The first moon landing in July 1969 captured the imagination of the world as no subsequent “space spectacular” has. Forty years later, space historian Piers Bizony has produced a stunning visual record of this unparalleled mission. Drawing on high-resolution images from the entire suite of Apollo 11’s on-board film magazines, the book presents a complete picture of the mission: the launch, the astronauts’ lives inside the spacecraft, the landing and moon walk, and finally the return to earth to worldwide acclaim. Accompanying these remarkable images, many published here for the first time, is Bizony’s fascinating essay on the lasting cultural and emotional impact of the mission. Quotes from astronauts, scientists, and literary commentators add an extra dimension to Bizony’s account.
Apollo 11 may have happened a long time ago, Bizony remarks, but it casts an important shadow over today’s generation. Can we live up to it and learn from it--or even repeat its achievements with new spacecraft? However tempting it might be to assume that our advanced modern society could go back to the moon, it is an unavoidable fact, as this book makes clear, that Apollo 11 was an event that may never be replayed. One Giant Leap gives modern readers the information and perspective for thinking about Apollo 11 and space exploration in general in an entirely new way.
