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Author Topic:   Moondust (Andrew Smith)
nasamad
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posted 04-15-2005 07:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for nasamad   Click Here to Email nasamad     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A new book about the Apollo astronauts is out, "Moondust" by Andrew Smith, and appears to be getting very good reviews from all who have read it.

It looks different in the fact that it concentrates on the lives of the astronauts after they had returned from the moon. I have just ordered my copy!

The Apollo moon landings have been called the last optimistic act of the twentieth century. Twelve astronauts made this greatest of all journeys, and all were indelibly marked by it. In Moondust, journalist Andrew Smith reveals the stories of the nine still living men caught between the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Earth's collective dreaming: Here, we relive the flashbulbs, the first shocking glimpse of Earth from space, the sense of euphoria and awe. This was the first global media event, after all, and the astronauts were its superstars.

They had been schooled by NASA for every eventuality in deep space but were completely unprepared for fame. On their return, they struggled to balance notoriety with a spaceman's frugal paycheck. These perfect specimens of mind and body were, ultimately, only human beings thrust into an impossibly intense spotlight. Possibilities bloomed, and marriages crumbled under the strain.

And it wasn't just the astronauts who'd changed; the world was changing, too. As the Apollo program wound down, the wild and happy experimentations of the sixties gave way to the cynicism and self-doubt of the seventies, and the moonwalkers faced what was, in some ways, their greatest challenge: how to find meaning in life when the biggest adventure you could possibly have was a memory. Some traded on past glories; others tried to move on. Some found God; some sought oblivion; some reinvented themselves and discovered a measure of happiness in a completely unexpected place. Andrew Smith sees them through the eyes of the boy who flung down his bike on a summer evening to hear Neil Armstrong utter his fateful words -- and through the eyes of a grown man balancing myth against reality and finding the truth infinitely richer and more moving.

A thrilling blend of history, reportage, and memoir, Moondust rekindles the hopeful excitement of an incandescent hour in American history and captures the bittersweet heroism of those who risked everything to hurl themselves out of the known world — and who were never again quite able to accept its familiar bounds.

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Harper (August 16, 2005)
  • ISBN-10: 9780007155415
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007155415

Scott
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posted 04-15-2005 08:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott   Click Here to Email Scott     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think that's a great idea for a book.

1202 Alarm
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posted 04-15-2005 09:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for 1202 Alarm   Click Here to Email 1202 Alarm     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I loved the chapters on that subject in Chaikin's book "A Man on the Moon," as this is exactly the kind of story I love to read.

Thank you for the information!

Blackarrow
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posted 04-16-2005 09:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hear hear! The book is full of humour and colour and is written with vigour, and the astronauts display much candour.

I've started reading the book and am finding it very interesting, particularly as I have met the nine moonwalkers the author is writing about. (He was at the same Dave Scott book lecture I attended in Oxford last year, and it's interesting to compare his quotes with my video recording). It's too early to give a proper account of "Moondust" but my preliminary opinion is very favourable.

747flyer
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posted 04-19-2005 02:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 747flyer   Click Here to Email 747flyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just finished reading this book. It has some strange errors - for example, it says 27 men flew out to the moon (should be 24, I think) and that Apollo 13 was on a free-return trajectory when the explosion happened. If I recall correctly, it was not and the first burn after the explosion put it back on track.

Apart from these small inaccuracies, I would highly recommend this to anybody who is interested in how the moonwalkers were affected by their flights. Some of the interviews that the author describes are fascinating — especially his account of his meeting with John Young.

Now a question. Here's an extract from the authors description of Eagle's descent:

Aldrin stole his first glance out of the window. 250 feet below them, he saw the silvery carcass of an unmanned lunar probe that NASA had sent up as research.
Anybody know what this vehicle was? I don't recall reading about this elsewhere.

In summary, an excellent book that also manages to be very entertaining and witty.

747flyer
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posted 04-19-2005 03:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 747flyer   Click Here to Email 747flyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Answering my own question, looks like this was Surveyor 5, which sat 25 km away from Tranquility Base.

