This text is amazing. It includes beautiful photography and paintings/artwork by astronaut Alan Bean. The author gives a real break down and detailed descriptions of each of the Apollo missions. The text is written in chronological order of the Apollo missions with a narrative structure within each chapter. In addition to the art and photos, the text includes many diagrams and maps. The text begins with an introduction to the space race and the astronauts who were part of the Apollo mission. A list of all the Mercury and Gemini missions is given. The table of contents lists each chapter clearly. The text begins with a chapter about Apollo 1 and ends with a chapter about Apollo 17. The author includes a comprehensive list of research and sources which included interviews with many astronauts and other NASA personnel involved with the Apollo missions. The author also included a list of further reading. This was a very beautiful book and was very accurate with regards to information about each mission. The images and art contributed to the whole story and really gives the reader a true picture of what astronauts accomplished with each mission. An excellent text for the earth science classroom. ( )

I really liked this book. It's rather large format, and many illustrations are very appealing paintings by the former astronaut, Alan Bean. The layout is clear but not monotonous, with some excellent work to show the scale of the various parts of the space ships. The book briefly discusses the space race generally, and gives overviews of the Mercury and Gemini programs. Each manned Apollo mission then receives a separate chapter.

I would have liked to have read more about the lunar lander. The asymmetry between the methods required for moon landing and take off and for earth landing and takeoff are dramatic. ( )

A non-fiction text that covers US space exploration from Apollo 1 through Apollo 17. I really love the wonderful photographs and illustrations, they greatly enhance this book. The illustrations and photos were my favorite part of the book! The text provides excellent timelines and overview of the US space program. This is a book for advanced readers, but it is written in a way that can be scaffolded and broken into smaller sections. I see options for dividing the book by each mission or astronaut, allowing students to further explore each mission/astronaut, and then teach one another.

There are many areas of the book that provide supplement information like what it is like to be in zero gravity, building the rockets, the scientists in NASA (who were in the background of the missions), items left on the moon, etc. There is good information about the astronauts and the missions themselves. ( )

Review from library copy

Weird with some of the info in this one seeming to contradict Almost Astronauts :) ( )

Each chapter deals with one of the Gemini or Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s in this detailed book about the United States's space program. Also included is information about the astronauts' lives in space. Detailed source list and index make this great for research. Interesting subject matter and tons of photos and paintings make this great for browsing, too. Recommended.

Read my full review on my blog: http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/09/book-review-mission-control-this-is.ht... ( )