I grew up watching the Apollo program, and this book was a marvelous trip over some very familiar ground. I have read many other books on program, but this is still one of my favorites, and I am so glad to have found it again. I read it previously and enjoyed it, but foolishly lent my copy to someone.
=== The Good Stuff ===
* Murry and Cox wisely limit what they attempt to include in the book. The book is more of a series of vignettes than a comprehensive history of the program, but those vignettes are chosen well. We get to meet a sample of just about every level of NASA, including designers, flight controllers, back-room gurus, men running the facilities, and even the occasional clerical and junior staff.
* The authors do a marvelous job of capturing the tension, passion, technical expertise and even the humor that made the program work. I laughed out loud for a couple minutes upon reading the story of one famous prank done to a flight controller. It was only a simulation of a launch, but when the count showed T-0 and he pushed the simulated red button, one of his screens showed a (previously taped) view of a Mercury/Redstone rocket taking off. On a sad note, the tragedy of Apollo 1 and its affect on NASA and its people is well described.
* The book is not about the astronauts-and they are actually fairly minor characters. This work is about the thousands of people sitting behind the astronauts, and it tells their stories. There are quite a few details in the book, including technical explanations that are somewhat detailed, but still clear enough for anyone interested enough in space flight to comprehend. There is more technical information in this book than in the movie Apollo 13, and in the Earth to the Moon documentary series.
=== The Not-So-Good Stuff===
* The authors worked very hard to explain and detail the NASA management hierarchy. It is quite complex, and I must admit I still don't know the difference in the responsibilities between the Apollo Program Office, the Manned Space Flight Office and the various NASA centers, programs, groups and facilities. I think the distinctions between these teams are really only discernible to members of NASA who lived through it. For my two cents, the time and word count spent on this could have been better used with other information.
* Some of the characters are presented in a much more detailed and personable manner than others. As a reader, I feel like I almost know Gene Kranz and Sy Liebergot, but Werner von Braun is just sort of a German guy that built rocket engines in Alabama.
=== Summary ===
I loved the book, and found it a great look at parts of the Apollo programs. It was not a complete history by any means, but rather a series of more intimate looks at different pieces of the programs. It covered most of the main events, and touched on the roles of just about every group in NASA. The book stands alone, and is a great read for either new Apollo fans, or for space junkies who have read quite a bit of material previously.
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- joycean buffReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2024
A classic of the Apollo programme
