Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11
James Donovan
You might think there is no point in more Apollo books: there are more such books than there are rocks on the moon. But stories can always be told better. Robert Kurson's Rocket Men: The Odyssey of Apollo 8 is a good example. This is another.There are several things a good space history must weave together. It must integrate human drama with technical information, political and social context with the skills of engineers and the courage of astronauts. Also, it must be correct on the countless small details that space aficionados will call "BS" on if any are wrong. Fortunately, Donovan is up to this task in almost every way. He gives a brief explanation of how the Space Age began and how it ended up being a race to the moon. These first two chapters are where my nitpicks lie. Donovan says German rocket work was undertaken to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, which Michael Neufeld (whom Donovan has read) has shown is incorrect. Von Braun's Jupiter-C was never a missile, and the Atlas wasn't developed to be a booster. Once out of the 1950s, though, Donovan's research is on sounder footing, and his narrative captivating. He accurately sketches the competition between the superpowers and what we knew and didn't know about Soviet problems: it was a bit like a poker game (analogy by my coauthor Erika Maurer), but with the U.S. playing stud poker, cards exposed, while Russia played draw, and Donovan shows how this disparity of information affected the decisions of American leaders.Donovan explains the crew dynamics on the Apollo missions and the personal differences: he writes of the engineering-focused Aldrin, "Small talk was a foreign language to Buzz." He incorporates the drama on the ground and the challenges of the mission controllers and engineers as well as the actions of the famous administrators and astronauts. While some writers reduce Neil Armstrong to a nice guy with good flying skills: Donovan recounts his determination to not only complete the mission but to complete it in accordance with his own judgment, When it comes to the climactic landing, this book puts you in Mission Control and in the Lunar Module, feeling the tension and following the decision processes. You know how it comes out, but you are riveted anyway.
The references and bibliography are extensive, and the quality of the sources is good to excellent. This is a book well worth making room for on your shelf of space histories.
James Donovan
- 464 pages
- Little, Brown and Company, 2019
You might think there is no point in more Apollo books: there are more such books than there are rocks on the moon. But stories can always be told better. Robert Kurson's Rocket Men: The Odyssey of Apollo 8 is a good example. This is another.There are several things a good space history must weave together. It must integrate human drama with technical information, political and social context with the skills of engineers and the courage of astronauts. Also, it must be correct on the countless small details that space aficionados will call "BS" on if any are wrong. Fortunately, Donovan is up to this task in almost every way. He gives a brief explanation of how the Space Age began and how it ended up being a race to the moon. These first two chapters are where my nitpicks lie. Donovan says German rocket work was undertaken to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, which Michael Neufeld (whom Donovan has read) has shown is incorrect. Von Braun's Jupiter-C was never a missile, and the Atlas wasn't developed to be a booster. Once out of the 1950s, though, Donovan's research is on sounder footing, and his narrative captivating. He accurately sketches the competition between the superpowers and what we knew and didn't know about Soviet problems: it was a bit like a poker game (analogy by my coauthor Erika Maurer), but with the U.S. playing stud poker, cards exposed, while Russia played draw, and Donovan shows how this disparity of information affected the decisions of American leaders.Donovan explains the crew dynamics on the Apollo missions and the personal differences: he writes of the engineering-focused Aldrin, "Small talk was a foreign language to Buzz." He incorporates the drama on the ground and the challenges of the mission controllers and engineers as well as the actions of the famous administrators and astronauts. While some writers reduce Neil Armstrong to a nice guy with good flying skills: Donovan recounts his determination to not only complete the mission but to complete it in accordance with his own judgment, When it comes to the climactic landing, this book puts you in Mission Control and in the Lunar Module, feeling the tension and following the decision processes. You know how it comes out, but you are riveted anyway.
The references and bibliography are extensive, and the quality of the sources is good to excellent. This is a book well worth making room for on your shelf of space histories.
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