On this page: Apollo 13: Lost Moon Leap of Faith Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports: Vol 1 (NASA Mission Reports) Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports: Vol 2 (NASA Mission Reports) Project Orion: The Atomic Spaceship 1957-1965 (Penguin Press Science) How to Build Sci-Fi Model Spacecraft Kennedy Space Center: Gateway to Space Gateway to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex On to Mars: Exploring and Settling a New World No. 2 (Apogee Books Space) The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must Apollo 13: Lost Moon Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger Mass Market Paperback Pocket Books 01 July, 1995 Used price*: £0.01 More Info & Buy Online Review: All She Ever Wanted (3/5) very readable Review: Great!!! (5/5) An outstanding account of the events of that week in April 1970. If you enjoyed the film, you'll love this book! Review: Triumphant teamwork (5/5) I was too small to remember much of the feelings around the world when the news broke that Apollo 13 had had an explosion onboard, and the crew's safety was in doubt. By all accounts the whole world seemed to hold its collective breath until the command module splashed down. In this book the inside anxiety of the crew, as well as all at mission control and their contractors is conveyed. It is really a story of how everyone---hundreds, if not thousands of people---pulled together to save the lives of three men, left drifting in space with dangerously low resources. The inventiveness of solving each problem is amazing; and the problems kept mounting. Carbondioxide poisoning, skewed trajectories, no navigation computers, potentially damaged rockets, doubtful heatshield. At each stage the team worked the problem as best they could with inventiveness and true grit; never giving up. The explanation of the accident's cause is as intriguing as the tale itself (glossed over in the film), and serves as warning to all who work on safety critical system. It is a true American tale---a success in failure, as it showed how America could "organize and measure the best of [thier] energies and skills" as Kennedy said at Rice University. This collaborative effort between the commander of Apollo 13, Jim Lovell, and Jeff Kluger makes for a terrific read and captures the feeling of the times wonderfully. A tale which is now part of American history. Leap of Faith Gordon Cooper, Bruce Henderson Hardcover HarperCollins 19 December, 2000 Used price*: £9.17 More Info & Buy Online Review: Go Gordo! (5/5) An interesting read. The late great Gordo Cooper was the last American to orbit the earth solo on board his Mercury capsule Faith 7. And commander of the "Eight days in a garbage can" Gemini 5 mission alongside Pete Conrad. He later served as back up for some of the Apollo missions and should have been the Commander of Apollo 13 had NASA politics not got in the way. As well as an account of his time with NASA Gordo also gives an account of what he did after resigning and gives some insight into his belief of UFOs A great account of one the greatest pilots anyone ever saw. Review: Gordo`s retrospective on a colourful carrer! (4/5) Always one of the wild cards of the early years of the US`s space effort, Gordon Cooper gives us views on his career as an astronaut, and beyond. The book insn`t just a fairly potted bioraphy, but it also goes to some length to set out his evidently wide experiences (personal and reported)of UFO`s and ET contact and technologies. His comments on alternative technologies and propulsion systems are very thought provoking and somewhat x-filesque. Unlike some other astro biog`s, he doesn`t take us through the minutaie of his upbringing, although the early influences of his parents and their colourful and famous aviator friends is acknowledged. He certainly pulls no punches as to why he left NASA after failing to get a prime crew slot on Apollo 13, having been backup to both Gemini and Apollo missions. He plainly lays blame at the doors of two astro luminaries (Shepard and Slayton) as using their power in selection for their own good, describing their slots in charge of assignments as "like placing a couple of hungry tomcats in charge of the aviary". Neither are, of course,here to answer! As much as I enjoyed the book, I do believe it has some rather dubious passages. In closing and musing on the waste of technology and resources by using a redudant Saturn V as a museum exhibit at the Johnson Space Centre he say "I believe it`s the only Saturn V still around" - obviously, he hasn`t been to KSC lately! Also, he describes Gene Krantz as having considered the possibility of being in the equipment bay of the capsule of Apollo 1 on the day of the fateful fire. Krantz (I believe) makes no mention of this in "Failure Is Not An Option". Chaikin in his authoratative "A Man On The Moon" says this was Deke Slayton`s regret (page 195). Perhaps this is co-author Henderson`s input? Nit-picking aside, I liked it a lot. Another very worthwhile and first-hand commentary on such heady stuff for "thirtysomethings" like me! Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports: Vol 1 (NASA Mission Reports) Buzz Aldrin, Robert Godwin Paperback Apogee Books 15 June, 1999 Amazon price*: £10.46 (list price £13.95) Used price*: £5.98 More Info & Buy Online Review: Not just for anoraks!!!! Contemp space history at it`s best (4/5) If you grew up in the 60`s there would have been many things that you wanted to know , but easy info was just not accessible . Apollo is "cool" again + even kids seem to be inquisitive about Armstrong`s "one small step". Here it all is , but now also with a fascinating CD (which all the companion books do too). Although the book is basically a reprint of contemporary NASA papers it is , nonetheless , a mine of info . Good cut-aways + diagrams are given throughout . Everyone will find some "I didn`t know that!" facts + the whole book goes to underline the sheer complexity , size + daring of this the publically perceived (if not scientific or technical) zenith of Project Apollo. If you buy this one , you`ll want the others too ! Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports: Vol 2 (NASA Mission Reports) Robert Godwin Paperback Apogee Books 15 June, 1999 Used price*: £4.87 More Info & Buy Online Review: The Apollo 11 Mission Reports VOL2 (3/5) I found this book very interesting but also very technical. Its a book aimed at the enthusiast rather than the recreational reader. Thats not to say its a bad book, its a great read, just take a few minutes to take a look at the abbreviaions at the back of the book. Its not a story book, rather a de-breifing of key points during the flight. The CD-ROM included is a brilliant accompiment to the book and contains some great footage of moon walks and experiments done on the surface. It also includes an interview with Buzz Aldrin which is also good. Overall I found this book good but technical (but im stupid!) If you want a technical insight into the flight of Apollo 11 then youll love it. If you want a story about the flight and landing youll probably hate it! Review: Excellent Book if you are interested in space flight (5/5) This book is a very high quality publication and is easy for the non techie to understand as the jargon is all explained. The CD-ROM which comes with it has some original footage which makes the purchase of the book worthwhile in itself. Strongly recommended Review: Addictive reading (4/5) I was a bit reluctant to buy this book, but now I'm glad I did. Being only eight when the first moon landing took place, my memories are somewhat jaded, but this book puts everything into place. It also very interesting to read Neil Armstrongs comments about the mission, especially in view of his 'reluctance' to talk about it now. Well done Robert Godwin, I am now about to order the Apollo 12 mission reports. Project Orion: The Atomic Spaceship 1957-1965 (Penguin Press Science) George Dyson Paperback Penguin Books Ltd 28 October, 2004 Used price*: £5.00 More Info & Buy Online Review: Project Orion (4/5) The life of this US military research program on nuclear propulsion rockets is well documented in this book. The author is the son of the physicist Freeman Dyson, one of the main guys involed in the project. The book has clearly been a labour of love for the author, containing many interviews with his father's former colleagues and carefully referencing many of the their research papers. My criticism of the book lies with the editing. The structure of the book is not very logical for the reader. As a historical account, it is certainly not chronological. It jumps around, following the topics as brought up by the interviewed scientists. So there's a lot of repitition of the core material and the book could have been shorter. Also, the 'techie' language remains in the book in all its glory. Some of it is eloquent, some quite crude. But I forgive the book for all this. It's not a text book on the subject, nor yet another diluted popular science book. Instead it's scientists reminiscing about their lost work on an ambitious space exploration project which was terminated before its dreams could be realised. How to Build Sci-Fi Model Spacecraft Richard Marmo Paperback Specialty Press 14 July, 2004 Used price*: £7.88 More Info & Buy Online Kennedy Space Center: Gateway to Space David