The First Men on the Moon

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. One month later, President John F. Kennedy challenged the American nation to land a man on the Moon before the decade was out. On 16 July 1969, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin set off in Apollo 11 to attempt this audacious mission, and succeeded magnificently. This book tells the story of Apollo 11, starting with crew selection and training, the choice of the landing site, and the assembly of the space vehicle, then a detailed account of the mission, featuring the lunar landing and moonwalk, and a review of how our knowledge of the Moon's history was revolutionised as a result. The story is enlivened by dialogue between the astronauts in space and the flight controllers in Mission Control. TOC:Part I. The decision to go the Moon.- The Apollo spacecraft.- CSM.- LM.- The Saturn V launch vehicle.- Ground support.- Mission Control.- MSFN.- Precursor missions.- Gemini.- Apollo 8.- Apollo 9.- Apollo 10.- Selecting a landing site.- Apollo operational constraints.- Lunar Orbiter reconnaissance.- Surveyor surface investigation.- The mascon issue.- Site shortlist.- Part II. The men of Apollo 11.- The crew rotation system.- Neil Armstrong.- Buzz Aldrin.- Michael Collins.- Training.- Simulators.- Geology training.- Surface experiments.- Preparations.- Stacking.- The crawler.- Suiting up.- Witnesses.- The ticking clock.- Setting off.- Ascent.- Activities in parking orbit.- Translunar injection.- Through the radiation belts.- Coasting.- TD and E.- Coasting in passive thermal roll.- Navigational checks.- Crossing the neutral point.- Arrival.- Behind the Moon.- Lunar orbit insertion.- Circularisation.- Viewing the landing site.- Preparations.- Separation.- Descent.- Descent orbit insertion.- Initiation of powered descent.- Touchdown.- Tranquillity Base.- Post-landing activities.- EVA preparations.- On the ladder.- 'One small step'.- The flag ceremony.- Collecting rocks.- Ingress, sleep and preparations to leave.- Coming home.- Liftoff and rendezvous.- TEI.- In-flight press conference.- Entry, splashdown, recovery, BIG suits and quarantine trailer.- Home.- Part III. The lunar samples.- Follow-on missions.- The next two.- The lunar field geologists.- Budget cuts and lost opportunities.- Life after Apollo 11.- Reflections.