Alexander, T. “The Unexpected Payoff of Project Apollo.” Fortune. 80 (July 1969): 114-117, 150, 153-154, 156. Written before the first lunar landing, this article argues that Project Apollo had already restored the damaged self-esteem of the United States, its original purpose. It had also developed techniques for managing thousands of individuals from government, universities, and the private sector to achieve a fixed goal, and it appeared to have achieved that goal for very nearly the cost projected at the outset of the project. The article goes on to discuss NASA’s project management system that yielded so successful an outcome.
Anderton, David A. Man in Space [also entitled America in Space/The First Decade]. Washington, DC: NASA EP-48, 1968. This pamphlet contains information on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, launch vehicles, test vehicles, astronauts, pressure suits, and space medicine, but it treats each subject in overview fashion.
Andrews, John Williams. A.D. Twenty-One Hundred: A Narrative of Space. Boston: Branden Press, 1969. This is an epic poem of Project Apollo. It contains a foreword by Walter Cronkite who concluded that Williams had turned the space “experience into meaningful felt reality, as Housman made us feel springtime in Shropshire, or Frost, wintertime in Vermont.” Apollo in its Historical Context. Washington, DC: The George Washington University Space Policy Institute, 1990. See under Logsdon, John M.
“Apollo Midstream.” Astronautics and Aeronautics. 3 (April 1965): 26-80. Features include: Joseph F. Shea, “The Approach to Apollo,” 26-29; Roy F. Brissenden, “LEM Docking in Lunar Orbit,” pp. 30-32; Dale D. Myers, “Apollo Spacecraft—on the Mark,” pp. 38-45; Jack G. Gavin, Jr., “LEM Design Evolution,” pp. 46-51; Owen G. Morris, “Apollo Reliability Analysis,” pp. 52-59; Max Faget, “Apollo—The Long View,” pp. 60-63; William E. Stoney, Jr., “The Designer Faces Up to Long Mission,” pp. 64-69; Willard F. Libby, “Science and Manned Spacecraft,” pp. 70-75; and Dean N. Morris, “Third Manned Space Flight Meeting,” pp. 76-80.
Ashworth, William B. The Face of the Moon: Galileo to Apollo, an Exhibition of Rare Books and Maps, October 13, 1989-February 28, 1990. Kansas City, MO: Linda Hall Library, 1989. This exhibition catalog shows “how the face of the moon has been variously delineated [over the centuries] as telescopes improved, new inventions such as photography were applied, and ultimately, as space travel led humankind to the very surface of the moon.”
Benedict, Howard; Morse, Ralph; and Glenn, Christopher. “Full-Court Press: Apollo Meets the Media.” Air and Space/Smithsonian. 4 (June/July 1989): 82-89. Three members of the media who covered Apollo and earlier space and missile efforts discuss their recollections of the American space efforts in the late 1950s and the 1960s.
Benson, Charles D. and Faherty, William Barnaby. Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration SP-4204, 1978. An excellent history of the design and construction of the lunar launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center. Of Moonport, a reviewer in the Journal of American History said in 1979, “The authors had access to official documents, letters, and memoranda, and they have apparently consulted all the relevant historical, technological, and scientific secondary materials...all the involved historians obviously spent considerable time studying and intellectually digesting technical reports and manuals in order to give their lay readers such lucid accounts of highly complex procedures and operations...it is important to public knowledge to have professionally trained historians employ historical methods to explain significant events and place them in a meaningful historical context. Here is a broad lesson...that contemporary society can ill afford to ignore.”
Bockstiegel, Karl-Heinz. Editor. Manned Space Flight. Cologne: Carl Heymanns Verlag, 1993. This collection of papers delivered at the Institute of Air and Space Law’s international colloquium on human spaceflight in May 1992 is not specifically about Apollo but includes information about Apollo missions and an extensive bibliography.
Booker, Peter Jeffrey; Frewer, G.C.; and, Pardoe, G.K.C. Project Apollo: The Way to the Moon. New York: American Elsevier Pub. Co., 1969. A popular and readable account prepared in anticipation of and released just after the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, this book condenses the essential details of 10 years of American space activities into a short narrative. It begins with a discussion of the enormous growth of NASA and the entire space effort in the early 1960s and ends with speculation on future developments in human exploration of the Solar System.
Bradbury, Ray. “An Impatient Gulliver Above our Roofs.” Life. 24 November 1967, pp. 31-37. 9 color photos. Story by Ray Bradbury on assignment for Life at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and his impressions of the Saturn 5 launch.
