Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
New York : Viking, 2009.
Description
Author Craig Nelson restores the mystery and majesty to an event that may have become too familiar for most people to realize what a stunning achievement it represented in planning, technology, and execution. Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Nelson creates a vivid and detailed account of the Apollo 11 mission. From the quotidian to the scientific to the magical, readers are taken right into the cockpit with Aldrin and Armstrong and behind the scenes at Mission Control.--From publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
Journalist account of Apollo 11 moon landing published in 2009 on the 40th anniversary. At least half the book is a history of NASA from WWII to 1969 and that was very interesting since it's mostly new to me. It needed more editorial and re-writes but was probably pushed through for the
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anniversary. Still I learned a lot and don't regret reading it, there is a lot condensed here. Show Less
LibraryThing member stevesmits
Straight forward history of the space program. Not too much on Mercury and Gemini. Covers the early years (post WWII) when the Von Braun and his Germans were getting things started. Most of the focus is on the Apollo program, started by President Kennedy as a political response to Soviet successes.
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The trip of Apollo 11 is described hour by hour. Show Less
LibraryThing member thoughtbox
I wanted badly to like this book. It's about the nerdiest of nerds, guys who literally wore pocket protectors and carried around slide rules, and yet managed to land a dozen human beings on a rock floating through space.
Never has the use of precisely controlled unfathomably large explosions to
But no. There's a common format for works about monumental events: You start right around the most exciting time, then leave the reader hanging on a pivotal moment as you circle back and start at the beginning. The thought, I suppose, is to hook the reader's interest so you can explain what led up to it (ignoring the fact that the personal already bought a multiple-hundred-page book about the topic). In this case, the author liked it so much he used it twice: We start a few months out and tiptoe right up to the Apollo 11 launch ... then we back up to the beginning of the Apollo 11 program, when it looks like it might not launch at all. Then, after we get about to where we started ... we back up to the entire history of rocketry and missiles.
If it sounds confusing and disjointed, that's because it is.
But it's not the only issue. From ninth-grade essays up to the latest historical monographs, the best writing tends to be done by those with a passionate interest in the topic. Which makes total sense! Frankly, if you're pounding out a couple hundred pages on a topic that bores you to death, it's unlikely anyone is going to derive any enjoyment from reading it (see: Every primary/secondary education textbook ever).
But there's a distinction you have to draw between interest and advocation when you're writing objectively: In the same way I don't 100 percent trust everything Fox News or the Huffington Post says without third-party verification, I'm also gonna need a little bit more background before I swallow the entirety of Winston Churchill's History of English-Speaking Peoples (spoiler alert: The British come off pretty good in it).
Rocket Men Author Craig Nelson is a homer of the highest order who, if he doesn't actuallly believe it himself, let the astronauts and people deeply involved with the space program inform too much of the narrative thrust of the book.
To be clear, I think the Apollo program (which is mostly what this book chronicles) was a masterful effort of technology, government, politics, engineering and human spirit. Landing on the moon is probably the most significant event for the human species to date. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we should be spending trillions of dollars to put a man on Mars, and I resent the implication that questioning that notion makes me unpatriotic or terminally short-sighted.
I really do think it's unfortunate. There are great stories, anecdotes and personalities on display throughout Rocket Men, and the author clearly did an enormous amount of research bringing it all together. I just wish he would have focused a little bit more effort on the writing part, too.
Never has the use of precisely controlled unfathomably large explosions to
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propel a massive vehicle into the heavens managed to seem so boring. I get that the vast majority of the guys you're talking to were the engineers whose professional lives definitely peaked when they launched dudes into space, but that's where you, as the writer, are supposed to work your magic. Even oral histories tend to use editing to make things seem connected, and make sense, and maybe even work out a logical structure, please?But no. There's a common format for works about monumental events: You start right around the most exciting time, then leave the reader hanging on a pivotal moment as you circle back and start at the beginning. The thought, I suppose, is to hook the reader's interest so you can explain what led up to it (ignoring the fact that the personal already bought a multiple-hundred-page book about the topic). In this case, the author liked it so much he used it twice: We start a few months out and tiptoe right up to the Apollo 11 launch ... then we back up to the beginning of the Apollo 11 program, when it looks like it might not launch at all. Then, after we get about to where we started ... we back up to the entire history of rocketry and missiles.
If it sounds confusing and disjointed, that's because it is.
