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Apollo Moon Missions The Unsung Heroes
Billy Watkins
Foreword by Fred Haise
Book Code: C8702
ISBN: 0-275-98702-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98702-2
224 pages, photos
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 12/30/2005
List Price: $41.95 (UK Sterling Price: £24.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Project Apollo was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. In the 1960s, the US developed its space program from suborbital flights to lunar missions. Much has been written about the astronauts, flight directors, and other high-level officials who were instrumental in the Apollo program, but this book focuses on others at lower levels who played important roles in the successes of Apollo. For instance, guidance officer Steve Bales made a critical call during Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing. As the lunar module descended, several alarms sounded, but Bales decided within seconds that these were due to computer data overloads and that it was safe to continue the landing. The images from Apollo were stunning; Richard Underwood was the NASA chief of photography who trained the astronauts in this important skill. Others featured include members of the Navy recovery team, public affairs officials, telemetry and communications technicians, and the designer of the Lunar Rover, among others....Recommended. General readers.
    —Choice     June 2006
  • Journalist Watkins takes advantage of decades of close attention as he recounts the stories of some of the thousands of men and women who made getting to the moon their daily work and uncanny passion. He includes the story of a publicist who lobbied for a television camera on Apollo 11, without which we would not have seen Neil Armstrong take that step, specialists on signal-jamming USSR submarines and lightening, and the lucky folks who got to design the Moon Rover. It is clear Watkins would like to acknowledge the efforts of all (picking just 14 must have been agonizing) but those appearing here are truly representative of a breed of scientist and engineer, whose pie-in-the-sky thinking actually worked.
    —SciTech Book News     March 2006
  • Endorsement From Fred Haise
    Apollo 13 astronaut:     This book is 'new news' to all those who followed Apollo- including me. It not only captures the sense of team spirit and a desire to assure success, but it really brings out the human interest side of the program and highlights the contributions of those removed from the 'firing line.' It's a winner!
  • Endorsement From Jim Lovell
    Apollo astronaut:     Open up the pages of Watkins' in depth view of the unsung heroes of the Apollo mission, and you will get a clear idea of why the Apollo Program was so successful. Meet the people behind the scenes of our journey to the moon as Billy Watkins magnificently portrays the human dedication of many people to achieve man's greatest adventure.
  • Endorsement From Lynne Russell
    Former CNN Headline News anchor and award-winning journalist:     Every story has a heart and a soul, and Billy Watkins hands these rich gifts to the reader with respect and perspective.
  • Endorsement From Bill Parsons
    NASA shuttle program manager:     I met Billy just prior to the Columbia tragedy. After one conversation I realized that this was not your typical 'hometown' reporter but someone that could ask me questions regarding Human Spaceflight 3 or 4 layers deep and from a historical sense knew more about NASA's accomplishments than I did. Over the years, Billy has become a trusted personal friend and someone I trust to tell the personal side of this highly technical business. I am sure you will enjoy this historical account of the Apollo era.
  • Endorsement From Robert Pearlman
    CollectSpace.com
    Member of the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Foundation Board of Directors:     Watkins flows each biography into the next with subtle skill, making Heroes less like a collection of disjointed stories but rather that of the team they were. If there is only one regret, it is that Watkins stopped at 14. After reading Apollo Moon Missions,The Unsung Heroes you'll realize how little we all know about those who made the small steps and giants leap possible.
Description: In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge: the United States would land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. It seemed like an impossible task and one that the Russians--who had launched the first satellite and put the first man into Earth orbit--would surely perform before us. The ingenuity, passion, and sacrifice of thousands of ordinary men and women, from all walks of life, enabled the space program to meet this extraordinary goal. In all, six crews would land on the moon before Congress withdrew financial backing for the program. This is the story of those men and women who worked behind the scenes, without fanfare or recognition, to make these missions a success. Thirty years later, they still speak of Apollo with pride, sometimes even awe. After Apollo moonwalker John Young told journalist Billy Watkins in a 1999 interview that "nobody knows anything about the people who helped make those flights so successful," Watkins made it his mission to identify the unsung heroes and learn their stories.
His subjects include:
  • Julian Scheer (NASA publicist): Argued for and won the inclusion of a television camera on Apollo 11, enabling Armstrong's walk on the moon to be broadcast and recorded for posterity.
  • Sonny Morea, lead designer of the Lunar Rover.
  • Hugh Brown, one of the few African Americans who worked on the Apollo program, helped monitor for Russian submarines trying to jam NASA communication during launches, and later went on to become head of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta.
  • JoAnn Morgan, launch control: One of the few women involved in the space program, Morgan was designated the "lightning specialist." Her knowledge was crucial when the Apollo 12 spacecraft was struck by lightning only seconds after liftoff, nearly causing an abort. She was one of the few specialists allowed in the "firing room" during liftoff.
  • Joan Roosa, widow of Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, talks about the sacrifices of the families and their devotion to "The Program."
  • Joe Schmitt, veteran suit technician was responsible for making sure the suits were leak-proof and hooked up correctly--knowing any mistake would mean instant death in space.
  • Joseph Laitin, who came up with the idea for the Apollo 8 astronauts to read the first ten verses of Genesis during their Christmas Eve television broadcast from the moon.
  • Clancy Hatelberg, the Navy diver, who plucked the first humans to walk on the moon from the Pacific Ocean after the Apollo 11 landing.
    • Table of Contents:
    • Foreword by Fred Haise
    • Preface
    • Acknowledgments
    • History of Apollo
    • "...The Eagle has landed"
    • Steve Bales
    • Bruce McCandless
    • Richard Underwood
    • Clancy Hatleberg
    • "We're not the Soviets"
    • Julian Scheer
    • Joseph Laitin
    • Hugh Brown
    • "Thunder at the Cape"
    • JoAnn Morgan
    • Joe Schmitt
    • Jack King
    • "Marriage, Missions, and Moon Cars"
    • Joan Roosa
    • Rodney Rose
    • Gerry Griffin
    • Sonny Morea
    • U.S. Manned Missions Summary
    • Glossary
    LC Card Number: 2005022473
    LCC Class: TL789
    Dewey Class: 629
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