Brian, William L., II. Moongate: Suppressed Findings of the U.S. Space Program, the NASA-Military Cover-up. Portland, OR: Future Science Research Pub. Co., 1982. As the title suggests, this is a sensationalistic exposé arguing that “the true circumstances surrounding the Apollo missions and related discoveries were carefully suppressed from the public.” The author claims that far from NASA’s space program being a civilian effort as advertised, “the military had almost complete control over it and...many NASA findings were withheld from the public.” The title of Chapter 10, “Evidence of Extraterrestrial Interference in the Space Program,” will suggest the highly speculative and tenuous tenor of the book, much of which is quite technical, to boot. Lightly footnoted with references alike to scholarly sources and The National Enquirer, the work should be consulted with great caution by those without a solid grounding in space history and technology.
Brueton, Diana. Many Moons: The Myth and Magic, Fact and Fantasy of Our Nearest Heavenly Body. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1991. An excellent discussion of the Moon in human legend, lore, science, and popular culture.
Bruno, Leonard C. “We have a sporting chance”: The Decision to go to the Moon, An Exhibition at the Library of Congress, July 16-September 16, 1979. Washington: Library of Congress, 1979. This catalog for the tenth anniversary exhibit commemorating Apollo 11 provides an overview in narrative and photos of the background to the mission that carried out President Kennedy’s pledge in 1961 to land Americans on the Moon within the decade and return them safely to Earth. Also included is a retrospective reflection on the mission. A good overview with excellent photographs.
Burgess, Eric. Outpost on Apollo’s Moon. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. This heavily illustrated new book argues that employing Apollo hardware on the Moon could permit permanent settlements that would benefit science, humanity, and business. Contains an evaluation of the successes and failures of Apollo as well as how they could be adapted to today’s needs.
Burrows, William E. Exploring Space: Voyages in the Solar System and Beyond. New York: Random House, 1990. This journalistic account covers Apollo only in passing but has intelligent things to say about it.
Butler, S.T., and Messel, H. Editors. Apollo and the Universe: Selected Lectures on the U.S. Manned Space Flight Program and Selected Fields of Modern Physics and Cosmology. New York: Pergamon Press, 1968. Most of this small but not short book has nothing to do with Apollo, but the first lecture, “Space Rocketry and a Man on the Moon,” by NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E. Mueller devotes a chapter to the Mercury and Gemini programs and another to Apollo as it had evolved until 1968.
Chamberland, Dennis. “Splashdown!” Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute. 115 (1989): 36-43. Covers the evolution of spacecraft recovery techniques from Mercury through Apollo.
Chappell, Russell E. Apollo. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1974. Heavy on spectacular photographs, this is an overview not only of Apollo through the lunar landing in July 1969 but also Mercury and Gemini before it.
Chester, Michael, and McClinton, David. The Moon: Target for Apollo. New York: Putnam, 1963. Illustrated with photos and line drawings by Robert Bartram. A pre-Apollo 11 account of what humans learned about the Moon from the third century B.C. to the lunar probes (Pioneer through Ranger).
Closets, Francois de. La lune est à vendre; essai. Paris: Denoel, 1969. Entitled in English “the Moon is for sale; essay,” this little book provides readers of French some thoughtful reflections on humanity’s conquest of lunar space.
Collins, Michael. Liftoff: The Story of America’s Adventure in Space. New York: Grove Press, 1988. This book, a general history of the U.S. space program for a popular audience written by one of the three participating astronauts in the Apollo 11 flight. He begins with an account of that flight, then flashes back to the post- World War II beginnings of the United States’ interest in space and traces the evolution of the space program through the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 and its launching of the Mercury and Gemini programs to the history of the Apollo program itself. These sections account for roughly two-thirds of the book, with the remainder taking the story of U.S. space exploration through Skylab to the Challenger accident and the prospects for space efforts as they looked in the late 1980s.
Cooke, Hereward Lester, with the collaboration of Dean, James D. Foreword by J. Carter Brown. Preface by Thomas O. Paine. Eyewitness to Space: Paintings and Drawings Related to the Apollo Mission to the Moon Selected, with a Few Exceptions, from the Art Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1963 to 1969). New York: H.N. Abrams, 1971. A collection of 258 paintings and drawings in reproduction, created by a variety of artists ranging from Norman Rockwell to Chesley Bonestell. A magnificent and variegated collection.
Cortright, Edgar M. Editor. Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. Washington, DC: NASA SP-350, 1975. This large-formatted volume, with numerous illustrations in both color and black and white, contains essays by numerous luminaries ranging from NASA administrator James E. Webb (“A Perspective on Apollo”) to astronauts Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (“‘The Eagle Has Landed’”). By no means a scholarly work, this collection consists rather of the recollections of participants and one correspondent (Robert Sherrod). Among the perspectives offered are those of Robert R. Gilruth on engineering, Wernher von Braun on Saturn, George M. Low on the spaceships, Christopher C. Kraft on mission control, Samuel C. Phillips on the shakedown cruises, and George E. Mueller on “Getting It All Together.”