Mark Zimmer
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posted 04-27-2005 10:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mark Zimmer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's a spotty book; the parts that deal with the actual subject matter are terrific. But there's way too much about the author's childhood and wafer-thin and not-very-enlightened musing about the importance of the space program; had that been omitted it would be a shorter book by nearly half but much more valuable.

gliderpilotuk
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posted 04-27-2005 10:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Although I've only dipped into the book I agree with Mark.

I was expecting something like "Footprints: 12 Men Who Walked on the Moon Reflect on Their Flights, Their Lives and Their Future" by MacKinnon and Baldanza — a great book. Instead this looks more touchy-feely than factual and somewhat lightweight.

It's a bit like the disappointing book about Joe Kittinger, called "The Man who Touched the Sky," which has no weight compared to "The Long Lonely Leap."

spaceuk
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posted 04-27-2005 12:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Daily Express newspaper ran a two page story from this book last Saturday.

Any "innocent reader" would have got the impression that nearly all the moonwalkers had turned to drink, spiritualism or god after their scary trips! I think we here know better.

gliderpilotuk
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posted 04-27-2005 02:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Today the author was interviewed on BBC Radio 5. Not impressive.

KC Stoever
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posted 04-27-2005 04:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for KC Stoever   Click Here to Email KC Stoever     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I read some reviews online, most of them quite generous and favorable. None from the Express though.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should report that the author interviewed Rene Carpenter at length. But that was two years ago. It appears from the shape of the final book, he decided to narrow the scope of his inquiry a great deal. Gray was delightful on the telephone, I must say.

Steve Procter
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posted 04-27-2005 04:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Steve Procter   Click Here to Email Steve Procter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Kris, I've just finished the book and a few technical errors apart, it is quite an interesting read. The writer (who is an American though living in England) has based his book on the idea of Apollo and looking at the programme retrospectively through the eyes of the surviving moonwalkers.

He is not a space writer/journalist as such it would appear, having written a number of books and articles on varying subjects not space related. This book, whilst of interest to us for obvious reasons is more aimed at a general readership interested in "ideas" and "people."

He also met and spoke with many other astronauts apart from the moonwalkers such as Bill Anders and Dick Gordon.

One interesting piece is his efforts to track down and meet some of the moon hoax conspiracy theorists such as Bart Sibrel.

A good enjoyable read for it's "human" feel but from a technical point of view doesn't tell us much we didn't already know. Give it a go, it's a worthwhile effort.

Larry McGlynn
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posted 04-28-2005 02:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Larry McGlynn   Click Here to Email Larry McGlynn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I also have read Moondust. It is not an impressive book. Moondust is for people without any knowledge of Apollo or it's personalities.

I don't see how you can write a very definitive piece about people and how they have come to terms with a major event in their life when you have interviewed them once at a SciFi convention, a conference or a lecture.

This subject requires more time and more interviews with the primary and many more secondary sources involved in the entire episode. One can only imagine how the questions were answered when you are quizzing someone who is in the middle of an autograph session at the same time.

Most of us can get this information at the annual space autograph shows each year or from the many astronaut written books and interviews that are on various websites. Moondust is not a very in depth or meaningful book.

The author has some personal facts incorrect. One that immediately comes to mind is that Dr. Mitchell was never married to Anna DeCampo as mentioned in the book.

If you can't interview someone, like Dave Scott, then leave him out of the story. Do not repeat the old innuendoes that are out there until you have met the man and he has told you his account.

Mr. Smith is perceptive in some instances and entertaining in his writing about his journeys to find these men, but otherwise he is not breaking any new ground. It is a shallow, slightly updated version of Chaikin's section of "where are they now?"

It's a start, but there is a long way to go.

Captain Apollo
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posted 06-17-2005 04:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Captain Apollo   Click Here to Email Captain Apollo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The trouble is that if history was only based on interviews with the living, then nobody could write anything after they died. I think Moondust does a good job of supplying an interesting and different narrative slant to the Apollo story. I found many of his statements resonant with my own memories.

Frederic Janik
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posted 07-30-2005 06:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Frederic Janik   Click Here to Email Frederic Janik     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just finished reading this book and am really disappointed.

The bigger part of the book is not about the "Moon Men" but about the author himself and his memories of his youth...

Several moonwalkers are actually interviewed, but the author is every time either insulting, sarcastic, or just says he interviewed them and selects only a few bits of the discussion to be published..

