Apollo 13

Apollo 13
by Jeffrey Kluger, James Lovell

Apollo 13
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Book Summary Information

Author: James Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-20
ISBN: 0618619585
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Mariner Books

Book Reviews of Apollo 13

Book Review: A memoir/history that everyone should read...
Summary: 5 Stars

I've had this one on the shelf for a while, knowing eventually I'd want to read it. After the first few pages I was completely drawn in and couldn't put it down, despite having seen the movie and knew the where and the how that everything happened. With Apollo 13 you see not only an awe inspiring tale of survival, but you are transported into the foreign territory of outer space.

We all know that Apollo 13 and its crew re-entered the atmosphere and landed in the ocean. This isn't what made this book so great. What made it so great was reading all the drama of the blown oxygen tank, the off course trajectories and the exploding battery in addition to all the science and technical details that are inserted into this memoir/history of the Apollo 13 mission. When Lovell is explaining how a spacecraft enters lunar orbit, of firing your thrusters with 22,000 lbs of force in order to slow your spacecraft down enough for the gravity of the moon to pull you in. When you learn that when in the sun it is 278 degrees but when not in the sun it is -278, and thus the ship must rotate in order to keep an even temperature spread throughout the ship. The books is full of numerous interesting tidbits that make the survival story, extremely dramatic in its own, just as interesting as the science behind it all.

The other major factor is, or course, mission control, where you have some of the brightest minds in the industry all there to ensure a successful flight to the moon. The ingenious CO2 scrubber, the minute and exact calculations for the slingshot around the moon, the power down sequences to reduce AMP consumption. There is so much that makes this an engrossing read that it transcends the typical memoir and morphs into something all together more interesting and thought provoking. I cannot recommend Apollo 13 enough, even if you have watched the movie already. I myself am now going to search for other NASA memoirs in the hopes of finding other tales that are as intense and thought provoking. A definite recommend.

5 stars.

Summary of Apollo 13

In April 1970, during the glory days of the Apollo space program, NASA sent Navy Captain Jim Lovell and two other astronauts on America's fifth mission to the moon. Only fifty-five hours into the flight of Apollo 13, disaster struck: a mysterious explosion rocked the ship, and soon its oxygen and power began draining away. Written with all the color and drama of the best fiction, APOLLO 13 (previously published as Lost Moon) tells the full story of the moon shot that almost ended in catastrophe. Minutes after the explosion, the three astronauts are forced to abandon the main ship for the lunar module, a tiny craft designed to keep two men alive for just two days. As the hours tick away, the narrative shifts from the crippled spacecraft to Mission Control, from engineers searching desperately for a way to fix the ship to Lovell's wife and children praying for his safe return. The entire nation watches as one crisis after another is met and overcome. By the time the ship splashes down in the Pacific, we understand why the heroic effort to rescue Lovell and his crew is considered by many to be NASA's finest hour.
Now, thirty years after the launch of the mission, Jim Lovell and coauthor Jeffrey Kluger add a new preface and never-before-seen photographs to Apollo 13. In their preface, they offer an incisive look at America's waxing and waning love affair with space exploration during the past three decades, culminating only recently when the Apollo 13 spacecraft itself, long consigned to an aviation museum outside Paris, was at last returned to its rightful home in the United States. As inspiring today as it was thirty years ago, the story of Apollo 13 is a timeless tribute to the enduring American spirit and sparkling individual heroism.

On April 13, 1970, three American astronauts were on their way to the moon when a mysterious explosion rocked their ship, forcing them to abandon the main ship and spend four days in the tiny lunar module which was intended to support two men for two days. A harrowing story of danger, courage and brilliant off-the-cuff engineering solutions which resulted in a dramatic rescue.

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