Beyond the Atmosphere: Early Years of Space Science Book

We visited the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral Florida that has an unused Saturn 5 rocket the same type that was used to get the Apollo mission to the moon, and I can tell you that when you see the size of this rocket you simply cannot believe it was possible to travel to the moon and back again. This book allows you to realise how it was possible. It covers the entire history from the beginning of the space race in the fifties to Apollo 17 in 1972. All aspects are touched on as well as science, engineering and astronauts we hear of the political challenges, the organisational skills required to manager such large and disparate research and development projects and the personal interfaces of some of the key players. The chapters are written by the individuals involved at the time, so we do hear from people who have really walked on the moon. There are pictures in colour on nearly every page, as well as diagrams and charts, it is truly staggering to realise the resources which went into this achievement. I found the descriptions of the early planning when they did not even know how they were going to get there, let alone get back again, fascinating.