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The untold story of the historic voyage to the moon that closed out one of our darkest years with a nearly unimaginable triumph
In August 1968, NASA made a bold decision: in just sixteen weeks, the United States would launch humankind’s first flight to the moon. Only the year before, three astronauts had burned to death in their spacecraft, and since then the Apollo program had suffered one setback after another. Meanwhile, the Russians were winning the space race, the Cold War was getting hotter by the month, and President Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade seemed sure to be broken. But when Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders were summoned to a secret meeting and told of the dangerous mission, they instantly signed on.
Written with all the color and verve of the best narrative non-fiction, Apollo 8 takes us from Mission Control to the astronaut’s homes, from the test labs to the launch pad. The race to prepare an untested rocket for an unprecedented journey paves the way for the hair-raising trip to the moon. Then, on Christmas Eve, a nation that has suffered a horrendous year of assassinations and war is heartened by an inspiring message from the trio of astronauts in lunar orbit. And when the mission is over—after the first view of the far side of the moon, the first earth-rise, and the first re-entry through the earth’s atmosphere following a flight to deep space—the impossible dream of walking on the moon suddenly seems within reach.
The full story of Apollo 8 has never been told, and only Jeffrey Kluger—Jim Lovell’s co-author on their bestselling book about Apollo 13—can do it justice. Here is the tale of a mission that was both a calculated risk and a wild crapshoot, a stirring account of how three American heroes forever changed our view of the home planet.
In August 1968, NASA made a bold decision: in just sixteen weeks, the United States would launch humankind’s first flight to the moon. Only the year before, three astronauts had burned to death in their spacecraft, and since then the Apollo program had suffered one setback after another. Meanwhile, the Russians were winning the space race, the Cold War was getting hotter by the month, and President Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade seemed sure to be broken. But when Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders were summoned to a secret meeting and told of the dangerous mission, they instantly signed on.
Written with all the color and verve of the best narrative non-fiction, Apollo 8 takes us from Mission Control to the astronaut’s homes, from the test labs to the launch pad. The race to prepare an untested rocket for an unprecedented journey paves the way for the hair-raising trip to the moon. Then, on Christmas Eve, a nation that has suffered a horrendous year of assassinations and war is heartened by an inspiring message from the trio of astronauts in lunar orbit. And when the mission is over—after the first view of the far side of the moon, the first earth-rise, and the first re-entry through the earth’s atmosphere following a flight to deep space—the impossible dream of walking on the moon suddenly seems within reach.
The full story of Apollo 8 has never been told, and only Jeffrey Kluger—Jim Lovell’s co-author on their bestselling book about Apollo 13—can do it justice. Here is the tale of a mission that was both a calculated risk and a wild crapshoot, a stirring account of how three American heroes forever changed our view of the home planet.
Genre: non-fiction
Publication date: May 2017
Mature content: no
Review: Being a fan of all things space-related, I've read quite a few books on the subject, and I have to say that Apollo 8 is one of the best. It's written in a very compelling way, putting you in the minds and the hearts of the men that made the first mission to the moon possible.
I've seen models of the Apollo and Gemini capsules in a museum and I wouldn't want to be locked inside one even on Earth, much less fly away into the unknown. It takes a special brand of courage to do so and Jeffrey Kluger manages to capture it perfectly throughout the book.
Kluger takes you from the early careers of the three men that were the first to see the far side of the moon until the present, and it's truly a wonderful journey.
This is a book totally worth reading for anyone who wants to have a glimpse of one of the greatest feats of the 20th century and is a wonderful tribune to the history of space exploration.
Happy readings,
I've seen models of the Apollo and Gemini capsules in a museum and I wouldn't want to be locked inside one even on Earth, much less fly away into the unknown. It takes a special brand of courage to do so and Jeffrey Kluger manages to capture it perfectly throughout the book.
Kluger takes you from the early careers of the three men that were the first to see the far side of the moon until the present, and it's truly a wonderful journey.
This is a book totally worth reading for anyone who wants to have a glimpse of one of the greatest feats of the 20th century and is a wonderful tribune to the history of space exploration.
Happy readings,
Apollo 8 sounds like a great book for techno freak about Nasa's moon discovery.
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