Product Description

This is perhaps the most complete, detailed and readable story of manned space-flight ever published. Beginning with the historical origins of the dream of walking on the Moon, Tracking Apollo to the Moon is the complete story of manned spaceflight, from the earliest Mercury and Gemini flights through to the end of the Apollo era.In readable, fascinating detail, Hamish Lindsay - who was directly involved in all three programs - chronicles mankind's greatest adventure with a great narrative, interviews, quotes and masses of photographs, including some previously unpublished.As well as bringing the history of these missions to life Tracking Apollo to the Moon serves as a detailed reference for space enthusiasts and students. Having seen the manuscript, the Smithsonian requested two copies of the finished book, and Buzz Aldrin asked for five!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #770247 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 426 pages

Review
"Hamish Lindsay has done a marvellous job of telling the story of manned space flight He has given his readers a sort of encyclopedia of the beginning of man's quest for flight into space. This is followed with a splendid description of the real time operations of all of the major missions. As one who lived through the Camelot period of space in the 60s and knows the trauma we all endured, I am greatly impressed with the detail and authenticity of the stories that Hamish so vividly tells. For example, as I read Hamish's account of the Apollo 11 and 13 missions, I could again imagine myself back in mission control reliving some of the finest moments of my life...Those of you who are fortunate to read Hamish Lindsay's account will be much richer for it."
- FROM THE FOREWORD BY CHRISTOPHER C. KRAFT, JR.,
NASA's First Flight Director and Retired Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center

Times Higher Education Supplement, 15 March 2002
'using his experiences, access to principal sources and transcripts of conversations between astronauts and the ground...a comprehensive account...'

The Observatory, Vol. 122, Issue 1166
'I am convinced that everyone reading it will learn something new.'

Customer Reviews

One of the best books on the moon landings I have ever read
When I was six, Apollo 11 touched a spark in me and made me want to be an astronaut. I never made it but I can still dream. This book is such a delight that it is perhaps as close to being there as I could dream of. Luckily, Hamish Lyndsey can write, and very well too.

This book should delight everyone who dreamt of reaching the moon as I did. It has anecdotes and technical detail. It has excellent photos and hilarious jokes. There is so much here that I never knew, as well as plenty I had forgotten, that it is worth the cover price many times over. I shall be re-reading it for years to come.

Inevitably the run up to Apollo 11 and the first landing get the lion's share of the book. That's not to say that the remaining missions don't get covered. They do, but not too deeply. Thankfully, the book does not finish with Apollo 11 but carries on into Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission. The book is all the better for that.

So this is the best moonlanding book I think I have ever read and I think I have read about thirty. It made my memories come alive. I was six again.

This is a thorough history of the Apollo moonlandings written by an insider of sorts, someone who manned the tracking stations in Australia. Luckily,

Interesting and comprehensive
There are lots of books out there about the moon landings. I still think Chaikin is the best for both excitement and thoroughness. However, this one is good as it includes the whole story right from the start of the Mercury program, and right to the end of Skylab, as well as some summaries of the concurrent Soviet efforts. The author was involved in running tracking stations in Australia, and the book includes some interesting stories about what that was like and the challenges involved, as well as a more general summary of the missions. There's also a great quiz at the end for fellow trivia-obsessives.
The narrative is occasionally marred by minor typos, and a couple of the facts didn't sound right - I thought a "snoopy helmet" was the fabric bit over the head, not the glass bubble helmet, and I think Neil Armstrong thought they had a 50% chance of successfully completing the whole mission, not of failing to make it back to the CM at all. Those arepretty minor points though (and I may be wrong), and the overall impression is of a real expert who is enthusiastic to tell us what it was actually like to be part of this great adventure.