Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module [Hardcover]

Thomas J. Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2001

Chief engineer Thomas J. Kelly gives a firsthand account of designing, building, testing, and flying the Apollo lunar module. It was, he writes, “an aerospace engineer’s dream job of the century.” Kelly’s account begins with the imaginative process of sketching solutions to a host of technical challenges with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and maintainability. He catalogs numerous test failures, including propulsion-system leaks, ascent-engine instability, stress corrosion of the aluminum alloy parts, and battery problems, as well as their fixes under the ever-present constraints of budget and schedule. He also recaptures the exhilaration of hearing Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong report that “The Eagle has landed,” and the pride of having inadvertently provided a vital “lifeboat” for the crew of the disabled Apollo 13.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A highly personalized story . . . of the Apollo Lunar Module, built at Grumman by the author and his team.”—Choice

“It’s surprising that the man most responsible for the spindly Apollo lunar landers, Tom Kelly, hasn’t told his story years before. Lucid and engaging, he tells how his team at Grumman in Bethpage, Long Island, went from paper studies to delivering hardware that would help change history. Beyond historical interest, the book has lessons for anyone involved in a large project at the cutting edge of technology.”—IEEE Spectrum

 “. . . Written in an approachable style, and if you have even a passing interest in space exploration it will grip your interest. It constitutes an important primary source for the history of human exploration . . . This book is a flat-out good read.”—Meteoritics and Planetary Science

About the Author

The recipient of a Grumman Engineering Scholarship upon graduating from high school, Thomas J. Kelly worked for the company for more than forty years, retiring in 1992. Now an aerospace and computer consultant, he lives in Cutchogue, New York.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press (March 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156098998X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560989981
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,005,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Engineering and Project Management Behind the LM, April 25, 2001

By 

John R. Keller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module (Hardcover)

.... While there are a lot of engineering terms and technical descriptions of hardware, there are no engineering formulae. The author, Thomas J. Kelley, was the chief engineer of the Grumman-built Lunar Module (LM), during its design, development and testing phases and also for part of the early landings on the Moon. The author presents a new and untold story of the development of one the greatest marvels of modern engineering, the first vehicle designed solely for manned space exploration. That is, the human side of the development of this space vehicle.

The first few chapters of the book describe how Grumman developed the proposal that ultimately won the NASA contract to build the LM. The book then moves onto the development of conceptual ideas, the final design, the building, the testing and finally the flying of the LM to the lunar surface. The book concludes with a good summary of each Apollo mission, including the Apollo 13 mission, which used the LM as a lifeboat, and his thoughts about the Apollo program and the beginning of the Space Shuttle program.

I found the opening chapters of the book that were devoted to writing the winning NASA proposal and the subsequent contract negotiations and the development of the LM very interesting. This winning proposal was less than 100 pages!!!!!. Try that today. Through out these and other parts of the book, the author is not afraid to criticized his company, upper management and fellow co-workers and take the blame when he was wrong. While there are many technical details in each of these sections of the book, most of the chapters describe in great detail the project management of the LM.

For me, the most interesting part of this part was the human side of the development of the LM. He describes in detail how he and others felt about what they were doing, if they could really do it and the thrill of actually building the LM. For example, through out the first lunar landing, he always questioning himself, "Did we forget anything?" A feeling that I share ever time NASA launches a Shuttle.

When I finished this book, I had a great understanding of the human side of this massive engineering project, which was (or is) until now an untold story. This book clearly captures the excitement of everyone behind the scenes who worked on the Apollo project. If you have any interest in the space program, even today's projects, this book will give you understanding of those people who developed these wonderful machines.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, but pretty technical, April 21, 2001

By 

Nicholas Fry (Monrovia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module (Hardcover)

Tom Kelly's memoir of the development of the Apollo Lunar Module is a great book. I found it to be surprisingly forthright and honest about the accomplishments and mistakes that the Grumman team made during their first and only foray into manned spacecraft construction. Students of space history and engineers will probably get the most out of this book, which is loaded with technical detail. However, for those who read the book and come away somewhat bewildered from the acronyms and technical detail, Kelly does a very good job of conveying the excitement and enthusiasm for the challenge of landing a man on the moon that swept across America in the 1960's. Kelly also gives us a view of the major players in Apollo like Joe Shea, Chris Kraft, and the astronauts themselves, that is not really seen. Kelly gives us the perspective of an outsider, though an engineer, who meets these people for the first time and what it was like to work with them and what kind of an impression they left upon him.

Overall, if you're a space nut, this is a good book for you, if you're not, be prepared for lots of engineering talk. But don't let that scare you away, Moon Lander is full of goodies about Apollo for everyone.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Apollo Book, June 8, 2001

By 

Dr. Eric M. Jones (Wodonga, Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module (Hardcover)

This book is a must-read for any serious student of the Apollo program. Kelly presents an honest, readable account of the challenges and frustrations faced by Grumman engineers in designing, fabricating, testing, and flying the first lunar lander. As a manager, Kelly provides insights not only into the engineering problems of building the first flying machine of its kind, but also into the problems of getting the work organized and done.

And Kelly seasons it all with the excitement he felt being part of a great adventure.

This is the story behind one of the best episodes (Spider) of Tom Hanks' "From the Earth to the Moon" and I highly recommend it.