The Early Years: Mercury to Apollo-Soyuz. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1988. This 14-page information summery contains brief accounts of projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz with appendices about manned spacecraft and launch vehicles.
Fairley, Peter. Man on the Moon. London: Arthur Barker Limited, 1969. Yet another popular, undocumented account published soon after Apollo 11’s conclusion, this volume covers not only that mission but the background to it, the Apollo 204 fire, and the missions yet on the agenda. It also discusses the race with the Soviets.
Freeman, Marsha. How We Got to the Moon: The Story of the German Space Pioneers. Washington, DC: 21st Century Associates, 1993. The author of this book tries to make the German emigrees who came to the United States with Wernher von Braun in 1945 the central force behind the success of Project Apollo. Freeman traces all spaceflight ideals and imagination to a German group formed by Hermann Oberth and Willy Ley and including Wernher von Braun, among others, in the first part of the twentieth century, who created the U.S. space program and the “glory” of Apollo. In so doing, she concentrates on such ancillary stories as the development of the V-2 by von Braun’s “rocket team” for Germany in World War II, totally ignoring the contributions of other people and nations to the overall space effort.
Fries, Sylvia D. NASA Engineers and the Age of Apollo. Washington, DC: NASA SP-4104, 1992. This book is a sociocultural analysis of a selection of engineers at NASA who worked on Project Apollo. It analyzes the manner in which different personalities, perspectives, backgrounds, and priorities came together to inform the direction of NASA during the 1960s. The author makes extensive use of oral history in this study, providing both a significant appraisal of NASA during its “golden age” and important documentary material for future explorations.
Furniss, Tim, “One Small Step”—The Apollo Missions, the Astronauts, the Aftermath: A Twenty Year Perspective. Somerset, England: G.T. Foulis & Co., 1989. Developed for a retrospective celebration on the twentieth anniversary of the lunar landing, this book tries to recreate the exhilaration of the Apollo missions.
Gregory, William H. “Project Apollo in Retrospect.” In Ordway, Frederick I., III and Liebermann, Randy. Blueprints for Space: Science Fiction to Science Fact. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992. Pp. 155-65. Provides a good, brief overview of the entire Apollo program from background through inception to its completion with the splashdown of Apollo 17 on 19 December 1972. It covers the major management decisions, technological achievements, and political contexts as well as providing perspective on the program from the vantage point of two decades after the events. Also includes a brief bibliography.
Hallion, Richard P., and Crouch, Tom D. Editors. Apollo: Ten Years Since Tranquility Base. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. This is a collection of essays developed for the National Air and Space Museum, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the first landing on the Moon, July 20, 1969. It consists of sixteen articles, mostly written directly for the National Air and Space Museum by a variety of experts, that range from Roger E. Bilstein’s overview entitled, “The Saturn Launch Vehicle Family,” to Kerry M. Joëls’ “Apollo and the ‘Two Cultures’.” Other contributions by such luminaries as John M. Logsdon; Frederick C. Durant, III; Farouk El-Baz; and Rocco A. Petrone, not to mention the two editors, attempt to set the Apollo missions in historical perspective and to explain such matters as operational support, the command and service modules, the lunar module, and the Apollo space suit. Dominick A. Pisano has provided a selective bibliography at the conclusion of the volume.
Hechler, Ken. Toward the Endless Frontier: History of the Committee on Science and Technology, 1959-1979. Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 1980. This lengthy tome contains the best account to date of Congressional wrangling over Project Apollo, and demonstrates the bipartisan nature of both Apollo support and opposition.
Hirsch, Richard, and Trento, Joseph John. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. New York: Praeger, 1973. A popularly written overview of the agency in Praeger’s Library of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies, this critical but by no means scholarly account offers one chapter and scattered other references to Apollo.
Holmes, Jay. America on the Moon. Philadelphia: L.B. Lippincott, 1962. This popular account without scholarly apparatus provides an early look at the Apollo program and its background. Useful for its perspective on how Apollo in its beginnings looked to one investigator.
“How An Idea No One Wanted Grew Up To Be the LEM.” Life. 14 March 1969, pp. cover, 20-27. 8 color photos, 1 color painting, 4 B&W sketches. A fascinating look at the evolution or the Lunar Excursion Module. Also discusses how the lunar rendezvous scheme was picked.
Hoyt, Edwin P. The Space Dealers: A Hard Look at the Role of Business in the U.S. Space Effort. New York: The John Day Co., 1971. This book describes the intricate interrelationships between government organizations such as NASA and the aerospace industry. Not specifically focused on Apollo, it uses that program as a test case in looking at the larger question of government/industry relations.
