Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume 3 (Apogee Books Space Series) (Paperback)

by Robert Godwin (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After the triumphant Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA issued a complete post-flight mission report that included the observations of the crew and technical details of the flight. This report is now being published as a series for the general public, and the latest entry is Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume Three. Edited by Robert Goodwin (who is compiling all the mission reports from Apollos 8 through 17), the book contains diagrams showing the descent of the lunar module, photos of the lunar surface, medical observations about the human body on the moon and much more. It also comes with a DVD of lunar footage. Though it may be hard for those without an engineering or physics background to parse much of the text, astronomy enthusiasts will enjoy having this historical record nonetheless.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"One of an excellent series, it is something most people interested in space will want on their bookshelf... Warmly recommended..." -- Spaceflight, December 2002. Reviewed in Telescopium -- Journal of the Swedish Astronomical Society, Spring 2003.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc; Pap/DVD edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896522858
• ISBN-13: 978-1896522852
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #912,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 22 in The Apogee Books Space Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Lunar Handbook, June 14, 2002

By	James Busby (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Robert Godwin has given the armchair space historian the best report ever to understand the first lunar landing.

Apogee Books newest entry into their NASA mission reports series, Apollo 11-Vol.3, has more information, and allows everyone to understand the complexities that led to the accomplishment of the lunar landing.
For the first time we can read and see thru NASA illistrations and drawings not only what worked, but what did not. You can finally understand, why the "Eagle" landed farther down range than they estimated before launch- and how Houston HAD to know where Armstrong and Aldrin were so they would meet with Collins in the command ship! Did you know that they almost had to abort the landing because they steerable antenna was mis-aligned? or why the voices echoed coming from the Moon? You will find out here, my friend!
Mr. Godwin has also put in their first DVD, an incredable look thru all the cameras available at Mankinds first lunar stroll.
This is the document we wish we had when we put together the scripts for our Miniseries!

James M. Busby
Technical Advisor
HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon"

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Check out the awesome DVD, May 15, 2002

By	G. R. S. Godwin "GRSGodwin" (Naperville, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I know I'm the editors brother, but I'd like to emphasize the amazing never seen before DVD movies that come with this book.
Everyone has seen the 16mm movies footage of the landing on the moon taken from the LM window. The problem has been that the camera ran at varying frame rates, 1ps 6ps and 12ps. This made it almost impossible to sync up the audio with the pictures, until new technology came along. Now Rob has not only put the audio over the video precisely, but has also cleaned up and filtered the never heard before onboard voice recorder. Never heard before because it was lousy quality. Enter the new technology again and he has been able to clean it up and present an audible version. So now whilst watching the video of the landing, you can hear Neil in left channel, PAO/Houston in right channel and Buzz in the middle. Also complete with subtitles so you can actually read what they said, and finally a small animation of the LM picture in frame to see the attitude of the LM at any particular moment. It is Truly amazing!
On the EVA, there is the whole 90 plus minutes of the 16mm again synced up with the audio...no mean feat! The timeline includes the NTSC picture in frame as well as High res photo pop ups that appear at the moment they were actually taken.
This is the best rendition of the Apollo 11 mission I have ever seen on film. I might be biased but I think Rob has raised the bar once again for us Space aficionados.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An astounding achievement for both Godwin and Apollo!!, June 5, 2002

By	"donfm" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

It is meant as no disservice to say that the accompanying DVD will be the reason for many buying this book. I would rate this book and DVD much higher if I could: for Godwin's dedication to the entire series, for the the book itself and for a unique and amazing DVD.

The book is what we've grown to expect from Godwin: in this case a thorough treatise centred on the Apollo 11 post-flight mission report. In it you'll find details of mission anomalies: the Program Alarms that threatened the landing are covered in definitive detail and interestingly an anomaly with an oxygen tank in the Service Module that sounds awfully like Apollo 13...

But it is the DVD that truly excels. And what a package this is! After 30-odd years you can now appreciate seeing the moon walk nearly perfectly synchronised from the LEM window on colour film and from the monochrome TV camera. In addition the panoramae and stills pop-up at the time they were taken. An unbelievable achievement for Godwin for which I suggest he receives a NASA award (if such exist for maximum dedication). I hope that I am not considered too churlish in saying that the monochrome surface video isn't the best quality version I've seen, but please note, that is a minor comment.

The pleasant surprise is that the DVD is double-sided... And on the flipside you'll be treated (amongst a wealth of 16mm silent footage) to the onboard tape recorder and Earth-Moon comms spread across the stereo soundstage, synchronised with the entire powered descent from around 50000ft. This shows to me - a true space devotee since the early 1960s - for the first time a major appreciation of what the landing was like. Now you can see what the crew saw as they landed within 20 seconds of an abort. It would be nitpicking to say I would have liked the audio from the flight-director's loop in the back channel of Dolby 5.1.

In summary, if you have a DVD player and you have an interest in Apollo, I cannot recommend strongly enough - BUY THIS BOOK. You won't regret it!