Apollo in Perspective: Spaceflight Then and Now

Abstract

July 20th 1969 was a day - or night - that almost everyone over the age of 40 remembers. At least that is the message from a straw poll of colleagues in my Department at Leicester, which revealed a fascinating variety of responses to the question, `where were you when man first set foot on the Moon?', and ranged from sitting in the JCR at a Cambridge college, to washing dishes in a New York drugstore, and at home with mum and dad. Jonathan Allday's new book Apollo in Perspective reflects the author's recognition that the Apollo programme, the largest, most complex and costly civil project of the 20th century, invites a different response from the generations of over- and under-40s. Awareness of that different generational perception of the early days of the Space Programme is one I can share, from my daily interaction with our space science undergradute students in Leicester. Apollo in Perspective is an enjoyable and informative read, written with humour and authority. Major use has clearly been made of official NASA material, some of which is now available on the Web. The description of the Apollo programme is detailed and technical at a level which should be comfortable for A-level science students. The basic physics of propulsion, inertial guidance and orbital dynamics are well explained, as well as the challenging human and political aspects of the Apollo programme. Specialist sections deal with the giant Saturn�V launcher and the pre-Apollo Mercury and Gemini programmes. After a stage-by-stage review of Apollo, the final third of the book goes on to describe the Space Shuttle programme, manned stations from Skylab to Mir, and brings the reader up to date (or at least to mid-1999) with a description of the evolving International Space Station. Finally, taking the longer view, that space travel may determine the ultimate destiny of mankind, the book concludes with chapters on exploration of Mars and some imaginative speculation on how future humans might make the ultimate `journey to the stars'. All in all, this is a book I would recommend to both pre- and post-Apollo generations interested in space exploration. Appendices giving details of all the Apollo missions, stages in the development of the Saturn�V rocket, relevant maths and further reading (including useful websites) add to the overall value.