Customer Reviews

Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth

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"Moondust" is an interesting book. Having some notable errors of fact, it nonetheless captures much that is important in the popular conception of the Moon landings. Part memoir, journalist Andrew Smith began his quest to understanding the meaning of Apollo in 1999 when he interviewed Charlie Duke, a member of the Apollo 16 crew, and was touched by his admission that "Now there's only nine of us," following the death of Pete Conrad in a motorcycle accident. Smith realized, as did Duke, that not too far in the future none of the moonwalkers would be alive. At that time Apollo would truly be an event in history known only from a distance.

This set Smith on a course to interview the remaining Apollo astronauts, seeking to learn how their lives had changed because of the experience. This book is a remarkable statement of the lives of this elite group of Americans. Some remain household names, such as Neil Armstrong, who has carried his celebrity experience with both dignity and honor. Many are unknown to all except the space community. Some are garrulous and easy to talk to, others are aloof and guarded. Smith found that all were fundamentally changed by the Apollo experience.

Smith's discussion of Buzz Aldrin was especially fascinating. He spent considerable time with Aldrin and talked with him about his life, work, and dreams. Since returning to Earth on Apollo 11 Aldrin struggled with alcoholism, a divorce, and an unending desire to open the space frontier. He has constantly sought to find ways to continue his status as a leader in the spaceflight world. At a fundamental level, we learn in "Moondust," Aldrin was like so many other true believers in space exploration. Apollo and its promise of humanity moving out into the solar system excited him. Aldrin was the epitome of Smith's quote from journalist Jim Oberg, "A lot of guys at NASA thought that the goal was space exploration and colonisation of the Universe, and they all had their hearts broken" (p. 296). Political leaders enthused spaceflight advocates with Apollo only to "pull the rug out from under them." Those who believe that humanity's future lies in space, such as Aldrin, have spent the last thirty years trying to deal with some believe was a betrayal.

Most interesting, Andrew Smith offers observations on the role of Apollo in the modern world. He wrote that "Apollo seems to me to be the most perfect imaginable expression, embodiment, symbol, of the twentieth century's central contradiction: namely, that the more we put our faith in reason and its declared representatives, that the more irrational our world became" (p. 295). As only one example among many, he noted that our science and technology has made our lives more abundant than ever but our dissatisfaction has never been greater. "It's a cautionary tale about that most fundamentally human of human tragedies," he writes, "wanting something so badly that you end up destroying it" (p. 295). For Smith, the success of Apollo "killed `manned' deep-space exploration, stone dead, for at least the next dour decades and probably many more" (p. 295).

Finally, Smith comments on the reason for undertaking Apollo. What was the United States trying to prove? Certainly it was a cold war initiative; a surrogate for war. But beyond that, he finds an answer in the motives of John Kennedy. "JFK wanted something to capture the global imagination, and to excite his own people, and he found it" (p. 297). Smith asserts that any discussion of the practical results of Apollo are irrelevant because it was never about practicality. Astronaut Joseph Allen said it best in a comment reported in "Moondust": "With all the arguments, pro and con, for going to the Moon, no one suggested that we should do it to look at the Earth. But that may in fact be the one important reason" (p. 297). As Smith concludes, "For all of Apollo's technological wonder, it was as primitive as song. It meant nothing. And everything....Was Apollo worth all the effort and expense? If it had been about the Moon, the answer would be no, but it wasn't, it was about the Earth. The answer is yes" (pp. 297-98).

There is much to ponder in this book. It may be read on several levels. There are interesting and entertaining stories from the astronauts and what they have been doing since the end of Apollo. There are observations on spaceflight-past, present, and future. But there are also efforts to situate the Apollo program into the larger rubric of modern society and to understand its relationship to humanity as it stands at the threshold of the twenty-first century. Some of what Smith writes is depressing, as in the case of the lost promise that was Apollo. Some of it is exhilarating because of what Apollo taught humanity about itself. All of it is worth considering.