Hurt, Harry, III. For All Mankind. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988. Another attempt, really quite a lame one by a correspondent for Newsweek, to provide a compelling and convincing narrative of Project Apollo.
Kane, Francis X. “The NASA Program.” Air University Review. 14 (Winter- Spring 1962-3): 189-204. This undocumented article by an Air Force officer discusses especially Air Force support for NASA programs, including but not focussing exclusively on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
Kaysing, Bill and Reid, Randy. We Never Went to the Moon: America’s 30 Billion Dollar Swindle. Cornville, AZ: Desert Publications, 1981. This curious and cheaply-put-together compilation concludes without documentation or real evidence that “THE TRIP TO THE MOON WAS A HOAX”—to use the typography as well as the words in the authors’ conclusions. Hardly definitive!
Knight, David C. Compiler. American Astronauts and Spacecraft: A Pictorial History from Project Mercury through Apollo 13. New York: F. Watts, 1970. This (mostly black and white) pictorial history consists almost entirely of photos, some of them with lengthy captions. It does contain useful biographies of the astronauts and a lengthy glossary of space terms.
Launius, Roger D. NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. Melbourne, FL: Krieger, 1994. A short book in the Anvil Series, this history of U.S. civilian space efforts consists half of narrative and half of documents. It contains three chapters on the Apollo program plus two others on the Sputnik crisis and the events leading up to the creation of NASA and one dealing with the rise of space science and technology. While coverage consists more of overview than detailed analysis, the approach is broadly analytical and provides the most recent general treatment of its topic, designed more for the student or general reader than for the specialist.
Levine, Arthur L. The Future of the U.S. Space Program. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. Despite its somewhat misleading title, most of this book by a long- time NASA employee who later moved to academia deals with the history of the agency. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the space program during roughly the Apollo period.
Lewis, Richard S. Appointment on the Moon: The Inside Story of America’s Space Adventure. New York: Viking, 1969. Perhaps the first book to capitalize on the success of Apollo 11 in 1969, this history appeared within days of the “splashdown.”
_____. The Voyages of Apollo: The Exploration of the Moon. New York: Quadrangle, 1974. This popularly written but not nontechnical account covers the background to the Apollo mission seen as an exploration of the Moon. It then discusses the changes in our perceptions of that heavenly body as succeeding Apollo missions added to our knowledge. Without scholarly apparatus, this is clearly a non- scientist’s interpretation of lunar science, but it presents an informed series of perspectives as of the time it was written.
Life in Space. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1983. A look at the U.S. space program from Project Mercury through the Space Shuttle and planetary explorers. Tremendous collection of photos, most culled from the Life collection. Covers all manned missions.
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Earth Shine. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969. A republication of the article described below and one on East Africa together with some reflections on how the two are linked together.
_____. “The Heron and the Astronaut.” Life. 28 February 1969, pp. 1, 14-27. Impressionistic story about Cape Kennedy, the launch of Apollo 8, and what Apollo 11 means for mankind, complete with a number of photographs.
Logsdon, John M., et al. Apollo in its Historical Context. Washington, DC: George Washington University Space Policy Institute, 1990. This edited version of remarks presented at a 1989 symposium includes articles by Logsdon on “Evaluating Apollo”; Walter A. McDougall on “Apollo and Technocracy”; Daniel J. Boorstin on “The Rise of Public Discovery”; and Frank White on “Apollo in a Millennial Perspective.” Concludes with a discussion based on questions from the audience at the symposium. Useful for the perspectives offered by the four eminent participants.
_____. “An Apollo Perspective.” Astronautics & Aeronautics. 17 (December 1979): 112-116. This brief article analyzes the situation facing the U. S. space program in 1979 in the light of Apollo and concludes that the base of support for a major national investment in space, such as the one that existed for Apollo in 1961 simply did not exist 18 years later and was unlikely to emerge again for a considerable time in the future.
_____. “From Apollo to Shuttle: Policy Making in the Post Apollo Era.” Unpublished typescript, Spring 1983, copy in NASA History Office Reference Collection. This lengthy “Partial and Preliminary Manuscript” is concerned primarily with the “decisions taken during the 1969-1972 period on what the United States would do in space after landing on the moon.” However, since these decisions were made in the context of Apollo the author does discuss it as well.
_____. “What Made Apollo a Success? Introduction.” Astronautics and Aeronautics. (March 1970): 36-45. This brief article by the NASA deputy administrator at the time and former manager of the Apollo spacecraft program discusses a range of issues involved in Apollo’s successes to date, including spacecraft design and development, mission design and planning, flight-crew and flight operations, spacecraft test activities, and management’s control of spacecraft changes. Although not entirely free of jargon, this is generally a readable and well- written analysis. It concludes that the preeminent factor in Apollo’s success was attention to detail coupled with dedication.
