Helpful Score: 1
Supposedly the commander's account of the mission, but he does a pretty good job of getting other perspectives (the engineers, the folks at mission control, and especially, the families')
Helpful Score: 1
If you are a fan of the Apollo 13 movie, you have to read this book! The tiny details that get lost in movie-making are all here, and Jim Lovell has a way of explaining the high-tech sections in a term that the layperson can understand. The insight into the people around the "successful failure" is sharp, and I loved seeing the "behind the scenes" inside scoop on how it all really went down.
Helpful Score: 1
This a very interesting book a real bird's eye view of this failed mission. I did get lost from time to time because of the technical jargon and honestly I had to reread just a little before where I left off at times to essentially pick things back up, to refresh things in my mind. It is told from the ship's point of view and the people on the ground and the family of the men up above the earth. It is very thorough. The events are not glossed over which I really appreciate and the book tells just what did happen to start this collision course. I do have to tell here that when the astronauts were trying to determine just where they were-upside down or sideways or what I thought well why don't they locate the sun? Much to my delight this is described next using the sun to get their bearings. This books holds you at the edge of your seat and is straightforward without leaving out the big and little details to get these people back to earth. The story of how Lovell gets into the space program and how the space program in general is started is very enlightening. A good read, try it.
Helpful Score: 1
The blow-by-blow account of NASA's third attempt to land a man on the moon as told by the mission commander himself. It is a classic truth-is-stranger-than-fiction tale that leaps from the pages in a nonstop page-turner that became a Hollywood blockbuster and popularized the term "Failure is Not an Option". This is an easy, enjoyable read. The book should be required reading for every middle school student.