It looks throughout that the actually subject is himself and that the astronauts are merely here to add matter to the book (how many times are we reminded that the author's age is the same as the astronauts when they traveled to the Moon, that he is also a first child, etc..).

To end up with the worse, he actually writes that he has had an e-mail conversation with Neil Armstrong, who gives interviews very rarely, that lasted several months, but does not actually deem necessary to publish the man's answers!

No wonder the book is heavily discounted not too long after being published.

PS: I hope I never meet the man. There is no such thing as "off the record" with him.

WAWalsh
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posted 09-15-2005 10:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for WAWalsh   Click Here to Email WAWalsh     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to read "Moondust, In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth." The author is Andrew Smith and it was first published in the UK this year. The book appears to be from a series of interviews with the surviving moonwalkers. I picked it up today in B&N on the presumption that it will be of interest.

Editor's note: Threads merged.

DavidH
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posted 09-16-2005 08:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidH   Click Here to Email DavidH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Haven't read it myself yet, but very interested in it.

mjanovec
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posted 09-16-2005 09:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is somewhat interesting, dealing mostly with the lives of the astronauts after they left the space program. I wouldn't say it's the greatest book out there, but there are some almost comical moments where Neil is avoiding autograph collectors. The description of the John Young interview is kind of funny too.

Parts of the book also deal with collectors as well.

However, I would also say that a third of the book seems to devoted to the author's own saga to find and interview the astronauts...and not so much about the astronauts themselves.

1202 Alarm
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posted 09-16-2005 11:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for 1202 Alarm   Click Here to Email 1202 Alarm     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's a must for collectors like us, I loved the mentions of Novaspace and Kim. I loved the personal thoughts of the author, I don't think it's taking down the story, as in fact it's all about the human side of these guys, their current lives. Therefore, the author's own input was very interesting. I've learned a lot of things i didn't know about Young, Armstrong and Bean, for instance.

Frankly, we need books like that to go along more technical ones about the diff. between the left Hydrogen tank of Block 1 and Block 2, or things like that. :-)

Beside, it is easy to read, for a non english guy like me that doesn't hurt...

mjanovec
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posted 09-16-2005 11:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Let me add that it is a somewhat unique book, talking more about the lives of the astronauts now and less about what they accomplished. In that respect, it is very interesting.

While I sometimes felt the book was more about the author than about the astronauts, I think most cS members would find the encounters with the astronauts to be pretty fascinating. It helps to view the book as more of an adventure of the author to find out what someone who walked on the moon does for the rest of their lives.

The book fills a void to some degree...focusing more on the present than the past.

D-Day
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posted 11-02-2005 08:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for D-Day     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Let me note that my colleague, Dr. Jeff Foust, recently reviewed this book here. Foust writes:
Much of Moondust is composed of vignettes as Smith zigzags across the country, from Florida and California to Las Vegas and Houston, tracking down moonwalkers and other Apollo astronauts. Edgar Mitchell continues his interest in the paranormal. Dick Gordon, the Apollo 12 command module pilot, looks almost pathetic, all but ignored at an autograph show in Las Vegas in favor of third-rate actors from sci-fi TV shows. John Young dazzled -- and perhaps overwhelmed -- Smith with his discussions of lunar science and the threat to humanity posed by asteroid impacts. Smith had the luck of meeting Buzz Aldrin the day after Aldrin's infamous encounter with Bart Sibrel. He was even able to cross paths in person, and later exchange emails, with Neil Armstrong, although those encounters offered few insights.

While each of these individual encounters is entertaining, collectively the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It's difficult to puzzle out what the underlying theme of the book is supposed to be. Is it that the Apollo astronauts went off in so many different directions after their missions? That hardly seems surprising, given that, despite the best efforts of NASA public affairs of the day to demonstrate the conformity of the astronaut corps, these are all very different people, with different backgrounds and personalities, many of whom are not necessarily close with one another. (One interesting observation made late in the book is that the lunar module pilots tended to be more strongly affected by their missions than their commanders, but Smith doesn't devote a lot of time to try and explain why that might be true.) Is the book's purpose to show how these "men who fell to Earth" responded to achieving the highlight of their careers while many were still in their thirties? If so, the book doesn't do that well a job of explaining how well they did. There are countless people, from child actors to athletes, whose most significant accomplishments came early in their lives. Despite the personal demons some of the Apollo astronauts had to fight after the end of the program -- alcohol, depression, divorce -- one might argue that the Apollo astronauts handled this better than, say, a high school quarterback who wins the state championship at age 17 and spends the rest of his life futilely trying to recapture that glory. Smith, though, doesn't pursue that line of argument.