Lutman, C. C. “The Apollo Program.” Air University Review. 16 (May-June 1965): 16-21. This short, undocumented article by an Air Force officer who had served in NASA concentrates on spacecraft, guidance and navigation systems, instrumentation and scientific equipment, and operations with emphasis on the fact “that the Apollo program is not aimed solely at the successful completion of a lunar landing but rather is a tool employed to obtain and keep U.S. supremacy in space.”
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Apollo Program Summary Report. Houston, TX: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 1975. This lengthy report summarizes the principal activities during Apollo and provides references for those seeking greater detail. It is divided into sections on the flight program, science, vehicle development and performance, spacecraft development testing, the flight crew, mission operations, biomedical matters, spacecraft manufacturing and testing, launch facilities and operations, and the lunar receiving laboratory, which initially quarantined astronaut crews and handled lunar samples. Illustrations and appendices supplement the text. This report probably gives the most complete overview of the program to be found anywhere and may be the best single place for researchers new to Apollo to begin.
Mailer, Norman. “A Dream of the Future’s Face.” Life. 9 January 1970, pp. 56- 57, 60, 62, 62-63, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74. 2 color photos. Part III of Norman Mailer’s Fire on the Moon examines some “philosophical” questions on where society is headed.
______. “A Fire on the Moon.” Life. 29 August 1969, pp. cover, 1, 24-42. 4 color photos. Part I of Norman Mailer’s personal study of the U.S. space program. Includes transcripts of the Public Affairs Officer’s Apollo 11 countdown. Also, “Men In Space,” p. 46A.
______. Of a Fire on the Moon. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970. New York: New American Library, 1971. One of the foremost contemporary American writers, Mailer was commissioned to comment on the first lunar landing. What he wrote was this rather confused and confusing account that is written as a series of almost stream-of-consciousness ruminations about spaceflight. They do provide some insights, most importantly as Mailer with his 1960s countercultural mindset meets its antithesis, a NASA steeped in middle class values and reverence for the American flag and culture. Mailer was forced, grudgingly, to admit that NASA’s approach to task accomplishment—which he sees as the embodiment of the Protestant Work Ethic—and its technological and scientific capability got results with Apollo. He rails at NASA’s closed and austere society, one where he says outsiders are distrusted and held at arm’s length with a bland and faceless courtesy that betrays nothing. For all of its skepticism, for all of its esotericism, the book captures some interesting insights into rocket technology and the people who produced it in Project Apollo, but it is heavy going to extract them from this dense book.
Manno, Jack. Arming the Heavens. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1988. This sparsely documented volume with an extensive annotated bibliography begins the account by tracing the “Nazi legacy” of the space program back to Wernher von Braun and the ballistic missile program at Peenemünde. The book’s thrust is suggested by the concluding paragraph to Chapter 16, “The Space Warriors Return,” referring to the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the end it signalled to “U.S. efforts even to pretend that American space activities would be devoted to peaceful purposes. That paragraph reads: “The new arms race in space is but another example—perhaps the last one—of leaders refusing to accept the limits of military power, of trying therefore to bring military solutions to bear on what are global political and social crises. The only real hope for national security in the Space Age lies in international security. Global social and political solutions must be sought for the global social and political problems that lead to war.” Many readers may disagree with this approach, but the author presents a reasoned if not scholarly argument in support of it.
Mansfield, John M. Man on the Moon. New York: Stein and Day, 1969. Written by a BBC television producer, this book begins with ancient conceptions of the Moon and continues with theoretical foundations for the space age in the works of science fiction authors and theoreticians. The book’s capstone is a discussion of NASA and Project Apollo.
Masursky, Harold; Colton, G.W.; and El-Baz, Farouk. Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration SP- 362, 1978. This is an excellent encapsulation of the Apollo program with striking photography. A large-formatted book, it contains an introduction discussing the objectives, methods, and results of Apollo lunar photography. It follows this with discussions of the regions of the Moon and explanations of individual photographs. Contains a glossary and bibliography.
Messel, H., and Butler, S. T. Editors. Pioneering in Outer Space. London: Heinemann, 1971. This published series of lectures contains historical material on all human space flights up to Apollo 13. The core of the book consists of chapters by G. Hage, vice president for development at Boeing; G. E. Mueller, then vice-president of general dynamics but previously NASA associate administrator for manned space flight; and Lee B. James, director of lunar operations at the Marshall Space Flight Center, dealing with U.S. spaceflights, including accounts of the development of the Saturn launch vehicles and the Apollo spacecraft, astronaut selection and training, the individual Apollo missions, their scientific results, and their impact on Earth plus projections for the future. Intended for advanced high school students, the prose is pedestrian but clear with numerous black and white illustrations.
