among the former astronauts.

Despite its compromises in narrative style, LOST MOON (or APOLLO 13, depending on the format) is an outstanding biographical account of the failed 1970 moon flight. It is potentially a five-star book if the writing had been appropriately personal when it counted the most.

Right up front: I'm not a techno geek and I rarely read non-fiction books. But I've long been interested in astronomy and particularly the Apollo program. After seeing Apollo 13 (the movie) about 4 times, I decided to look into some books for a more accurate account of that particular mission. I got this one because Jim Lovell helped write it. After I got it, I found out the movie was based on this book and it was interesting and amusing to note the differences between the two.

Despite my "handicap," I found this book to be highly readable and much more gripping than the movie. I polished it off in about three days. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much I would have understood if I hadn't seen the movie and known (from history) the basic plot. There was also some biographical information about Jim Lovell that I found extraneous to this particular account and some stuff left out that I would have found interesting (like training for the actual moon walk which wasn't even really touched on). An appendix at the end with suggested further reading would also have been a nice touch.

But the two authors do a remarkable job of taking what was basically a technological catastrophe and putting a very real and very human face on it. This is a book I am sure I will read again.

Lovell writes a gripping account of the space mission that almost made him a permanent fixture in the heavens.

Apollo 13 grabbed the attention of the world and brought back to a confident nation the danger and great risk associated with exploration. On its way to the moon, a tank blew out, causing a partial systems failure and raising the possibility that the three man crew might not be able to return safely to earth -- or even intercept our planet to try a reentry. (they faced the very real possibility of skipping off of the earth's atmosphere and traveling forever through the cosmos).

Although filled with technical talk, this book is very much a human story. It is filled with heros: the astornauts, the men at Mission Control who guided them safely back and the wives who very publicly waited to see if their husbands might be martyred to our scientific ambitions. Lovell puts this all very much into perspective. He gives excellent background of his preparation as well as the planning for the mission. The critical days aboard the spacecraft and at Mission Control as all of the problems associated with bringing him back alive are solved are as fascinating and as absorbing as any Tom Clancy novel.

Lovell tells a great story in a superb manner

Other reviewers have recapped this very well so I'll add a different perspective and experience. I actually read this in paperback AFTER the movie came out - which I immediately went to see and enjoyed because I remember the events of that time as they were happening. Great movie by a good director in Ron Howard. Too bad Tom Hanks blew the key dialog in the movie by over-acting with a stern face the line "Houston, we have a problem." Lovell so beautifully and calmly understated the line IRL ("Houston, we've had a problem"). See the PBS special on Apollo 13, "To the Edge and Back" which includes real footage from the time and actual audio of communication between Houston and the astronauts.

So imagine when I got into this book and the detail which the movie would necessarily have had to telescope for time constraints. Just unbelievable the mix of calm and stress and problem-solving in a time where our technology toys and capabilities were significantly less. I re-read the paperback a second time, loaned it to somebody, reread it a third time when they returned the now dog-eared copy, and finally bought this in original hard cover edition under its original title so that I would always have it - then read it yet again.

A couple of points on top of my thanks to Jim Lovell for wanting to do this book in the first place...

(1) Excellent choice of Jeffrey Kluger to help co-author the book. Kluger is GREAT with words and narrative timing and, though I'm sure there may be some, I have personally seen no reviews that adequately credit his tremendous contribution to making this book so good. It reads like the best, most gripping fiction novel you have ever read and is made all the better because you know it all actually happened just the way it is described. NASA's making available of footage, recordings and personnel involved in the mission contributed also to the unvarnished truth and perspectives of a lot of the people whose lives were wall-to-wall angst for those four days in 1970. Kluger and Lovell capture this and Kluger ties it all together as smooth as glass.

(2) Shifting the narrative to third person, even though this is autobiographical from Jim Lovell's POV, was unique and appropriate. It was maybe the ONLY best way to tap into the psyches, experiences and perspectives of so many of the players in this event beyond just Jim Lovell.

One of my all time favorite books.

Mr. James Lovall wrote a great book about Apollo 13. This book explains every thing that happened up there from the eyes of the real man who were out there , exactly 30 years ago! the book is well written, and explains a bit about Lovalls flights (Apollo 8, Gemini) and a bit about the time before he became an astronaut. as a big Apollo lover, i must say i really enjoyed this book. Why did i gave it only 4 stars and not 5? There is only one thing, in the way this book is written that i really didn't like. The book is written like this: " And then lovell did that" "And then he felt that" etc. And not like you would expect "And then I did that" "And then I felt that" . I think this is the only one thing that i didn't like in the book, because it makes you feel less.. "There". and isn't that what books are all about?.. I am sure you will enjoy the book.

As someone who has been fascinated with space flight since childhood, and who well remembers the real Apollo 13 from his teenage years, I found this book a fascinating reminder of history. However, this book is about much more than the aborted flight of Apollo 13. It includes historical flashbacks that involved astronaut James Lovell. One chapter describes Lovell's teenage years as he launched homemade rockets. Another summarizes the early years of space exploration in the wake of Sputnik 1. Still another describes the selection of Lovell as an astronaut in late 1962. There is also a chapter on the Apollo 1 fire. Some of Lovell's closest friends perished in that needless tragedy. There is a fine description of the historical flight of Apollo 8, that Christmas lunar orbit in 1968. It included a reading from the Book of Genesis.

