On May 20, 1969, the thirty-story-high Apollo 11-Saturn V spaceship was trundled from Cape Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building to Pad 39A for its final inspection and countdown. The nearly 1 million spectators who began gathering at Cape Kennedy for launch on July 16, 1969, were kept at least 3.5 miles away from the pad because, in an explosion, hundred-pound chunks of shrapnel would be hurled in a 3-mile radius. Finally, at 9:32 a.m., Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins lifted into the skies on the greatest ...
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On May 20, 1969, the thirty-story-high Apollo 11-Saturn V spaceship was trundled from Cape Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building to Pad 39A for its final inspection and countdown. The nearly 1 million spectators who began gathering at Cape Kennedy for launch on July 16, 1969, were kept at least 3.5 miles away from the pad because, in an explosion, hundred-pound chunks of shrapnel would be hurled in a 3-mile radius. Finally, at 9:32 a.m., Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins lifted into the skies on the greatest adventure in modern history: the first trip to the Moon. Restoring the drama, majesty, and sheer improbability of an American triumph that has now come to be taken for granted, Rocket Men is the complete, definitive, and thrilling account of that glorious achievement. Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Craig Nelson offers a grippingly vivid and detailed narrative of the Apollo 11 mission.
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Add this copy of Rocket Men: the Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon to cart. $29.95, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Books on Tape.
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Good. 14 AUDIO CDs withdrawn from the library collection. Some library marking. We will polish the Audio CDs for a reliable listening experience. You will receive a worthwhile set. Enjoy this AUDIO CD performance.
I've only read about 30 books on the Apollo era of space travel (by all the major space historians and astronauts), and this is by far the best one I've read. Not so much for the actual story of the missions themselves, although Nelson presents those details clearly and understandably. He offers many antecdotes that other books leave out. The extensive bibliography tells me that Nelson researched his subject down to the most minute detail and presented us with a work that is interesting and exciting to read. This book isn't just about Apollo though. Nelson has included great detail about the Soviets own attempt to land a Cosmonaut on the moon and explains how that kept the pressure on NASA to do the same.
What I like best about this book is some of his amazing insights such as his theory about how Eisenhower allowed the Soviets be first in space with the launch of Sputnik.
WayneB
Jul 8, 2010
Rocket Men
An incredible story about the training and mental endurance that took place for each astronaut that dared to fly in space. It must have been a profound experience doing what no man has ever done before. The anxiety I felt when they landed on the moon, as well as the docking on the way back was overwhelming! Couldn't put this one down. I highly recommend this to anyone who lived during this time, but relied on the news alone to be informed.....this goes way beyond, especially after they landed safely and then had to assume normal lives.