Andrew Smith has pulled off a rare writing feat - he's got several books in one that combine into a unified whole. Firstly, this is a book about the nine still-living Apollo astronauts and what they are doing and thinking today. Viewed from thirty years away from their missions, these men's thoughts and ideas are enlightening, funny, weird, infuriating, and ultimately human. But this is also a book about what it was like to be a kid in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the moonshots were happening. Because Smith is a Brit who lived in the US at the time, we also end up with a partly international look at America's space odyssey. What became most interesting to me however, was Smith's search for "the truth" about Apollo. Alert readers with an open mind will follow Smith through a year of his life and countless meetings with astronauts and their family members, conspiracy theorists, and NASA types, all as he continually ponders aloud for us what he himself is thinking. I particularly liked how Smith used his fleeting encounters with first man Neil Armstrong as a metaphor for how his personal reflections about Apollo changed throughout his year on the road-what great writing.

Moondust is a remarkable book. I read at least a book a week (I'm also an author), and Moondust is probably the best book I've read in two years. Really!

However, if you are a techno weenie looking for minutia on Apollo, do yourself the favor and don't read this book. And if you are an Apollo technical buff and you do read it, please don't write a whiney review lamenting the technical details. This is not a technical book and it is not for you.

I originally picked this book up because like many people my age, I was transfixed by Apollo as a kid (I was nine years old when Apollo 11 went up). I also happen to share a name with Apollo 15 moonwalker David Scott which in elementary school was a weird sort of fame. (I remember watching with my classmates at an assembly when the helicopter was picking up Scott after splashdown and he was dunked in the water. The TV announcer said "it looks like David Scott got wet" which provided all sorts of hilarity for weeks among my peers.)

But like Smith, Apollo had kind of faded into memory as an almost surreal set of events for me. That he spent a year not only searching out what the moonmen themselves thought but also what HE thought, made Moondust remarkable for me. Thank you Andrew Smith for writing this.

Having been a impressionable young child when the moonlandings occured; I, like so many others, have read just about every available book on the Apollo program. But none like this. While so many of the books (biographies included) involve the technical aspects of Apollo; very few touch on the emotional chord it stuck with so many of us. This book did all that and more. Andrew Smith began a personal odessey to meet and talk to each of the surviving moonwalkers and in the process found out more about himself (and as I discovered I did as well).

One of the more open, refreshing, books I've read on Apollo to date. Thoroughly Enjoyable!

If you are a space enthusiast seeking to know the technical details, this isn't the book you want. This is the human interest, and the author can be forgiven if he doesn't get all the scientific information right. Space collectors will find it fun. For me the pleasure of it was reading about Buzz Aldrin's personable side, Bean's humility, Duke's gracious humor, and Mitchell's fearless curiosity. Treasure the time we have left with these brave explorers, fellow readers.

First of all, my criticisms to follow aside, "Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth" is a very good book. Author Andrew Smith's idea of personally contacting the nine still-living Apollo astronauts who landed on the moon (out of a total of 12--three have died), to learn how the experience affected them, is intriguing.

We follow Smith on a journey of discovery across America in search of the sometimes-elusive "moonwalkers." With persistence, dedication and luck, he eventually manages to interview Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Neil Armstrong (11), Alan Bean (12), Gene Cernan (17), Charlie Duke (16), Ed Mitchell (14), Jack Schmidt (17), Dave Scott (15) and John Young (16). What he found by talking with these men can't be summarized in a short review. It's the subject of the book itself, and an excellent reason to read it for anyone who's interested in something beyond the typical astronaut memoir.

The story of how the "moonwalkers" coped with their return to earth, and of the difficult psychological and emotional adjustments that they had to make when they realized that nothing they could possibly do in the future could ever top what they'd already done, is absolutely fascinating. For me, "Moondust" brought these larger-than-life explorers down to a level where I felt I could understand and relate to them as real people. As Smith correctly notes, when these nine men are gone, there will be NO ONE on earth who has ventured further from our fragile blue planet than a low-altitude orbit--a mere couple of hundred miles, as compared to the 240,000-mile lunar distance. There will be NO ONE on earth who has seen with his (or her) own eyes our home as a full sphere, glowing like a jewel against the blackness of infinity. An important part of the human race will die along with the last Apollo moonwalker.