West-Reynolds Hardcover Firefly Books Ltd 09 November, 2006 Amazon price*: £16.50 (list price £25.00) Used price*: £5.78 More Info & Buy Online Gateway to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex Charles D. Benson, William B. Faherty Paperback University Press of Florida 28 February, 2001 Amazon price*: £12.62 (list price £12.62) Used price*: £7.76 More Info & Buy Online On to Mars: Exploring and Settling a New World No. 2 (Apogee Books Space) Frank Crossman, Robert Zubrin Paperback Apogee Books 01 October, 2005 Amazon price*: £10.47 (list price £14.95) Used price*: £7.14 More Info & Buy Online Review: Great 2nd Volume of On To Mars series (5/5) This is the second "On to Mars" book by Dr Robert Zubrin. Zubrin, a former staff engineer of Martin Marietta, nowadays Lockheed Martin, is the founder of the Mars Society and has his own firm named Pioneer Astronautics. Dr Zubrin has a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. Basically, the book consists of 120 papers and essays on the exploration and colonisation of Mars, as discussed during the Mars Society's international annual conferences. Subject covered include: Plans and overviews of proposed Mars missions, Research and education pertaining to Mars missions, Mars Desert Station crew reports, Tools and equipment ( Information systems ), public outreach and reasons to explore the red planet. The book is great but the added CD-ROM is superb with interesting videos by the Mars Society. Already looking forward to a third volume! [...] The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must Robert Zubrin Hardcover Simon & Schuster UK 04 November, 1996 Used price*: £3.42 More Info & Buy Online Review: Content or context, hmm. (5/5) The review guide states that the review is to be relevant to the content and/or context. In this case, their two rather different reviews. Personally, I find Zubrin's Mars Direct/Mars Colony plan (the content part) flawed in quite a few ways, here are a couple: 1) the "frontier spirit" arguement is used often, and I agree that humanity is at its best when challenged and exploration and colonisation certainly serves this goal. But the specific case for Mars, as opposed to the moons of Saturn/Jupiter, asteroid belts etc are not made. 2) Assumptions about the industry of a Mars colony, deuterium mining for use in fusion for example, are founded on an unproven theoretical industry and also, due to the prevelance of Helium 3, encourage a settlement on the moon instead. Asteroid mining is posited but this is an arguement for mining asteroids, Mars is superfluous to this. 3) The Mars Direct mission itself is a tight rope and although Zubrin convincingly deals with many of the dangers the book is, perhaps necessarily lean on specifics regards crew details (men? women? age?) and logistic details, I personally doubt the craft has enough space for food, water, spare parts etc although I happen to know many of these details have been worked out at later dates, the crewing level has now been raised to 6, those ammendments are not present here. And on and on. However, Zubrin is making a case, not a watertight arguement and would doubtless concede that the debate is far from over so, in the spirit of the context side of the review I would say buy this book, absolutely, the Mars Direct plan is an excellent, ingenious basic idea that deserves publicity and this book should be bought and debated by scientists, students, policymakers and the general public alike. Review: This book is really great! (5/5) In 1989, in response to President George Bush's call for a manned mission to Mars, NASA produced a plan, a plan so expensive and unwieldy, it never had the chance to become reality. However, Robert Zubrin, a senior engineer for Lockheed Martin, felt that NASA's plan was all wrong. Working with Dr. Ben Clark, a Lockheed Martin manager, he designed a Mars program that would be cost-effective and simple. This book contains the plans they drew up for a Mars program (multiple missions) called "Mars Direct." This book is really great! It contains all of Mr. Zubrin's plans, including charts and diagrams. Admittedly, I'm not sure that I entirely agree with the author's reasons for why the colonization of Mars is vital to the human race, but I must admit that his enthusiasm is quite infectious. I do home that his plans do result in a manned Mars mission. Review: Inspirational, backed by hard facts (5/5) If you are at all interested in seeing mankind colonising space then you must read this book. Zubrin's background as an engineer and experience working with NASA grounds his proposals so firmly in fact that you are left wondering why this program is not already underway.