 | |
| Author | Charles Fishman |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Apollo program |
| Genre | History, nonfiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 2019 |
| Pages | 480 |
| ISBN | 978-1501106293 |
One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon is a 2019 nonfiction book by journalist Charles Fishman, about the Apollo program, that focuses on thousands of people who worked on it.
[The U.S.] didn't have a spaceship that could fly to the moon. We didn't have a rocket that could launch to the moon. We didn't have a computer small enough or powerful enough to do the navigation necessary to get people to the moon. We didn't have space food.
— Charles Fishman [1]
Fishman wrote the book concentrating not on the biographies of Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin, but writing about ordinary people and often overlooked scientists and engineers who worked on the project. In his review, Robert Schaefer, a research engineer at MIT Haystack Observatory, writes that "between 1961 and 1966, 20,000 companies and a half a million workers were designing, building, or assembling pieces of Apollo ... if Apollo were a corporation, it would have been bigger than every Fortune 500 corporation except for GM." [2] Fishman counted the numbers as "410,000 men and women at some 20,000 different companies [who] contributed to the effort". [1] Among the scientists are Charles Stark Draper, the head of MIT Instrumentation Lab, that designed the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), [2] [3] Bill Tindall, "the talented writer and orbital mechanics 'genius' from the Langley Research Center", and John Houbolt, NASA engineer who advocated for the lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR). [3]
Fishman writes that "Apollo didn't usher in the Space Age, but it did usher in the Digital Age. It helped lay the foundation of the technology that created the digital revolution, and it helped give Americans a sense of excitement and anticipation about the Digital Age ... that had been completely missing before the 1960s began." [3] [2]
The book received positive reviews. National Space Society review writes that "As NASA prepares to return astronauts to the Moon within the next decade ... this book acts as a reminder about what is required to achieve epic results", [4] while Kirkus Reviews calls the book "a fresh, enthusiastic history of the moon mission". [5]
In his review for the Washington Post , Mark Whitaker praised the book as "meticulously researched and absorbingly written". He notes that Fishman "skips retelling the personal stories of Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins". [3]
Robert Schaefer notes that "Fishman is a really, really good storyteller, and One Giant Leap would make a fantastic audio book". He writes that the book gave a good understanding "of America as it was and how it changed with the Apollo mission". Schaefer concludes his review writing that "This reviewer has but one complaint, that even at 480 pages, One Giant Leap could and should have been even longer, with more on the Mercury and Gemini missions preceding Apollo, more on the Saturn V, more on each Apollo astronaut, and more on their discoveries." [2]
Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin Columbia.
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA includes spacewalks and lunar or planetary surface exploration. In a stand-up EVA (SEVA), an astronaut stands through an open hatch but does not fully leave the spacecraft. EVA has been conducted by the Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, Canada, the European Space Agency and China.
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who in 1969 became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. He was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and became the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong.
Michael Collins was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
James Arthur Lovell Jr. is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit the Moon. He then commanded the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970 which, after a critical failure en route, circled the Moon and returned safely to Earth.
Project Gemini was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966.
Tranquility Base is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module Eagle at approximately 20:17:40 UTC. Armstrong exited the spacecraft six hours and 39 minutes after touchdown, followed 19 minutes later by Aldrin. The astronauts spent two hours and 31 minutes examining and photographing the lunar surface, setting up several scientific experiment packages, and collecting 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of dirt and rock samples for return to Earth. They lifted off the surface on July 21 at 17:54 UTC.
NASA Astronaut Group 3—'The Fourteen'—was a group of fourteen astronauts selected by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo program. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Seven were from the United States Air Force, four from the United States Navy, one was from the United States Marine Corps and two were civilians. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space. All of the surviving ten flew Apollo missions; five also flew Gemini missions. Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Gene Cernan and David Scott walked on the Moon.
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts is a 1994 book by Andrew Chaikin. It describes the 1968-1972 voyages of the Apollo program astronauts in detail, from Apollo 8 to 17.
Apollo 11 was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. The 1969 mission's wide effect on popular culture has resulted in numerous portrayals of Apollo 11 and its crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong is the official biography of Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who became the first human to walk on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. The book was written by James R. Hansen and was first published in 2005 by Simon & Schuster. The book describes Armstrong's involvement in the United States space program, and details his personal life and upbringing.
Apollo 11 is a television docudrama film which aired on November 17, 1996 on The Family Channel. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys is the autobiography of the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. It was released in 1974 with a foreword by the aviator Charles Lindbergh. The book was re-released in 2009 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first crewed lunar landing, and again for its 50th anniversary, in 2019.
First Man is a 2018 American biographical drama film directed by Damien Chazelle from a screenplay by Josh Singer, based on the 2005 book of the same name by James R. Hansen. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Christopher Abbott, and Ciarán Hinds, and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969.
William Carpentier is a Canadian-American physician best known as the flight surgeon assigned to the United States' Apollo 11 mission, the first manned spacecraft to land on the Moon. Carpentier says that this was the highlight of his career. In the months following the Apollo 11 mission, Carpentier became known as a world famous physician. He later went into nuclear medicine research.
Apollo 11 was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. In the decades after its 1969 mission took place, widespread celebrations have been held to celebrate its anniversaries.
Lunar Module Eagle (LM-5) is the spacecraft that served as the crewed lunar lander of Apollo 11, which was the first mission to land humans on the Moon. It was named after the bald eagle, which was featured prominently on the mission insignia. It flew from Earth to lunar orbit on the command module Columbia, and then was flown to the Moon on July 20, 1969, by astronaut Neil Armstrong with navigational assistance from Buzz Aldrin. Eagle's landing created Tranquility Base, named by Armstrong and Aldrin and first announced upon the module's touchdown.