Now on to Apollo 13. In preparations for potential in-space emergencies, no one had imagined the simultaneous loss of both main oxygen tanks and all three fuel cells. This left the Odyssey itself with only a few hours of remaining oxygen, water, and electricity. Lovell and Kluge note that mission rules forbid a lunar landing if only one fuel cell becomes inoperable, even if nothing else is wrong. But the "Can the moon landing be saved?" quickly gave way to "Can the astronaut's lives be saved?"

The initial belief was that a meteoroid must have hit the ship. This later was discounted when the blown-open side of the service module became visible shortly after being jettisoned prior to re-entry. Clearly, the explosion must have originated from within the service module itself. Later investigation pointed to a confluence of factors, none decisive in and of themselves, that had combined to precipitate the near-tragedy. To begin with, the wrong-power fuses were being used within the oxygen tanks. When overloaded, they simply melted, allowing the overload of electricity to pass through. During assembly, the oxygen tank had been dropped, damaging an exit tube. During launch-pad exercises, the liquid oxygen was drained past the damaged exit tube by applying extra heat and driving the oxygen out another way. The sensor was not designed to warn of overheating above 80 F. Meanwhile, this procedure had unknowingly raised the temperatures to impossible levels, burning the insulation off much of the wire inside the oxygen tank. The first two times the stirring fan was turned on in space, there was no problem. But the third time, a spark must have flown and ignited the damaged insulation in the pure-oxygen environment, causing the explosion. The explosion itself damaged a tube connected to the second oxygen tank, thus draining it.

The book provides good detail about the dangers and challenges associated with the abort procedure itself. The decision was made not to attempt to fire the service module engine in order to reverse the flight direction in a deep-space abort, if only because the damaged service module might be unable to take the strain of the engine's thrust. The first critical burn of the lunar module's descent engine, done some six hours after the explosion and designed to change the hybrid trajectory back into a free-return trajectory, would have caused the Apollo 13 to crash into the far side of the moon if done incorrectly. Without the burn, however, Apollo 13 would be stuck in a 40,000 by 240,000 mile elliptical orbit around Earth. Thoughts were entertained about jettisoning the useless service module and using the lunar module's descent engine to accelerate the ship considerably--returning it from the vicinity of the moon to Earth in only some 36 hours. But this was not done out of fear that exposure of the command module's heat shield to the temperature extremes of space might damage it.

Everything on the ship had to be powered down--a strategy that worked, just barely. The severe cold aboard the ship, a secondary consequence of the powering down of all nonessential equipment, is described. The astronauts had a frosty breath. Some got urinary infections. They had a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep.

The astronauts were slowly being poisoned by their own carbon dioxide. This was solved by the jury-rigging of the lithium hydroxide "scrubbers" of the command module to get them to fit into the circulation system of the lunar module. Just before re-entry, there were the challenges of successfully reviving the systems aboard the command module, and jettisoning both the service and lunar modules in a completely unconventional manner.

An incredibly well-written and well-paced account of one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the U.S. Space Program. As opposed to the dry (although factually accurate) "13: The Flight that Failed" by Henry S.F. Cooper, it lets us peer into the very human side of the people who flew and guided this mission. But in addition it gives startling and often humorous insights into the very early days of the space program, when Mercury was still underway and Lovell was recruited into the fledgling Gemini program.

I found two other books enhanced my appreciation of everything that went into the Apollo 13 mission. One is "Apollo: The Race for the Moon", another behind-the-scenes history told from the point of view of the engineers who worked on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The authors are Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox. Another book is "Chariots for Apollo: The Making of the Lunar Module," by Charles R. Pellegrino and Joshua Stoff. When you read about everything Grumman did to create the lunar module, you understand just why it fit so well its role of life boat during the Apollo 13 mission.

With the launch of the initial International Space Station components next year, the world will enter a new phase of space exploration -- a time where cooperation, not competition, is the by-word. At such a time, looking back on how we got to where we are now -- our space program roots, as it were -- is vitally important. "Lost Moon" does the job with grace and flair.

This work will forever carry the blessing and the curse of being joined at the hip to the memorable film rendition, "Apollo 13." I gather that in recent years the powers that be have thrown in the towel and now market book and movie under the same name. If memory serves correctly, the book appeared in 1994, the movie in 1995. I have often wondered about the synergy between the two; was "Lost Moon" written in the knowledge that it would immediately undergo the standard Hollywood facelift, or did Tom Hanks exert "go fever" upon the authors to meet production deadline? Such questions will no doubt swirl about this fine book into the foreseeable future.

As to the content and literary merits of the work itself, a previous Amazon reviewer noted a certain jumpiness in the narrative, forward leaps and backward glances. I agree with that observation. It may be that the Apollo 13 incident took place so long ago--can it really be 33 years already?-that the authors at times came to the realization that most readers under 40 didn't really know Jim Lovell, and that biographical information had to be inserted to explain why this particular astronaut's position as commander of the flight made all the difference in the world to its bloodless outcome.

