First on the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Experience

The review below was written about the original version. The author contacted me for my entire list as the publisher was planning on issuing a second printing. Unfortunately, only about 60% of my comments made it into the new version. The new one is ISBN-13: 978-1454931973.I was an engineer on the launch team for Apollo at Kennedy, so I tend to look at space history books with a more critical eye than most people. While the photos and text are interesting, there are quite a few technical and factual errors.A sampling:pg. 19 Pax River is in Maryland, not Florida.pg. 39 Only 1 of the original Mercury astronauts (Shepard) went to the moon, not 2 as stated.pg. 43 The Agena launched atop an Atlas, not a Titan.pg. 43 Gemini 8 launched from Pad 19, not LC 39. (39 was only for Apollo)pg. 50 John Hodge was a flight director for Gemini 8, not a flight controller.pg. 64 Metric thrust values are measured in kN, not kg.pg. 64 The 3rd stage was the S-IVB, not S-IV. (2x)pg. 70 The S-II did not propel the spacecraft into orbit, the S-IVB did.pg. 90 Photo is not of Apollo 11 as stated. Apollo 11 used LUT 1, photo is of LUT 2.pg. 91 Tom Stafford did not fly to the moon again after Apollo 10 as stated. His next and last flight was ASTP in earth orbit.pg. 99 The CSM separated from the SLA, not the S-IVB.pg. 114 PDI stands for Powered Descent Initiation, not Insertion.pg. 132 "45 g of pressure" is meaningless without an area specified, and I doubt it was 1 sq in.pg. 161 The SPS engine was on the SM, not the CM as stated.pg. 171 218 cubic feet converts to about 6 cubic meters, not 20 as stated.pg. 179 Oxygen is an oxidizer, not a fuel.There are more.

I spent 40 years in the space industry. This book is very real and fun to read. brings back a lot of great memories.

A nice summary of Apollo 11 and the build up to it. Lots of nice photo's and excerpts from technical manuals. Not overloaded with too much minutia but also not a brief skim. Enough to get your teeth into.Well paced a n d interesting through out.

This is an easy to read historical account of Apollo 11.Rod Pyle does a good job of briefly summarizing the history of the US space program through Apollo 11 including descriptions of the Mercury and Gemini programs. He also does a good job of summarizing the design and construction of the Saturn V rocket, the engines, the challenges and great efforts NASA put into putting a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s to achieve President Kennedy's lofty goal. He supplements his narrative of the preparations by the astronauts and all of NASA to make a successful moon landing possible. And the pictures greatly enhanced the story.Why is this not a five star book?For whatever reason Pyle did not discuss development of the command module (CM). This is a major omission as on 27 Jan 1967 a fire occurred in the CM that brought great criticism and scrutiny upon the entire Apollo Program, significantly impacted the program and its schedule, and brought about much needed modifications to the CM. More importantly the fire ended the lives of three astronauts -- Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. I realize this book is to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of a happy momentous event and a fire killing three astronauts does not quite fit into a happy narrative but it did happen and it did impact the Apollo Program. To NASA's credit it did recover from that tragedy and was able to make corrections and get back on track to put men on the moon before the end of the decade. But to leave out this event is a major flaw in this book in my opinion. Pyle did not even mention that Armstrong and Aldrin left on the moon an Apollo 1 mission patch to honor their fallen colleagues.Omitting the Apollo 1 fire and its ramifications upon the entire program is -- in my opinion -- a significant gap that prevents me from giving this book five stars.

I am not a SPACE Junkie but I do like reading about History & Milestones I do read & watch a lot of military books & DOC's on past war's. But when this book became available I decided to pick it up I AM GLAD I DID just to look @ the pictures is AWESOME & to Read about the RACE to the MOON & how it affected the lives of everyone involved in APOLLO 11 was really something for the U.S.A. wanting to beat the USSR to land on the MOON & we did JUST THAT now I can't stop reading the book. I recommend anyone to buy this book its worth every penny

Best "Review Narrative I've read. Sadly the exciting key turning points of the Earth Orbit, transit to Moon Orbit, landing/lift off were under discussed. As a Docent for the Smithsonian Apollo 11 Exhibit currently at the Seattle Museum of Flight, I fill in the missing details and critical events of having first time uses of stop-start-stop-start and throttleable stage rockets.I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a credible overview book, great photo's for a non-scientist.

Just a very well done Book, Foreword by BUZZ ALDRIN. Phenomenal book on one of the World's Greatest moments, Lots of us can even recall were we were when the Apollo 11 Landed on the Moon, with Neil Armstrong talking that Lunar step on the Moon back on July 21, 1969. This is a great photo book , and the story all leading up to that timeless moment. Richard Nixon being the President. Armstrong and Aldrin the first on the Moon . Very Nicely Done

Fabulous! Provides a description of the Apollo 11 mission complete with a detailed narrative, awesome photos and diagrams illustrating how it all came together.

Christmas gift for man who remembers the first moon landing and needs to sit down and relax by reading a book and remembering all those finer details of the actual happenings.

This was a gift vert intetesting

Great book,Enjoyed it very much, nice to read the inside story. I would recommend this book to anyone who interested in history of space flight.

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING TO READ.

Great book