Milne, Donald Stewart. Footprints on the Moon. Auckland: Wilson & Horton, 1969. This cheaply-produced volume by a journalist from New Zealand covers the background to space exploration, the Soviet space program, and Project Apollo. One of many popular accounts with numerous newsprint-quality photos.
Moore, P. Moon Flight Atlas. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1970. This 64-page “atlas” contains many photographs as well as maps and descriptive materials describing what was known about the Moon shortly after the first lunar landing. It also contains material and diagrams about the Apollo program and its hardware, followed by run-downs of Apollo missions.
Murray, Bruce. Journey into Space: The First Three Decades of Space Exploration. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1989. This highly personal account by a former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory makes only occasional reference to Apollo but does have some interesting reflections about it and its legacy for NASA.
Murray, Charles A., and Cox, Catherine Bly. Apollo, the Race to the Moon. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Perhaps the best general account of the lunar program, this history uses interviews and documents to reconstruct the stories of the people who participated in Apollo.
NASA. America’s Next Decades in Space: A Report for the Space Task Group. Washington, DC: NASA, 1969. Mostly about the future after Apollo, this report contains a lengthy chapter on “Current Program and National Capabilities” that gives considerable attention to Apollo and its infrastructure.
NASA History Office [authors vary, with many of the volumes sponsored by the NASA Historical Staff but prepared by the Science and Technology Division of the Library of Congress], Astronautics and Aeronautics . . . [title varies]. Washington, DC: NASA SPs-4004 to 4020, 1963-1975. This series—which was preceded by NASA reports for 1961 and 1962 to the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, published as committee prints entitled Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of . . . —does not focus exclusively on Apollo by any means. But the annual chronologies do contain much information about specific events relating to Apollo and provide a handy reference tool.
NASA Office of Manned Space Flight. Apollo Reliability and Quality Assurance Program Plan. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1966. This document, prepared by the Apollo Program Office, outlines the requirements for hardware development under the Apollo program. While it makes dull and bureaucratic reading, it outlines the procedures followed until the Apollo 204 fire the following year and thus provides a baseline against which to measure the changes introduced in reliability and quality assurance in its aftermath. (See Apollo Accident Report and the congressional committee prints [listed under U.S. House below in Chapter 5] on that incident and its results for NASA procedures.)
NASA Office of Manned Space Flight. Apollo Terminology. Washington, DC: NASA SP-6001, 1963. A glossary of terms used in the program with their definitions. In view of the inclination of even popular accounts of the program to use acronyms and technical terms, this is a virtually indispensable reference work for those not already familiar with the terminology.
NASA Office of Manned Space Flight. NASA’s Manned Space Flight Program. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 29 April 1969. Describes the efforts of NASA to place men in orbit and on the Moon. It also discusses the next phase of manned flight, the development of a reusable spacecraft for movement of people and supplies to and from orbit. A reprint of part of NASA testimony to Congress during budget authorization hearings for fiscal year 1970.
NASA Office of Public Affairs. “In this decade . . .”: Mission to the Moon. Washington, DC: NASA, 1969. This public relations brochure with lots of photos and a somewhat breezy style nevertheless provides considerable information about the Apollo program on the eve of the first lunar landing.
NASA Space Task Group. The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, September 1969. Mostly about the future, this report includes background material on Apollo and its effects.
The Next Decade in Space: A Report of the Space Science and Technology Panel of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. Washington, DC: President’s Science Advisory Committee, March 1970. This important report reviews the development of the space program in the United States through the Moon landing and projects some future objectives for the President.
Newman, Joseph. U.S. on the Moon. Washington, DC: U.S. News and World Report Inc., 1969. This popular account of the Apollo program through Apollo 11, with coverage of its background and of the race with the Soviets, provides a fair summation in understandable language of what was known at the time.
One Giant Leap for Mankind, with Introduction by Eugene Cernan. Largo, FL: Rococo International, Inc., [1994]. This glossy 25th anniversary publication contains a series of articles by Karl E. Kristofferson and others dealing with NASA’s Centers, “The Rocket Meisters,” projects Mercury through Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, “Buggy On The Moon,” “The Lunar Machines,” “How Television Made it to the Moon,” and several other non-Apollo-related topics. Without notes or other scholarly apparatus, this is intended for a popular audience.
“One Last Fiery Hurrah for Apollo.” Life. 19 December 1972, pp. 6-8C. Includes several entries covering not just Apollo 17 but the Apollo program as a whole, including hardware.
