Apollo 13

About the StoryGrowing up as a child, seeing the moon, the only GK I knew about it was "Neil Armstrong"Only after watching the movie did I read up about Apollo 13.I've watched the movie multiple times over the years, read the wiki articles on the Apollo program; and was intrigued to read more in depth first hand.To give you an idea of how much un-putdownable this book has been, consider this - I started reading on a Monday evening, after work and finished the book on Friday afternoon, while going through my routine day where I would have 2-3 hours of leisure to read.About the Book QualityI purchased the second-hand book sold by Booklovers Delight.The book was in good shape, as would be expected for a 25+ year old copy - all bound properly and no damage seenGoing to come back to them and check for more second hand books that I would want.

Like. It’s good to read about the true experience

Apollo Thirteen Commemorative The 30th Anniversary by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger is great. A fast passed exciting read. Nice pictures too. I also saw Apollo Thirteen the movie. The movie was great but this book was even better.We see Jim Lovell in his early Navy times and later as a test pilot. Lovell has an exciting and almost deadly carrier landing as he temporarily gets lost at night, his instruments get shorted out and he almost flies low into the fantail of the carrier.He gets frantically sent around for another try. Too close. Almost bought the farm.Later we see Jim Lovell as a test pilot at Pax River. He applies to NASA to be an astronaut but is initially rejected because of a possible past medical problem. NASA wants more astronauts and Jim applies again and this time Deke Slayton the head astronaut says welcome aboard. Jim meets friends Wally Shirra, Pete Conrad and others that also become astronauts.Also his wife Marilyn and family are shown. Very nice family. We see his Gemini flights, the around the Moon flight and later the failed Apollo 13 flight. Jim has an expensive Mink jacket on Christmas delivered to Marylin from the Man in the Moon.He also named a mountain on the moon after her. She learns her husband and the other 2 astronauts are in serious trouble on the Apollo 13 flight and only have a 10% chance on getting back.Apollo 13s Fred Haise the LM pilot and the CM pilot Jack Sweigert have major roles in this book. All 3 played major roles in getting back. An oxygen tank explodes from shorted electrodes while getting the required mixing signal and takes out almost the entire side of the service module.The 3 astronauts see their atmosphere being vented into space and all electrical systems failing.We see the flight control teams working to save the crew,feverishly planning procedures to get them back.All the hundreds in mission control and the makers of the LM worked frantically non stop. The astronauts must use the LM as a lifeboat to keep alive and later have to power up the CM which has the heat shield for reentry. CO2 build up will kill the crew and mission control gets the crew a procedure for making a CO2 scrubber for the LM. The LM was only made for 2 people for 2 days and they got to stretch and modify what they can for 3 people for 4 days. They must power down many electric circuits and conserve power. The astronauts are very cold and later Fred Haise comes down with an infection that requires hospitalization.This book was so exciting and well written. Not a boring part. Thank goodness for the experts at mission control. Even though the mission was a failure this shows the politicians and the world what NASA can do. This besides Apollo 11 was NASA,s greatest finest hour.They just barley are able to get the CM back on line and jettison their temporary lifeboat LM. All are so thankful for the LM .Using the LM was their only chance for survival. If the explosion would of happened when they didn't have the LEM all three would die of asphyxiation.I still think many of the FLIGHT controllers had huge egos but after reading Apollo 13 I see that all of mission control and FLIGHT were so important and necessary for input and procedures in manned flight. Mission control saved the Apollo 13s crew's bacon. All deserved medals and a ticker tape parade like Lovell and Sweigert got ( Haise missed his parade as he was still sick battling his infection).I asked my kids age 16 and 19 if in any of their school classes was Apollo 13 mentioned and taught. No...nothing all the way through their school years. Also almost nothing about Apollo 11. What a shame. So important history explaining some of mankind's greatest achievements and NASAs finest hour.So much technology learned and inventions from manned space exploration. Apollo 13s crew and all members of mission control were true heroes. Its a shame that the space program spiraled down into just the shuttle and ISS. We lost the drive for a permanent lunar base and Mars manned exploration. I hope we get back on track and my kids can see it in their lifetimes.A fantastic book. Highest rating and I will be proud to read passages to my grandchildren. 5 stars.

Certainly tells the true story instead of dramatizing it for the movie

Comprei este livro para me aprofundar na história da qual sou fã desde que vi o filme com o Tom Hanks. E puxa vida, como o livro supera qualquer expectativa que eu tinha sobre a saga da Apollo 13...O livro te entrega uma história muito mais rica que o filme (que já é magnífico neste aspecto).Eu poderia ficar falando sobre todos os pontos positivos do livro aqui, mas julgo eu, que seria melhor apenas lhe dizer que ele é riquissímo em detalhes, e que a forma como ele conta a história te prende, que você não faz idéia de como a Apollo 13 levou os engenheiros da NASA e aos Astronautas ao limite. Limite da inteligência para conseguir resolver os problemas e se antecipar a eles, e trazer os Astronautas de volta para casa vivos. Limite do equipamento, do que se pode extrair dele, do que ele pode fazer e não do que ele foi projetado para fazer, dá até inveja das nossas ganbiarras, os caras são os Reis da ganbiarra! E quando lê, é ainda mais impressionante como eles conseguiram fazer tudo isso e trazer os astronautas de volta para casa! Mas engana-se quem pensa que só os engenheiros tem méritos aqui, eu fiquei maravilhado com os astronautas, extremamente inteligentes, conhecedores da engenharia, da matemática e principalmente do equipamento que os levaria a lua (nave) tanto ou até melhor que os engenheiros da NASA. Eles não estavam ali apenas para serem a cara do programa espacial, o programa espacial não teria chegado a Lua sem a ajuda e suporte técnico provido por eles. É uma leitura que vale cada segundo dedicada a ela! Você que tem gosto pelo assunto não vai se arrepender!E faltou falar, para quem não tem inglês fluente e tal, vai sem medo, por mais que o livro aborde as tecnicalidades da coisa, não é de difícil compreensão. Mesmo quando eu não entendia a palavra ou giria técnica, nunca foi difícil entender o contexto da coisa. E nada que um tradutor on-line não de conta. Mas eu, que não tenho uma fluência alta, não tive problemas para compreender e aproveitar cada paragrafo desta obra maravilhosa!