Product Description

This is perhaps the most complete, detailed and readable story of manned space-flight ever published. Beginning with the historical origins of the dream of walking on the Moon, Tracking Apollo to the Moon is the complete story of manned spaceflight, from the earliest Mercury and Gemini flights through to the end of the Apollo era.
In readable, fascinating detail, Hamish Lindsay - who was directly involved in all three programs - chronicles mankind's greatest adventure with a great narrative, interviews, quotes and masses of photographs, including some previously unpublished.
As well as bringing the history of these missions to life Tracking Apollo to the Moon serves as a detailed reference for space enthusiasts and students. Having seen the manuscript, the Smithsonian requested two copies of the finished book, and Buzz Aldrin asked for five!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1311938 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 426 pages

Review
"Hamish Lindsay has done a marvellous job of telling the story of manned space flight   He has given his readers a sort of encyclopedia of the beginning of man's quest for flight into space. This is followed with a splendid description of the real time operations of all of the major missions. As one who lived through the Camelot period of space in the 60s and knows the trauma we all endured, I am greatly impressed with the detail and authenticity of the stories that Hamish so vividly tells. For example, as I read Hamish's account of the Apollo 11 and 13 missions, I could again imagine myself back in mission control reliving some of the finest moments of my life...Those of you who are fortunate to read Hamish Lindsay's account will be much richer for it."
- FROM THE FOREWORD BY CHRISTOPHER C. KRAFT, JR.,
NASA's First Flight Director and Retired Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center

Book Info
A complete, detailed, narrative of the Apollo Moon Landing Program, telling the story of each mission in lively, and meticulous language. The chronicle features interviews, quotes, and extensive photographs, including some that have been previously unpublished. Color and halftone illustrations included. DLC: Project Apollo--(US) History.

Customer Reviews

Tracking Apollo to the Moon
Lindsay worked at NASA's Muchea tracking station near Perth, Australia, from 1963 to 1981. His experience enables him to offer an excellent account of the space program from someone who was there. From a brief but outstanding history of flight to the Apollo-Soyuz program, he chronicles the events that shaped manned space flight. The well-known stories of the astronauts are here with additional detail, as well as many of the stories of the people and events behind the scenes. His approach is to "tell it just like it was" and the book is full of firsthand accounts and transcripts of the actual transmissions made during the space flights. There are numerous pictures and illustrations to help foster this approach. The chronological order allows the reader to see how the various decisions and events shaped the direction of the US space program. The book is very readable, and its format makes it an excellent resource for the general reader interested in finding answers to questions about the space program through the late 1970s. All levels.

Somewhat of a letdown
This book would be a great introduction for anyone who hasn't read any previous biographies/details of the Apollo or NASA histories. However for those who have, the book may turn out to be a real disappointment. I'm Australian and was looking forward to a detailed Aussie perspective on the spaceflight industry, but this seems to me to be too brief. Only glimpses are shown of the development of Honeysuckle Creek/Carnarvon tracking stations etc, which may please international readers but not this Aussie!

The book seems to be trying to gain an international audience by overviewing the entire NASA spaceflight chronology, but after a few chapters some of the quotes and phraseology started to appear disturbingly familiar. Why do I get the impression the author has read every other book on the subject and just cut and pasted from each of them? The reference to Al Shepard as 'Smiling Al'/'Icy Commander' will be VERY familiar to some, and is only one example of a number of apparent ... which start to annoy after a while and eventually to the point where I gave up reading. (And why the strange purple print?)There are also some inaccuracies in the text which point to the author not having done original research, but these are not major, only adding to my irritation.

It's not really revelatory except in some brief instances, and won't contain much you haven't read before if you are a space buff. The book is rather shallow and as a previous reviewer found, does not take a definite perspective, which I found a big letdown. I felt it tried too hard to be all things to everyone, and would have been better to have concentrated on a particular aspect such as the birth of the Australian spaceflight industry with an analysis of the attendant federal/state politicking and development of local spaceflight industry, and appealed to a niche market instead of trying to capitalise on the mainstream space market.

However a good read if you are starting out in spaceflight history, and there are some very nice colour plates.

Somewhere between odd and typical
This edition reprints astronaut quotations in purplish color throughout. It is a weird choice, since the only other books I know of that do that are Bibles with the words of Christ highlighted in red letters. The color is hard to read. Aside from that, this book is about what you'd expect. It was written by an Australian, and so everything is slightly skewed toward the Australian involvement, which seems unimportant in the grand scheme of things if you ask me. I loved the movie The Dish about the Australian tracking station, but I can't seem to stir up any more interest in the subject. At least the film was comical and quite aware of its peripheral status--the book has no such perspective. See the movie The Dish and buy another book--either Chaiken's or the new one by Reynolds.