Ordway, Frederick I., III, and Sharpe, Mitchell R. Foreword by Wernher von Braun. The Rocket Team. New York: Crowell, 1979. This is an important, popularly-oriented, and somewhat apologetic discussion of the activities of the group of German engineers under the leadership of Wernher von Braun who developed the V-2 in World War II, came to the United States in 1945, and worked at the Marshall Spaceflight Center at Huntsville, Alabama, to develop the Saturn V launch vehicle used in Project Apollo.
______; Adams, Carsbie C.; and Sharpe, Mitchell R. Dividends from Space. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1972. This is an attempt to show that the costs of the space program have been more than returned in benefits to humanity, both tangible and intangible. The authors discuss at length the use of space systems to improve weather forecasting, facilitate communications, and inventory Earth resources. They also emphasize the development of the technological base with such major programs as Project Apollo.
Peterson, Robert W. Space: From Gemini to the Moon and Beyond. New York: Facts on File, 1972. A now obviously dated reference work summarizing events related to space from 1965-1971 in a topical format with each section organized chronologically. Does provide the perspective as of nearly the end of the Apollo program.
Peterson’s Book of Man in Space. Los Angeles, CA: Petersen Pub. Co., 1974. 5 volumes. In essentially magazine format with lots of photos, this series of articles carries the story of humans in space from accounts of the spaceflight pioneers Robert H. Goddard and Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky through Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
Petroski, Henry. To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985. This books offers a series of reflections upon the relationship between engineering and risk. The author comments on the development of a special faith attached to modern technology in the public mind, and the effect recent disasters, from Three-mile Island to Chernobyl, had on that confidence. This book is not simply a chronicle of accidents, but seeks to look at the process of engineering and its creative aspects apart from its scientific ones. Petroski notes that the design process accepts failure and seeks to test and gradually develop a system, whatever it might be, that has an acceptable level of risk to operate. He cautions that nothing is error free. He ends with a discussion of structural failures and their causes, dividing them into several categories. He notes that many recent failures are not due to engineering but to poor construction, inferior materials, inadequate attention to detail, or poor management and oversight.
Rabinowitch, Eugene, and Lewis, Richard S. Editors. Man on the Moon: The Impact on Science, Technology, and International Cooperation. New York: Basic Books, 1969. The editors have assembled articles that provide a range of views on the impact of the exploration of space on science, technology, and international cooperation. Each author approaches the subject from a particular perspective, speculating on the meaning of the Apollo lunar landing and offering prognostications for the future.
Rover and Men on the Moon: Man’s Greatest Adventure. Bonita Springs, FL: Holland Posters, 1971. A picture book, largely about the Apollo program, with shots of the lunar roving vehicle.
Ryan, Peter. Invasion of the Moon, 1969: The Story of Apollo 11. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1969; second ed. published in 1971 under title: The Invasion of the Moon, 1957-1970. This book capitalizes on the excitement of the first Apollo landing, proving a recitation of the expedition for a popular audience. Rather more detailed than many popular accounts, this book went into a second edition that carried the narrative through Apollo 13. Also covers the Soviet space program.
Shelton, William Roy. Man’s Conquest of Space. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1974. A popular account with many photographs of the entire human spaceflight effort to 1974, including Apollo but also science fiction, the alien environment of space, the Soviet space program, and much else.
Society of Automotive Engineers. Apollo: A Program Review. New York: The Society, 1964. “Papers presented verbally at the 1964 National Aeronautic and Space Engineering meeting held in Los Angeles, California.”
Spirit of Apollo: A Collection of Reflective Interviews Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the First Manned Lunar Landing. Washington, DC: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in cooperation with the AIAA Houston Section, 1989. This glossy collection of interviews with 15 astronauts, managers, and others involved in the Apollo program provides some perspective on the events 20 years after the landing on the Moon. Among the interviewees were Eugene Cernan, Aaron Cohen, Maxime Faget, Robert Gilruth, Christopher Kraft, and Donald “Deke” Slayton.
Sullivan, Walter. Editor. America’s Race for the Moon: The New York Times Story of Project Apollo. Foreword by D. Brainerd Holmes. New York: Random House, 1962. This is a collection of articles that appeared in the Times. Probably its only value today lies in giving a sense of the information available to the interested lay reader at the time.
Sutton, Felix. Conquest of the Moon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1969. This 63-page picture book has for its text sixty questions and answers about Earth’s natural satellite and the program to reach it.
Swenson, Loyd S., Jr. “The Fertile Crescent: The South’s Role in the National Space Program.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 71 (January 1968): 377-92. A discussion of the NASA centers established in the South, especially those associated with Project Apollo (Marshall Space Flight Center, Kennedy Space Center, Mississippi Test Facility, and Manned Spacecraft Center [later Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]), and their impact on the region.