In the end, Moondust, like so many other books, is as much about the author as it is the subject matter. Smith comes to that realization in the final pages of the book: "Why had I wanted to come back to the time and place of Apollo? For eighteen months this has vexed me, but suddenly the answer seems obvious: that the astronauts represent a time when the world seems to reflect my own innocence." That innocence may have been short-lived, but the memories proved strong. Perhaps, in the end, too strong, spoiling what might have been a more coherent, enlightening examination of how a monumental effort like Apollo reshaped the lives of the men who journeyed to the Moon.

DChudwin
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posted 12-06-2005 08:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just finished this book, and enjoyed it. Here are a few thoughts:

The author, a British journalist who grew up in California during the Apollo era, takes on two daunting tasks in this book. First, he investigates the lives and personalities of the 9 surviving Moonwalkers both before their missions and, especially, after them. Did walking on the Moon change them? Second, he looks at the meaning and implications, past and future, of the Apollo program.

He is more successful in the first part. His portraits of each of the Moonwalkers is engaging and mostly accurate. I especially enjoyed his humorous description of his interview with the laconic John Young. He "stalks" Neil Armstrong at two of Neil's public events and, while he doesn't get an interview, he does get some e-mail correspondence about flight details. He portrays the warmth of Al Bean, Ed Mitchell,and Charlie Duke. He meets with Buzz and Lois Aldrin shortly after Buzz punched out a "hoaxer." He compares and contrasts Aldrin and Gene Cernan, both of whom have capitalized on their Moonwalker status. He explores the interesting ideas of Jack Schmitt about mining the Moon. He tracks down Dave Scott when Scott still lived in England.

In this part of the book, there is some excellent writing. The description of the Apollo 11 landing is outstanding in its sccuracy and tension. His explanation of Ed Mitchell's theories is the most understandable I have come across.

The other part of the book-- to understand the historical origins and meaning of Apollo-- is audacious and not quite as successful.

Like other authors, he looks at the Cold War origins of the l960's Space Race. What is different is that he puts Apollo into a cultural context. At one point he calls Apollo "theater." He also relates the music and other happenings of the l960's to the space program.

The entire book is written in the "gonzo" journalism style. Popularized by the late Hunter Thompson, this form of New Journalism looks at the topic through the personal journey of the author. It is opinionated, non-objective journalism, but it can get to the truth of the matter.

I think this format works well because most of us, if we had the time and resources, would also like to seek out and personally meet the Moonwalkers.

I am about the same age as the author and the book really brought me back to the excitement of the Apollo program. Those who are under 40 now do not realize what a BIG DEAL the Moonlandings were in 1969-72. As a college journalist I covered the Apollo 11 launch and Moonlanding at the Cape, and that experience was an amazing event.

For those younger readers especially, this impressionistic book is a must-read if they want to understand that era.

DMScott
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posted 12-28-2005 07:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DMScott   Click Here to Email DMScott     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I really liked Moondust. I reviewed it on Amazon -- copied here.

A remarkable, fantastic and memorable book! Techno weenies please stay away.

Andrew Smith has pulled off a rare writing feat - he's got several books in one that combine into a unified whole. Firstly, this is a book about the nine still-living Apollo astronauts and what they are doing and thinking today. Viewed from thirty years away from their missions, these men's thoughts and ideas are enlightening, funny, weird, infuriating, and ultimately human. But this is also a book about what it was like to be a kid in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the moonshots were happening. Because Smith is a Brit who lived in the US at the time, we also end up with a partly international look at America's space odyssey. What became most interesting to me however, was Smith's search for "the truth" about Apollo. Alert readers with an open mind will follow Smith through a year of his life and countless meetings with astronauts and their family members, conspiracy theorists, and NASA types, all as he continually ponders aloud for us what he himself is thinking. I particularly liked how Smith used his fleeting encounters with first man Neil Armstrong as a metaphor for how his personal reflections about Apollo changed throughout his year on the road-what great writing.

