I’ve long been fascinated with space. I’ve admired our accomplishments from humble beginnings in the 50’s to the pinnacle of human achievement in 1969, and all the way through the shuttle program today. I stand in awe every time I watch footage of a rocket launch. It’s hard to wrap your mind around the magnitude of what we accomplished 50 years ago.
I’ve seen great documentary and highlight reels of space exploration but hadn’t read any detail to get more behind the curtain. So I set out go find a truly engrossing book that chronicled this impressive journey. “A Man on the Moon” delivered in every detail.
This book follows closely the astronauts of each mission. They are the key theme. The book provides key details into the their character, because the fortitude of what it took to be an astronaut was founded on something truly special. It was different for all of them, but they all shared an unyielding conviction. Their conviction drove them to do great things, brought out the best in each other. My ego always told me I could have been an astronaut and I was jealous of them especially in the early NASA days, but after reading this book I’m not sure I had the “right stuff”
There are “sciency” parts of the book but Chaikin does a great job simplifying technical topics. Like summarizing orbital dynamics and rendezvous.
The book also goes beyond man and machine, and dives into the culture at the time. The challenges faced changing public and political opinion. They had carts blanche for a while, but then what?
My admiration and wonder were amplified by this book. It’s hard not to respect all the missions. Sure we think of Apollo 11 landing on the moon and Apollo 13 with the tremendous story on “how do you get home”, but this books rings out the significance of each mission. Apollo 8 was a very daring mission; first men around the moon. Come to find out the Apollo 9 crew passed on it? How could anyone do that? These men were at their core pilots as well. Those fascinating details are what bolstered respect.
The saddest part was finishing it. It’s sad because we know now after 50 years we haven’t returned, and when you read this it’s heartbreaking to see how they thought their journey was just the beginning. The book did such a good job of engrossing me in that world, it saddened me to come back to reality and recognize the little progress we’ve made. There has been some no doubt. But compared to what was accomplished in a matter of 10 years and on primitive technology by today’s standards, makes the early years of NASA further impressive. I might even be a little jealous.
I absolutely recommend this book, from the fleeting interested person to the most intense space junky out there. It chronicles one greatest chapters in our history and will leave you with a new found respect.
I recommend reading this book and “Failure is Not an Option” because it took way more than astronauts to get to the moon. It’ll help you recognize the human power and unsung heroes pivotal to conquering space.
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