But it's not the only issue. From ninth-grade essays up to the latest historical monographs, the best writing tends to be done by those with a passionate interest in the topic. Which makes total sense! Frankly, if you're pounding out a couple hundred pages on a topic that bores you to death, it's unlikely anyone is going to derive any enjoyment from reading it (see: Every primary/secondary education textbook ever).
But there's a distinction you have to draw between interest and advocation when you're writing objectively: In the same way I don't 100 percent trust everything Fox News or the Huffington Post says without third-party verification, I'm also gonna need a little bit more background before I swallow the entirety of Winston Churchill's History of English-Speaking Peoples (spoiler alert: The British come off pretty good in it).
Rocket Men Author Craig Nelson is a homer of the highest order who, if he doesn't actuallly believe it himself, let the astronauts and people deeply involved with the space program inform too much of the narrative thrust of the book.
To be clear, I think the Apollo program (which is mostly what this book chronicles) was a masterful effort of technology, government, politics, engineering and human spirit. Landing on the moon is probably the most significant event for the human species to date. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we should be spending trillions of dollars to put a man on Mars, and I resent the implication that questioning that notion makes me unpatriotic or terminally short-sighted.
I really do think it's unfortunate. There are great stories, anecdotes and personalities on display throughout Rocket Men, and the author clearly did an enormous amount of research bringing it all together. I just wish he would have focused a little bit more effort on the writing part, too.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ASBiskey
While I am sure the publication of this book near the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing was planned, my reading of it coincident with the anniversary was not. Reading about the history and development of the Apollo program leading up to July 20th, and reading about the actually landing
The Apollo program was discontinued before my memory. All my familiarity comes from the media. I found this book to be the best portrayal that I have come accross. It expresses the facts clearly while conveying the varying emotions of all involved well.
I think that this is an outstanding book about an outstanding event.
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within hours of the actual anniversary made this enjoyable, informative read even better. The Apollo program was discontinued before my memory. All my familiarity comes from the media. I found this book to be the best portrayal that I have come accross. It expresses the facts clearly while conveying the varying emotions of all involved well.
I think that this is an outstanding book about an outstanding event.
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LibraryThing member Paulslibrary
Great read on not just the 3 astronauts who made the first landing on the moon, but events that lead up to creation of the Apollo program and all the scientists, engineers, and contractors who developed one of the most complex machines ever built by man.
LibraryThing member knightlight777
Excellent read, makes one pine for the good ole days of rocket men and on the edge risk that really meant something.
LibraryThing member paulrach
An excellent behind the scenes look at the space race up to Apollo 11. The author details the determination of the scientists, engineers and astronauts who made this happen, telling their stories. Looking at the failures as well as successes, this book shows that it wasn't all glamour.
Well worth a
Well worth a
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read. I read this just after the closing of the Space Shuttle programme...I think the world needs more characters like these. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sandydog1
Wow! What a rousing, fun adventure! Tom Wolfe wrote a fantastic story of cowboy dare-devil test pilots. Nelson produces a great sequel about the brilliant Engineer test pilots of the Apollo 11 mission. A sweeping overview of the Space program, from WW II V2 production to the 1990s, with all the
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requisite homage to the astronauts and astronaut wives. The conclusion was just a bit "draggy" like our current Space Program. But otherwise I loved every minute of this glorious time. Show Less
LibraryThing member ktleyed
I hard a hard time at first with this on audio for it is VERY technical. Basically, it's the story of the space race and NASA leading up to Apollo 11, beginning at the end of WWII through the mission in 1969 and then about the lives of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins after the mission and what they
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did with their lives. The last hour of the book could have been pared down to 15 minutes easily. Show Less
LibraryThing member jfe16
Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Nelson offers a grippingly vivid and detailed account of the Apollo 11 mission. Beginning with the arduous training to the stress of media stardom, the author recounts the story of a
But, at its core, “Rocket Men” is a human story, a tale of heroic astronauts, tolerant wives, and often-preoccupied children. It is the story of ground crews and Mission Control and those who stood behind the men and the mission. Readers will find themselves cheering for their astounding accomplishments.
Highly recommended.
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twentieth-century pilgrimage, a voyage into the unknown motivated by politics, science, and wonder. A voyage that changed history.But, at its core, “Rocket Men” is a human story, a tale of heroic astronauts, tolerant wives, and often-preoccupied children. It is the story of ground crews and Mission Control and those who stood behind the men and the mission. Readers will find themselves cheering for their astounding accomplishments.
Highly recommended.
Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
xii, 404 p.; 25 cm
ISBN
0670021032 / 9780670021031
Other editions
Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson (Paper Book)