Excellent! This was not a true pageturner for me but I enjoyed it from beginning to end and now I’m inspired to order a book on Apollo 13. ( )

Solid read. Well researched. Author had a lot of passion for the topic. Could easily have been twice as long and still be engaging. it was a character driven book, but would love to have read more on the tech behind the whole enterprise. ( )

One of the best books read thus far in 2021, this is the story of three very brave men who were chosen among NASA's elite. In December 1968 NASA astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were all exceedingly smart, very well competent, and each had a strong history of flight.

Traveling from earth in December of 1968 to the moon, making many successful spins around, and back again to earth, this remarkable journey was in fact a miracle of hope, and success. Some tests before the launching were fraught with errors. Tremendously well planned, the computer systems then were certainly nothing in comparison of today. Yet, they were successful.

History shows that the year of 1968 was one of sadness and chaos. Both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed that year. The Democratic National convention hall was surrounded with protests, primarily regarding the horror of the Viet Nam war.
President Lyndon Johnson promised a fast conclusion to the war. As the body count grew, and the nightly news read numbers from a lottery choosing who would be the next to risk their lives in a country where many knew we did not belong, a country sick and tired of war held LBJ accountable for the disaster.

The nation needed something good to hold on to. Apollo 8 provided that!

A beautiful reading from the bible from Genesis on Christmas Eve brought tears not only to Americans listening, but to the scientists and all those who, despite all the odds, made this journey successful. With this mission, we beat the Russians to the moon, and, this successful mission brought images of the moon's craters highlighting where a mission of a next team could be successful in landing a man on the moon.

Reading this well into the evening, it is a wonderfully written, well researched book of early space exploration and the success of bringing hope to a weary United States.

Highly recommended. ( )

2018 nonfiction book by Robert Kurson recounting NASA's 1968 Apollo 8 mission, which was the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon and return safely to Earth. Rocket Men is an account of the Apollo 8 mission with focus on Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders, the three astronauts aboard during the mission. The book also places an emphasis on the astronauts' families during the mission.

In December 1968 NASA astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders stuffed themselves into a small capsule that sat innocently on top of a gigantic and monstrous rocket named the Saturn V. With the help of a group of extremely intelligent engineers and scientists, America counted down and the enormous ship blasted off the launch pad and began its 245,000 mile journey to the moon. The ground shook wildly underneath the bystanders' feet.

The Saturn V tore into the sky and roared overheard, leaving the Earth behind its fiery wake. The three men experienced violence and ferocious movement inside the command module as the rocket continued to lift at unbelievable speeds.

Eventually, the men reached lunar orbit and they glided just above the moon's grey, cratered and mountainous surface. They successfully accomplished 10 revolutions around our bright and mysterious neighbor. The famous "Earthrise" photo snapped by Anders came from this mission. If you haven't seen it, Google it. The men then succeeded to make their way back home safe and sound, splashing down in the grand Pacific Ocean.

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. Kurson sure knows how to write and keep readers on the edge of their seats. Anyone can enjoy this book; the scientific jargon is kept at a minimum, almost non-existent really. I was hooked from beginning to end. Highly recommended! ( )