Great read on not just the 3 astronauts who made the first landing on the moon, but events that lead up to creation of the Apollo program and all the scientists, engineers, and contractors who developed one of the most complex machines ever built by man. ( )

The story of Apollo 11. Nelson had access to newly declassified info between the CIA and NASA, which is pretty darn cool. Hell, the whole story is pretty darn cool. Lots of oral histories from not just the astronauts but NASA personnel as well. ( )

Rocket Men, by Craig Nielson, read by Richard McGonagle. Unabridged (17 hrs, 12 mins) Penguin Audio, June 2009

When I think of the Apollo missions (and I do so a lot) I feel two things primarily: wonder and sadness. Let's start with the wonder.

That a group of scientists, engineers, and astronauts were able to land on the moon was a tremendous feat. I was born in 1968, so I've never known a pre-Apollo world, but the history of what occurred between 1960 and 1969 at NASA is something I never tire of exploring. Werner von Braun and his rockets. Gene Krantz running mission control. Armstrong and Aldrin in the LEM, Collins in orbit. The engineers and programmers constantly watching their machine. The risks that were taken and the successes achieved by all these people seem so foreign to the culture I know that the history reads like science fiction.

Rocket Men, by Craig Nelson, is the story of those people. He relates the experiences of the astronauts before, during, and after Apollo 11. He discusses the life of Werner von Braun and his team from Germany right after World War II. He covers mission control and many of the decisions that were made leading up to the actual moon landing. The entire book is fascinating and alive with numerous quotes from people who were there. Richard McGonagle narrates, his rich voice and cadence never tiresome. I was always eager to get back to listening.

The sadness I feel is that we have stopped in space. The 40th anniversary of the Apollo missions has come and gone, and the world we live in is not what so many hoped it would be. Given several choices for NASA's post-Apollo direction, President Nixon (not known for his forward thinking) chose the Shuttle, but not the space station that was proposed with it. Ever since we've been in low orbit.

Interest in the moon (and beyond) is becoming prominent again as China and Japan have declared interest in moon shots. Because of that, the United States has declared interest of our own. And so has Russia. I suppose all of us getting together and running a... no? Alrighty.

The last disc in Rocket Men was very memorable. Nelson discusses the later lives of all the astronauts and the difficulties they have gone through. Michael Collins described an aimless "what now" feeling that has followed him throughout life. Aldrin suffered depression. Armstrong had trouble dealing with the demands on him. And in the United States they all live in now, Nelson says that 27% of young people don't even believe we went to the moon at all. 10% more feel it's very unlikely that we did. Space is being used primarily for satellite communications and for defense.

Nelson then outlines the great success NASA has enjoyed with robotics. The Mars Rovers, orbiters around different planets and the sun. Lots of great science is being done. Like Nelson, though, I would like us to send people to these places. "Not because it is easy," like President Kennedy said of going to the Moon, "but because it is hard."

This review originally appeared on the AudiobookDJ website (http://www.audiobookdj.com/rocket-men...) ( )

While I am sure the publication of this book near the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing was planned, my reading of it coincident with the anniversary was not. Reading about the history and development of the Apollo program leading up to July 20th, and reading about the actually landing within hours of the actual anniversary made this enjoyable, informative read even better.

The Apollo program was discontinued before my memory. All my familiarity comes from the media. I found this book to be the best portrayal that I have come accross. It expresses the facts clearly while conveying the varying emotions of all involved well.

I think that this is an outstanding book about an outstanding event. ( )