Author Topic: Project Apollo book (Read 1330 times)

DaveJ576 · « **on:** 10/18/2019 01:05 pm »

Can anyone suggest what is the definitive all-encompassing book on Project Apollo? I have the 3-volume copy of Dennis Jenkins' superlative space shuttle history and I would like to know if there is an equivalent out there for Apollo. I hold Jenkins' magnum opus in awe and perhaps it has spoiled me on books for the space program.

Thank you for your help.

MATTBLAK · « **Reply #1 on:** 10/18/2019 01:36 pm »

Difficult to answer. I could suggest at least 10 books - some dealing firstly with personal Astronaut recollections:

A Man On The Moon by Andrew Chaikin.
Footprints in The Dust by Colin Burgess.

Technical concerns - How Apollo Flew To The Moon by W David Woods.
Apollo The Race To The Moon - Charles Murray & Catherine Bly Cox (rare book now).
Chariots For Apollo - Charles Pelligrino & Joshua Stoff.
The Voyages Of Apollo - Richard S Lewis (rare, talks about the EVAs and their geology emphasis).
To A Rocky Moon - A Geologists History of Lunar Exploration by Don E. Wilhelms.
**Plus The various recent Haynes books about Apollo.

Pretty Pictures - Full Moon by Michael Light.
Moonshots and Snapshots of Project Apollo: A Rare Photographic History
by John Bisney and J. L. Pickering.

There are of course quite a few others, but I'll leave it at that for now.
**EDIT: If you get Astronaut biography's - Michael Collin's Carrying The Fire, Gene Cernan's The Last Man on The Moon and Moonwalker by Charles Duke.

rocketguy101 · « **Reply #2 on:** 10/18/2019 03:54 pm »

Murray & Cox is available as a Kindle read on Amazon (at least in USA)

gladiator1332 · « **Reply #3 on:** 10/19/2019 02:28 pm »

Will second "A Man on the Moon" by Andy Chaikin - source material for HBOs "From the Earth to the Moon" and is a VERY quick read, despite being a comprehensive look at the lead-up to Apollo and each Apollo mission.

One of those books I revisit and have re-read at least 5-6 times over the last 10 years.

Thorny · « **Reply #4 on:** 10/19/2019 02:54 pm »

Quote from: DaveJ576 on 10/18/2019 01:05 pm

Can anyone suggest what is the definitive all-encompassing book on Project Apollo?

I don't think there is any one book along the lines of the Jenkins' Space Shuttle. If I had to pick just one, I'd go with Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon". There is also an expensive, three-volume fully illustrated edition.

The official NASA History series are free online.

"Stages to Saturn" covers Saturn launch vehicle development.
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm

"Chariots for Apollo" covers Apollo spacecraft development.
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/cover.html

"Moonport" covers the creation of Kennedy Space Center.
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" covers lunar exploration.
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4214/cover.html

Several of these books have been reprinted by University Press of Florida or the like under slightly different titles.

eric z · « **Reply #5 on:** 10/19/2019 02:55 pm »

Try "The History of Manned Spaceflight" by David Baker - awesome!

HDTVGuy · « **Reply #6 on:** 10/19/2019 11:57 pm »

While they cover a small fragment of the actual journey "Countdown to a Moon Launch: and "Rocket Ranch" are good books. Both are by Jonathan Ward.

"Countdown" gave me a lot better understanding of what occurs during the processing flow.