So "Moondust" is well worth a read, and I heartily recommend it. It has a few technical errors, as do many other spaceflight books. The Apollo project is one of the best-documented events in human history, and yet many authors still get it wrong when they try to describe the technology that got us to the moon and back. While "Moondust" is not nearly as bad as "For All Mankind" or "Too Far From Home," it still has some errors. But I won't belabor the point, since the book is otherwise so excellent.

Several other reviews have highlighted technical inaccuracies in Andrew Smith's take on the Apollo Program, and I'd agree that there are numerous better texts for those who want to know the facts. However, that entirely misses the point of what Smith has tried to do here.

"Moondust" seems to have two missions: one is to capture the thoughts of the remaining moonwalkers, with several decades of perspective on the actual events (and perhaps some inaccurate memories?), before the last of them joins those who have already died. He rightly assesses that the tiny corps of men who walked on the moon--a group that averaged about 40 years of age at the time--are all now senior citizens who have outlived their individual "life expectancy at birth."

The other purpose relates to understanding the impact of the Space Program on those involved with it, and on the rest of us. As someone who turned 12 a month after the first moon landing, my disappointment that we abandoned this dream is as great as that of any 1960-70s radical who still can't believe the Revolution never came. Smith does a fine job of stirring up memories and trying to make sense of them.

If non-linear story-telling drives you nuts, avoid "Moondust." But if you want an interesting, quirky history of the space program from someone who, while hardly a space enthusiast, was nevertheless moved by the experience, then give this enjoyable book a try.

Andrew Smith was spurred into this project after meeting with moonwalker Charlie Duke in 1999. During that meeting Duke received news that Pete Conrad of Apollo 12 had died of injuries from a motorcycle accident. Of the twelve original lunar surface explorers, three were now dead. Smith set out to find each of the surviving nine and to query them about what they had done, what it had meant and what it still means.

Like Mickey Rooney doing those cheesy life insurance commercials, Smith found many Apollo astronauts hawking their signatures and capitalizing on their names, even as men in their seventies. Astronauts, even moonwalkers, were paid about the same as a school teacher. Marriages could not manage the strain of the training and the time away from family. When the Apollo program was cancelled these guys were out of work, and the subsequent years were often not rosy.

The cultural meaning of Apollo was more than the official line, by the end becoming far more artistic and spiritual than simply a technical and political space race. I was pleased to find Smith come to that realization.

I own a gazillion books about the space race, This one is different. It is to be read for the soul searching of both the author and the moonwalked subjects. I was expecting a "see how bad they have and how hard they fell" kind of commentary. Instead the author succeeded in connecting with the doubts and angst of the surviving moonwalkers. Nice.

Look elsewhere if you want a blow by blow recount of which switch was tripped and which one wasn't on the way to and from Luna. I suspect the author used Tom Hanks' series as primary background material for the technical stuff. Overlook this and you're left with a good take on what became of the only folks who stood on another world and looked at us.

Ignore the one stars, this is a wonderfully weird and rambling book, part history part personal memoir and travelogue; part social commentary and part political commentary. The portraits of the astronauts are amazingly well painted and Smith allows them speak and explain themselves without too much editorial interference. If you're looking for backroom tales, technical details and the history's behind the multitude of unsung figures who worked within the American space programme then you'll find them here, to quote Mr Smith 'in spades.' If you are from a generation that feels an aching sorrow of being born at the end of what was quite obviously a mini renascence but were too young to appreciate it, then you'll find some comforting words in here. As I've said before, ignore the one stars, this is a unique and wonderfully weird monster of a book.

This particular book does a great job of getting into the insights of the astronauts when they were front page news. Apollo was truly the pinnacle of NASA and Andrew Smith does a great job of creating the aura that still surrounds the 9 men still living, that walked on another world.

I could've done without some of his personal musings, as he paints a picture that you would rather he keep to himself. I have my own personal perspectives and if you didn't grow up in U.K. or CA, you'll probably agree that Andrew should've kept some of his memories out of the pages.

Even with the author's anecdotes, the book is 5 stars and worthy reading for any space history buff.