Thomas, Davis. Editor. Moon: Man’s Greatest Adventure. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1970. A large-format, illustrated work whose centerpiece consists of three major essays. One, by Fred A. Whipple, Harvard University astronomer, describes the possibilities of space flight for scientific inquiry. Another by Silvio A. Bedini, of the Smithsonian Institution, deals with the Moon’s role in human affairs. A final article by Wernher von Braun of NASA analyzes Project Apollo and its execution in the 1960s.
United States House, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications. United States Civilian Space Programs, 1958-1978. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981. This more than 1,000-page report has the usual introduction and summary, followed by a list of issues for congressional consideration, a history of NASA and its relation to American space policy, and accounts of “NASA Facilities and Tracking Systems,” “Launch Vehicles and Propulsion,” “Manned Space Flight Through 1975,” and a variety of other topics, most of them unrelated to Apollo. In the introduction and summary written by Marcia S. Smith, one comment is that the “manned space program, which saw six two-man crews land on the surface of the Moon and return safely to Earth, has received the most media and public attention . . .” but adds that it is only one part of the space program.
United States Information Agency. Effect of the Moon Landing on Opinions in Six Countries. Washington,DC: USIA, 1969. Copy in the NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. This research report, which was not made available to the general public until 1971, contains 7 tables and 11 charts in addition to 15 pages of text. It concluded from opinion surveys conducted immediately before and after Apollo 11 that the “U.S. standing in science” and space exploration improved considerably following the successful Moon landing in Great Britain, India, France, Japan, Venezuela, and the Philippines but that opinions of U.S. military strength rose only in Britain, France, and Japan, and there only slightly.
Van Dyke, Vernon. Pride and Power: The Rationale of the Space Program. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1964. This analysis of the overall rationale of the Apollo program came to the conclusion that the “most powerful motives” behind it involved competition with the Soviet Union. “Motives such as the promotion of scientific, technological, and economic progress” were “less compelling in political circles” though elsewhere one or the other of them may have been more central. Although mostly about these motivations, this carefully researched book by an academic, also discusses organizational arrangements; relations among NASA, the business world, and universities; international cooperation; and NASA’s public information programs. Although his research is certainly dated, Van Dyke’s conclusions hold up surprisingly well after the passage of 30 years.
von Braun, Wernher. First Men to the Moon. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. A popular account of Apollo based of a series of articles appearing in This Week magazine. Its greatest strength is the inclusion of easily understood diagrams of scientific phenomena and hardware.
______, and Ordway, Frederick I., III. History of Rocketry and Space Travel. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1969, 2d edition. This is a large-format, illustrated history that emphasizes the history of the U.S. space program and Project Apollo. It was written by one of the most significant popularizers of space flight and one of his leading space information specialists.
______, Space Travel. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. This update of History of Rocketry & Space Travel contains an excellent summary of the early visions of space flight.
Weaver, Kenneth F. “What the Moon Rocks Tell Us.” National Geographic Magazine. 136 (December 1969): 788-91. A popular rather than scientific account of the moon rocks. Together with “Next Steps in Space” by NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine (pp. 792-7), this rounds out the “First Explorers on the Moon” series in this issue (see Chapter 5, Apollo 11).
What Made Apollo a Success? Washington, DC: NASA SP-287, 1971. A reprint of articles by George M. Low, Kenneth S. Kleinknecht, Scott H. Simpkinson, Christopher C. Kraft, and others from the March 1970 issue of Astronautics & Aeronautics. Each of these articles is discussed separately in the appropriate sections of this bibliography.
Wilbur, Ted. “Support Forces.” In Wilbur, Ted. Space—And the United States Navy. Prepared by the Editors of Naval Aviation News (November 1970): 73-77. Covers various support the Navy provided for NASA during Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo ranging from satellite information through recovery following splashdown of spacecraft.
Young, Hugo; Silcock, Bryan; and Dunn, Peter. Journey to Tranquillity: The History of Man’s Assault on the Moon. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970. A ponderous “anti-Apollo” broadside, this book seeks to cast aspersions on the entire space program. Handled deftly by investigative journalists who are writing an exposé, the first chapter sets the stage by characterizing Wernher von Braun as a self-righteous traitor and John F. Kennedy as an adolescent exhibitionist. They then describe a conspiracy of bureaucrats, industrialists, and politicians who promote space as a means of feathering their own nests. The authors used the Apollo fire that killed three astronauts as the evidence that “proves” the dishonesty and criminal behavior of NASA and other space advocates. The authors were journalists with the London Sunday Times and they provided a fast-paced if highly critical analysis of Project Apollo.