Moondust is a remarkable book. I read at least a book a week (I'm also an author), and Moondust is probably the best book I've read in two years. Really!

However, if you are a techno weenie looking for minutia on Apollo, do yourself the favor and don't read this book. And if you are an Apollo technical buff and you do read it, please don't write a whiney review lamenting the technical details. This is not a technical book and it is not for you.

I originally picked this book up because like many people my age, I was transfixed by Apollo as a kid (I was nine years old when Apollo 11 went up). I also happen to share a name with Apollo 15 moonwalker David Scott which in elementary school was a weird sort of fame. (I remember watching with my classmates at an assembly when the helicopter was picking up Scott after splashdown and he was dunked in the water. The TV announcer said "it looks like David Scott got wet" which provided all sorts of hilarity for weeks among my peers.)

But like Smith, Apollo had kind of faded into memory as an almost surreal set of events for me. That he spent a year not only searching out what the moonmen themselves thought but also what HE thought, made Moondust remarkable for me. Thank you Andrew Smith for writing this.

randy
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posted 12-28-2005 11:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for randy   Click Here to Email randy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just picked up a copy of 'Moondust' based on what I've seen here. I'll get to it as soon as I've finished the books I'm reading now. It's a nice addition to my collection.

Madon_space
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posted 08-16-2006 09:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Madon_space   Click Here to Email Madon_space     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just a heads up for anyone in the UK interested in getting hold of Moondust by Andrew Smith (Paperback) , they are selling this book for the bargain price of £3.73 at my local ASDA Store.

Hope this info is of use to someone

Scott
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posted 08-16-2006 09:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott   Click Here to Email Scott     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think you'll like it, Randy. Moondust is written from a completely different angle than other space books. There are observations and stories in it that we won't see elsewhere. Smith is a gifted writer and it is my favorite space book since Carrying the Fire.

ea757grrl
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posted 08-16-2006 09:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ea757grrl   Click Here to Email ea757grrl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I bought it when it was piping-fresh new on the shelf, loved it when I was first reading it, and it's one I love to pull down and re-read in chunks. As someone else said, it's definitely a different perspective on the Apollo astronauts.

In a way it kind of reminds me of what Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer" did about the Brooklyn Dodgers, catching up with them 20 or so years later and seeing what became of their lives.

It's one of the more unusual space books out there, but it's one of my favorites. I loved reading it, and I think you'll definitely enjoy it.

tegwilym
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posted 08-25-2006 03:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm reading Moondust right now and finding it quite interesting with the current interviews with the astronauts. Just a couple comments from the book so far...

On page 14 it mentions that Apollo 11 passed 250 feet over an unmanned probe that was on the surface. I never heard of this from all the Apollo 11 stuff I have read. I assume it was a Surveyor, but which one was that? I never heard of them seeing one on the surface until Apollo 12 obviously.

I love Smith's description on page 37 near the bottom of when he first saw the Saturn V. He describes the feeling of seeing that for the first time quite well. "F*** - there's the Saturn V" Hehe!

I've been to KSC twice now, and I think I had the same feeling both times when I steped out of those doors and looked up. Woooo hooo!

Naraht
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posted 08-25-2006 03:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Naraht   Click Here to Email Naraht     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I suspect that he meant Apollo 12. There are a few small factual errors like that scattered around the book. A great read anyway, though.

747flyer
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posted 08-25-2006 03:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 747flyer   Click Here to Email 747flyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tegwilym:
On page 14 it mentions that Apollo 11 passed 250 feet over an unmanned probe that was on the surface. I never heard of this from all the Apollo 11 stuff I have read. I assume it was a Surveyor, but which one was that? I never heard of them seeing one on the surface until Apollo 12 obviously.
I asked this same question in this forum in April last year, then dug around a little and answered my own question - it was Surveyor 5, which was about 25km from the Apollo 11 landing site. Can't remember where I got this from - most probably just Google'd a bit.

747flyer
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posted 08-25-2006 03:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 747flyer   Click Here to Email 747flyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Google'ing again, I found the source for my previous post.