With all due respects to Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong-space pioneers in their own right-historians of future generations may look upon Jim Lovell as the most accomplished of the space pioneers of the twentieth century. In April 1970 when he boarded the Odyssey for the flight to the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, Lovell possessed an impressive resume of space experience, in terms of both seat time and technical experience. In 1965 he had accepted the most undesirable of the Gemini assignments, the fourteen-day marathon of physiological and psychological stress designed to push the envelope of human endurance--with a manned two-craft rendezvous thrown in for good measure. In 1966 he and Buzz Aldrin, in another Gemini craft, finessed the skill of docking and physical adroitness in extravehicular tasking. In 1968, with Frank Borman and Bill Anders, he inaugurated manned flights aboard the new Saturn V rocket and stunned the world with the Christmas circumlunar Apollo VIII. Lovell's history of competence under fire is perhaps the major human element of this work. Who on NASA's active roster of 1971 was better prepared to handle a crisis the magnitude of Apollo XIII?

Lovell's history with the space program is much better documented in the book, if awkwardly at times, than in the film. For those unfamiliar with the plot line, Apollo XIII was the third lunar mission, albeit a star-crossed one even before lift-off. Its original crew of Shepard, Mitchell, and Roosa was scrubbed for both health and political reasons involving Shepard's ten year hiatus from active space duty, a piece of history omitted in the book. Later, less than a week before the mission, command module pilot Ken Mattingly was unwittingly exposed to measles and replaced by back-up Jack Swigert. There is some fudging about Mattingly's dismissal from the Apollo XIII crew. In the book Lovell reports that NASA management made the call; in the film Lovell/Hanks replies straightforwardly to Mattingly/Sinese that "this was my call." To add to the mystery, a close examination of sources indicates Mattingly was either never interviewed for this work or declined to participate, a curious omission on a matter so germane to the plot.

But Apollo XIII was star-crossed in more ways than anyone could have imagined. A design error in the critical fuel cell unit had transformed that equipment into a ticking bomb that exploded 200,000 miles from earth, rendering the mother ship useless and forcing the astronauts to relocate all operations and life support to the tiny Aquarius lunar lander. The technical complications alone for such an untested procedure were staggering; Lovell and collaborator Jeffrey Kluger communicate these problems with a manageable balance of technology and human drama. Like many other astronaut-authors, Lovell does not overly dwell on the human emotion or physical discomfort of his flight, which involved five days without heat, sleep, or edible food and immense technical improvising under god-awful conditions. The film version depicts considerable tension between Haise and Swigert after the explosion, with Lovell virtually having to separate them from coming to blows. Lovell reports nothing of this sort in the book, though he hints at mild irritation with Haise's sophomoric antics prior to the explosion.

"Lost Moon" brings to the knowledgeable reader visceral experiences that a film cannot really convey, given the limitations of screen time. Several dimensions of the flight-barely mentioned if at all on film-are treated at some length, such as NASA's concern about the radioactive fuel for the lunar station and its fiery reentry through earth's atmosphere, and the failure of the LEM to hold course after swinging around the moon. The "urine problem"-a major, complex situation for man and machine-is treated tastefully, though in his book Lovell does not report Haise's film complaint that "I think I caught the clap from Swigert." To term this work a pure autobiographical memoir of the flight is a bit misleading, since hundreds of professionals were involved at least indirectly with Lovell, and Glynn Lunney and Gene Krantz, to name two, get appropriate attention from the authors. The authors struck a good balance here. The only literary task still undone is a definitive treatment of Lovell's entire career. There ought to be at least one or two more good movies in there somewhere.

I wonder how many of you had known the story of Apollo 13 before the movie of the same name? I am one of those who is fortunate enough to have lived through the Apollo program through the medium of television, although I was barely of an age where the events made sense to me.

I remember the Apollo 13 mission, the re-broadcast on UK TV of the words of Walter Cronkite, Jim McDivett, and a host of other 'experts' all describing the almost insurmountable obstacles facing NASA.

Here in Lost Moon, we have an account written by a man who was the closest of all to the issue of Apollo 13's survival. Through countless system and procedural failures, Lovell, Swigert, Haise and a cast of hundreds at Houston win through against explosions, government procurement, poor design co-ordination and plain old bad luck.

Lost Moon tells the whole story of that week in April 1970, and leaves out little. Heroes normally unsung from the vast NASA space machine are lauded such as John Aaron, Symour Leibergot, Gene Krantz and the dauntless men of the Astronaut Corps to name but few.

Lost Moon provides a clear insight into Jim Lovell's career, his desires and ambitions, and in doing so, Lovell doesn't gloss over the bad times, but portrays them clearly in their context. His words regarding his friend Ed White are particularly moving; Lovell felt the loss of the Apollo 1 crew as keenly as anyone.

The book culminates in the triumphant return against all odds of the Odyssey, carried home by an oft forgotten LEM called Aquarius.

Lost Moon is a gripping sometimes bittersweet memory of a very trying time for men and machine. A surprisingly non-technical read enjoyable by all. I strongly recommend it.