Apollo 8 :

Select an Action

Apollo 8 :

Title :

Apollo 8 : the thrilling story of the first mission to the Moon / Jeffrey Kluger.

Title:

Apollo 8 :

Varying Form of Title:

Apollo eight

Author:

Kluger, Jeffrey

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

307 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9781627798327

Production / Publication Information:

New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

Summary:

Recounts the bold but dangerous mission to secure America's position as the first nation to reach the moon, revealing the dangers endured by its crew and the ways the mission brought renewal to a country ravaged by assassinations and war.

Bibliography note:

Includes index.

Language:

English

Corporate Subject:

Project Apollo (U.S.)

Project Apollo (U.S.) (OCoLC)fst00610722

Subject Term:

Space flight to the moon.

HISTORY -- Expeditions & Discoveries.

HISTORY -- United States -- 20th Century.

TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Aeronautics & Astronautics.

Space flight to the moon. (OCoLC)fst01127716

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	629.454 KLU	31990004458266	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	629.454 KLU	32114002370485	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	629.454 KLU	31330008268207	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	629.454 KLU	32116003442452	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	629.454/KLUG	31480010981204	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	629.454/KLU	31482002742172	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dunstable Free Public Library	629.454 KLU	32118000946527	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Georgetown Peabody Library	629.454 KLUGER	32120001162872	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	629.454 KLU	30470001537330	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	629.454 KLUGER	32122002698334	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Littleton - Reuben Hoar Library	629.454 KLU	39965002078805	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	629.454 KLU	31481005246025	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	629.454 2017	32124001766799	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Merrimac Public Library	629.45 KLU	32125001290870	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	629.454 KLU	31548003090801	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	629.45 KLUGER	32126001546485	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	629.454 KLU	32127001168858	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Reading - Flint Memorial Library	629.45 KLU	31550002229372	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	629.45 KLU	32130000882255	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	629.454 KLUGER	32133002297217	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The untold story of the historic voyage to the moon that closed out one of our darkest years with a nearly unimaginable triumph

In August 1968, NASA made a bold decision: in just sixteen weeks, the United States would launch humankind's first flight to the moon. Only the year before, three astronauts had burned to death in their spacecraft, and since then the Apollo program had suffered one setback after another. Meanwhile, the Russians were winning the space race, the Cold War was getting hotter by the month, and President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade seemed sure to be broken. But when Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders were summoned to a secret meeting and told of the dangerous mission, they instantly signed on.

Written with all the color and verve of the best narrative non-fiction, Apollo 8 takes us from Mission Control to the astronaut's homes, from the test labs to the launch pad. The race to prepare an untested rocket for an unprecedented journey paves the way for the hair-raising trip to the moon. Then, on Christmas Eve, a nation that has suffered a horrendous year of assassinations and war is heartened by an inspiring message from the trio of astronauts in lunar orbit. And when the mission is over--after the first view of the far side of the moon, the first earth-rise, and the first re-entry through the earth's atmosphere following a flight to deep space--the impossible dream of walking on the moon suddenly seems within reach.

The full story of Apollo 8 has never been told, and only Jeffrey Kluger--Jim Lovell's co-author on their bestselling book about Apollo 13--can do it justice. Here is the tale of a mission that was both a calculated risk and a wild crapshoot, a stirring account of how three American heroes forever changed our view of the home planet.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In spare yet vivid prose, Kluger (with Jim Lovell, coauthor of Apollo 13), senior writer at Time, captures the nostalgia and excitement of a "space-drunk nation" in this gripping account of the first lunar mission. Beginning years before the 1968 launch, the story revolves around Apollo 8's crew: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders. Slated for Apollo 9, they were switched to the first moonshot in an ambitious bid to meet President Kennedy's timetable. Kluger sets the crew's personal histories amid the space race, NASA's early days, and the Gemini 7 program, in which Borman and Lovell orbited Earth in their underwear, eating "lots of fruitcake-packaged like unholy sausage links." Kluger's extensive research and relatable analogies show how "the levers of the great American moon machine were being thrown." Launching a "mass of foil origami" takes a village, and such major players as Chris Kraft as well as the crew's families are brilliantly sketched. Readers will relish Kluger's multisensory prose, and the whole gamut of space flight comes alive in the details. Moreover, extensive interviews lend authenticity to the dialogue and character sketches. Kluger's laudable storytelling novelistically conveys the charged politics of the era while revealing difficult technical concepts. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

How NASA defeated the Soviets in the space race by becoming the first country to send three astronauts on a flight to the moon despite what might have been a disastrous setback.Time science editor and senior writer Kluger (The Narcissist Next Door: Understanding the Monster in Your Family, in Your Office, in your Bedin Your World, 2014 etc.) begins in 1968 with the daring decision to push the flight schedule for Apollo 9 forward and change its itinerary from simply orbiting the Earth to a flight to the moon and back. The author explains that the context for the decision was the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and President John F. Kennedy's promise to land an American on the moon by 1970. The decision went through despite the fact that only 18 months earlier, three astronauts had been killed in a tragic fire during tests of Apollo 7. Faulty wiring proved to be the cause of the fire, likely as a result of the pressure to meet deadlines. "To the pilots [testing the ship], the Apollo felt like a slapdash machine," writes Kluger. "It was temperamental, error-prone, and impossible to work with for more than a little while before something broke down." Nonetheless, morale remained high, and the original plan was scrapped. Rather than delay the mission, Apollo 9 would become Apollo 8. The author was fortunate to be able to interview the three astronauts who flew the Apollo 8 mission: Cpt. Jim Lovell, with whom he co-authored the bestseller, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (1994); Col. Frank Borman; and Maj. Gen. Bill Anders. Kluger also had access to NASA's Oral History Project, which contains transcripts of conversations during the flight, both inside the spacecraft and between the astronauts and ground control. An enjoyable retelling of one of the momentous American achievements that made the moon landing possible. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

We know the basics: Apollo 8 was the second manned space mission of NASA's Apollo program and the first space mission in history to orbit the Moon and come back home safely. Kluger, a veteran science writer (and, not incidentally, coauthor of the acclaimed Lost Moon (1994), which became the movie Apollo 13), fills in the details. He focuses on the people who made the Apollo 8 mission happen as much as he focuses on the actual drama of space flight; the lead-up to the mission the selection of the astronauts, the testing of the equipment, the training is just as compelling as the flight itself (which takes up only a relatively small portion of the book). Comprehensively detailed, and written with the sure hand of someone who knows his material inside out, the book is guaranteed to be a hit with armchair astronauts, space-program veterans, and all readers in between.--Pitt, David Copyright 2017 Booklist

Library Journal Review

A generation of Americans watched the adventures of astronauts in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs, including the moment in 1969 when Neil Armstrong first stood on the moon as part of Apollo 11. But it took years of trial and error for NASA to achieve this feat. Kluger (senior editor, Time) applies his impressive narrative skills to describe in detail how the Apollo 8 mission achieved its goal of being the first to travel to the moon and return safely to Earth in December 1968. Kluger's tale is sprightly written and profiles members of the crew such as Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders as they carried out their arduous training schedule to meet a launch date that took place only a few weeks after Apollo 7 had concluded. VERDICT An excellent book told with spirit and verve and enough spaceflight details to satisfy even the most dedicated student of the program. [Prepub Alert, 11/1/16.]-Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.