Tracking Apollo to the Moon [Hardcover]

Hamish Lindsay (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1852332123 | ISBN-13: 978-1852332129 | Publication Date: May 18, 2001 | Edition: 1

This is perhaps the most complete, detailed and readable story of manned space-flight ever published. Beginning with the historical origins of the dream of walking on the Moon, Tracking Apollo to the Moon is the complete story of manned spaceflight, from the earliest Mercury and Gemini flights through to the end of the Apollo era.
In readable, fascinating detail, Hamish Lindsay - who was directly involved in all three programs - chronicles mankind's greatest adventure with a great narrative, interviews, quotes and masses of photographs, including some previously unpublished.
As well as bringing the history of these missions to life Tracking Apollo to the Moon serves as a detailed reference for space enthusiasts and students. Having seen the manuscript, the Smithsonian requested two copies of the finished book, and Buzz Aldrin asked for five!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hamish Lindsay has done a marvellous job of telling the story of manned space flight   He has given his readers a sort of encyclopedia of the beginning of man's quest for flight into space. This is followed with a splendid description of the real time operations of all of the major missions. As one who lived through the Camelot period of space in the 60s and knows the trauma we all endured, I am greatly impressed with the detail and authenticity of the stories that Hamish so vividly tells. For example, as I read Hamish's account of the Apollo 11 and 13 missions, I could again imagine myself back in mission control reliving some of the finest moments of my life...Those of you who are fortunate to read Hamish Lindsay's account will be much richer for it."
- FROM THE FOREWORD BY CHRISTOPHER C. KRAFT, JR.,
NASA's First Flight Director and Retired Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center

Product Details

• Hardcover: 426 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (May 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852332123
• ISBN-13: 978-1852332129
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,940,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary narrative, June 17, 2001

By 

Colin Burgess (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tracking Apollo to the Moon (Hardcover)

I've been researching and writing about spaceflight history since the early 1960's and have amassed a library on the subject of several hundred books. I do not know Hamish Lindsay personally, so I can be objective in my review, but when I was told about a book he'd written as someone involved in tracking the Apollo flights from Australia I thought it might have been interesting but probably overly technical. The reality is that this is a brilliant book, and both the author and publishers have combined to bring us one of the best and most vividly illustrated stories ever of the space era I grew up in. The text is divided into engrossing vignettes detailing all of the manned spaceflights as well as many of the more spectacular robotic missions, and Hamish is an extraordinarily good story-teller. The fact that it is told from an Australian viewpoint is refreshingly novel, but this should not deter overseas readers - rather, it will intrigue them. I found many excellent stories and quotes new to me in the text, and it is certainly an exciting new reference book that I will refer to often. Many Apollo-era astronauts have contributed their memories to the book, and the glowing introduction by Chris Kraft is essential reading before embarking on the text. It is obvious that Hamish sought to use many photos never seen before in his book (quite a number in brilliant colour), and these are used to wonderful effect. On first reading I could only find three very minor errors, and one of these is a typo, so there has certainly been some meticulous research,writing, and editorial work done before publication. In essence, I am truly overwhelmed by the work and love that has gone into this book, and both the author and publishers deserve credit for a truly magnificent job. It will become a classic among space books.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best yet!, June 5, 2001

By 

J. Bostick "jerkieb" (Marble Falls, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tracking Apollo to the Moon (Hardcover)

Hamish Lindsay has accomplished what few other manned space program writers have; he has captured the excitement of the Apollo Program from the viewpoint of a participant, has led into it with an historical perspective of man's quest for the stars, and has sprinkled it with historical data, photographs and cartoons which results in an outstanding record of not only what happened during Apollo, but why.

I believe this book will be for future generations THE authorative record of one of mankind's greatest achievements.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Floating in a Black Infinity, June 14, 2001

By 

Peter Mackay "surgeonsmate" (Campbell, ACT Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tracking Apollo to the Moon (Hardcover)

I had the privilege of meeting Hamish today at a book signing, and though I know a fair bit about space exploration, and I've read just about every book on the US and Soviet space projects, today I felt closer than ever before to the men who made this great adventure possible. Hamish, in a few words, made clear to me the incredible difficulties of controlling spacecraft and retrieving information from a vast distance. The environment is absolutely unforgiving and there are no second chances. The planning and the execution have to be perfect.

The book itself is astounding. It is far more image-rich than any of the recent memoirs and histories, with photographs, maps, diagrams, cartoons, paintings on every page, rather than a few black and white shots grouped in the middle. The images themselves are chosen with care and matched to the text - I was impressed with two of the earliest photographs of the Lunar Module, almost lost against the immensity of the lunar landscape, a reminder of just how fragile and precious was this little bubble of Earth.

Sometimes it seems as if I've read the same story of Apollo many times over from slightly different viewpoints, with just a few little nuggets of "newness" to savour. With this book, Hamish has given us a whole new perspective on the adventure, and I've got to say that he has also given this reader a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm that is hard to gain from the more buttoned-down writings of the US astronauts, flight controllers and engineers.

It might be a cliche, but this book puts you there. You are with the astronauts as they gaze up at that black sky stretching on forever, floating in space between Earth and Moon on a spacewalk, with the controllers at moments of extreme tension, and sitting beside the communications specialists as they juggle radio frequencies to retrieve faint radio signals from unimaginable distances.

Forget science fiction, forget Apollo 13, forget The Dish. This is the real thing, told with a real sense of wonder by someone who knows his stuff and wants to share his feelings, his knowledge with you. If you care about space travel, about the greatest adventure of all time, this book belongs on your bookshelf, on your bedside table, in your hands. It's a thriller.