Novaspace
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posted 08-25-2006 05:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Novaspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That's correct. Surveyor 5 was near Apollo 11 landing site 2, which was selected on the Apollo 10 flight.

If they had picked landing site 3, about 500 miles downrange, they would've landed virtually on top of Surveyor 6.

Moonwalker1954
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posted 08-25-2006 06:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Moonwalker1954   Click Here to Email Moonwalker1954     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by 747flyer:
I asked this same question in this forum in April last year, then dug around a little and answered my own question - it was Surveyor 5, which was about 25km from the Apollo 11 landing site. Can't remember where I got this from - most probably just Google'd a bit.
Yeah, but it is mentioned that Surveyor 5 was 25 Km north-northwest of the landing site. The LM coming from the east, they certainly did not fly over the probe in the last few minutes of their landing trajectory.

I agree with Naraht, he meant Apollo 12.

Novaspace
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posted 08-29-2006 08:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Novaspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You're probably right, Pierre-Yves.

Paul78zephyr
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posted 09-01-2006 09:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul78zephyr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well Ive been reading MOONDUST by Andrew Smith and must say its quite a book. But I was shocked to read about his encounter with John Young. Young would not even sit across and face him for an interview? And all that rambling. This is supposedly our 'greatest astronaut'. Is Smith's account off base or is Young?

mjanovec
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Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 09-01-2006 09:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't think he is necessarily saying anything bad about Young when he discusses his mannerisms during the interview...but only notes that it's perhaps a bit odd. I've met many engineers who won't look you in the eye when they talk to you. The joke is that an extroverted engineer will look at your feet when he talks instead of looking at his own.

Rick Boos
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Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 09-01-2006 09:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Boos   Click Here to Email Rick Boos     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I've met John Young a couple of times at the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the difference between the two encounters was like night and day. The first time he was a real jerk. It was right after the Challenger memo papers were released. He was very standoffish, and unkind. Betty Grisson put him in his place real quick. I met him a year later at the National Aviation Hall of Fame again and he was the complete opposite! Very cordial, and made all over my kids, and would do anything for you. Long and short of it he is human and has good days and bad like all of us.

tegwilym
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Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 09-01-2006 12:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
The joke is that an extroverted engineer will look at your feet when he talks instead of looking at his own.
Yeah, I'm used to this kind of thing. I did time working at some company in Redmond, WA. Although not astronauts, many people there fit that description also.

I'm still trying to recover, the scars are deep!

Blackarrow
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Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 10-01-2006 02:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have just finished this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested enough in space exploration to access Collectspace. The author recalls the excitement of watching Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon when he was 9, but did not approach the task of writing the book as a space enthusiast. In fact, he wonders aloud, at various points through the book, whether the cost of Apollo could be justified. In the end he concludes that it was. Whether or not you agree with his reasoning, I found his approach to the subject refreshing and thought-provoking.

On a personal note, I was interested to learn that our paths crossed several times as he was researching the book: we were both at Autographica in 2003 and were both in the audience when David Scott talked about "Two Sides of the Moon" in Oxford in June, 2004. I was particularly interested in his interviews with John Young and Jack Schmitt, both of whom I have interviewed for "Spaceflight" magazine. I felt like I was in the same room as he reported those meetings (although I didn't have the same difficulty making eye contact with Young!). He went to Portugal in 2003 to meet Neil Armstrong and David Scott at a tourism convention - I remember seeing that event on Collectspace "Sightings." Somehow he seems to have missed Armstrong's far more important public meeting in Dublin in November, 2003.

The book is not without its faults (there are some factual errors which space buffs will quickly spot) but it is certainly one of the best books on Apollo I have ever read. The test of a good book is whether you look forward to picking it up, and whether you make time to go back to it. This book passed both tests with me.

leslie
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Posts: 231
From: Surrey, England
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 10-04-2006 05:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for leslie   Click Here to Email leslie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Having glanced through the book last year I have just re-"read" it completely.
It is certainly not a remarkable book and cannot be described as a book about Apollo! My take on it is that the author struggles to align the individuals with whom he met in the new millenium with the achievements of the programme all those years ago!

What made the Apollo programme remarkable was that ordinary men achieved extraordinary goals, not without great sacrifice.

It is a good light hearted read quickly forgotten.


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