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 … 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.
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I am very late on this review but regardless, this was a fantastic book. For those who don’t know or don’t remember Apollo Seven never happened, what did happen was the tragic death of three men Grissom, White, and Chaffee. The spark that ignited the fire inside of the capsule was just something that could have been fixed as what took place many years later with the shuttle. Men become complacent, we all do it, especially when we do the same job every day and every day or each mission is a success.
The space program was something I followed as a kid, I had an uncle that worked on the rockets for the Gemini, then Apollo missions. The author goes through just who important the Apollo 8 mission was for the overall space program as a whole and that was something that I did not know at the time. He takes you through the lives of the astronauts what happens before and what happens after when they return. I do remember them having to be quarantine for so many days before they could see their family or others. This was a very good book and a real eye-opener for me as to what took place behind the scenes during that time. I always wanted to know more about Apollo 7 and I was given that information here in this book. A very good book if you like history or from that time. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at http://www.1rad-readerreviews.com
The author does a wonderful job of making this crucial step before the lunar landing understandable . . . without losing us in techno-talk. Fascinating to see all the aspects of teamwork with “Houston” on the ground as well as the families and personalities of the astronauts. And he did it without . . . all the Flag Waving stuff.
Gives you a great insight into the Apollo program and from a perspective you don’t usually come across. Very worthwhile.
A great read of a truly historical event that is not recognized as other space flights. It is exciting in many ways. Very well written.
Good account of a historic event.
Well done! Great read about NASA space program. Well worth the time to read
This was a very good read. Enjoyed it thoroughly
The space program was always interesting to me. Jeffrey Kluger has woven together just enough technical and space details with personal interest stories to make this a very enjoyable book.
If you are interested in the apace program at all, this is a must read! Give a great, in-depth look at the mission that sent men into lunar orbit.
Accurate Subtitle. Kluger does an excellent job with writing the narrative of this distinctively NON-fiction story with the skill of a solid thriller author. While Apollo 11 would eventually overpower 8, and one of 8’s crewmen would become far more famous for Apollo 13, neither of those missions happens without someone being the first to actually get to lunar orbit and make sure their spacecraft can survive the trip. And Kluger does an excellent job of revealing all of the people invovled and putting them in the proper context while showing both the very real perils and how the various people handled those perils. If you’re interested in man leaving the planet at all, this is a must read book.
I’m a complete space geek, so I bought this book for myself for Christmas. It was even better than anticipated. Kluger is gifted at writing non-fiction and it reads like a complete page-turner.
His research seems impeccable and his portrayal of the Apollo 8 mission (the first to orbit the moon) and its astronauts and players down at NASA command central is riveting.
I went through every emotion reading this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a bit of space history as well as be highly entertained.