On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. One month later, President John F. Kennedy challenged the American nation to land a man on the Moon before the decade was out.
On 16 July 1969, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin set off in Apollo 11 to attempt this audacious mission, and succeeded magnificently. This book tells the story of Apollo 11, starting with crew selection and training, the choice of the landing site, and the assembly of the space vehicle, then a detailed account of the mission, featuring the lunar landing and moonwalk, and a review of how our knowledge of the Moon's history was revolutionised as a result. The story is enlivened by dialogue between the astronauts in space and the flight controllers in Mission Control.
Table of Contents:
Part I. The decision to go the Moon.- The Apollo spacecraft.- CSM.- LM.- The Saturn V launch vehicle.- Ground support.- Mission Control.- MSFN.- Precursor missions.- Gemini.- Apollo 8.- Apollo 9.- Apollo 10.- Selecting a landing site.- Apollo operational constraints.- Lunar Orbiter reconnaissance.- Surveyor surface investigation.- The mascon issue.- Site shortlist.- Part II. The men of Apollo 11.- The crew rotation system.- Neil Armstrong.- Buzz Aldrin.- Michael Collins.- Training.- Simulators.- Geology training.- Surface experiments.- Preparations.- Stacking.- The crawler.- Suiting up.- Witnesses.- The ticking clock.- Setting off.- Ascent.- Activities in parking orbit.- Translunar injection.- Through the radiation belts.- Coasting.- TD and E.- Coasting in passive thermal roll.- Navigational checks.- Crossing the neutral point.- Arrival.- Behind the Moon.- Lunar orbit insertion.- Circularisation.- Viewing the landing site.- Preparations.- Separation.- Descent.- Descent orbit insertion.- Initiation of powered descent.- Touchdown.- Tranquillity Base.- Post-landing activities.- EVA preparations.- On the ladder.- ‘One small step’.- The flag ceremony.- Collecting rocks.- Ingress, sleep and preparations to leave.- Coming home.- Liftoff and rendezvous.- TEI.- In-flight press conference.- Entry, splashdown, recovery, BIG suits and quarantine trailer.- Home.- Part III. The lunar samples.- Follow-on missions.- The next two.- The lunar field geologists.- Budget cuts and lost opportunities.- Life after Apollo 11.- Reflections.
Review :
From the reviews:
"Space historian Hartland begins with background about the astronauts and the mission, but mostly focuses on the actual time line and events of Apollo II. … The book includes an excellent selection of full-page black-and-white photographs, a section of color images, and several interesting table about the mission. The conclusion mentions the world tour taken by the Apollo II crew and some of the geological results obtained from the lunar samples. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers." (J. Z. Kiss, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (9), May, 2007)
"The First Men on the Moon is a timely clarion call to turn our eyes again to the stars (or at least the Moon and Mars). … This will be a ‘must’ for serious space buffs who want to have an archive of all the facts and figures of a pioneering mission and a nostalgic read for older buffers who fondly remember those heady days. At under £20 it is good value, well produced … ." (David Stickland, The Observatory, Vol. 127 (1200), October, 2007)
"The prolific Mr Harland is back again with this detailed account of the flight of Apollo 11. … The book is well illustrated throughout, and there’s even a nice selection of colour plates … . This is the first in series of books by Harland on each Apollo mission that will be published by Springer-Praxis in the coming years. If they are all as good as this one, then they will be welcome additions to any Apollo fan’s library." (Liftoff, Issue 238, March-April, 2007)
"I have read many books on the Apollo program … ‘The First Men on the Moon’ by David Harland is definitely on the top rung. … suitable for anyone, from a senior aerospace engineer to someone totally new to reading about space exploration, and therein resides the genius of this book: the newcomers have things methodically explained in a logical manner allowing them to understand the intricacies of the mission … . it is a very high quality product withexcellent illustrations … ." (Robert I. Hedges, Customer Reviews, September, 2009)
“This book is a must for both hard core and causal readers of the subject. The casual reader will develop a greater understanding of linear events while the hard core Apollo enthusiast will enjoy the nuts and bolts of the procedures involved in the mission. In the end this is a must have for anyone’s Apollo library.” (B. Morris, Amazon, November, 2010)
