First published 1985
The Cold War space race reaches fever pitch when President Kennedy commits America to landing on the moon before 1970. From Long Island's factories to Cape Canaveral's launch pads, from Houston's mission control to Huntsville's rocket labs, thousands of engineers, scientists, bureaucrats and astronauts throw themselves into an impossible deadline. The engineers sketch and re-sketch designs for untested spacecraft. Scientists clash over technical solutions. Astronauts strap themselves into experimental machines that might kill them. Through eight desperate years, this army of dreamers and risk-takers pushes the boundaries of human capability. They face the heartbreak of Apollo 13's near-disaster and countless other setbacks. Yet somehow they persist, driven by a shared vision of reaching that distant world a quarter million miles away. This is the story of how one nation marshaled its greatest minds and boldest spirits to achieve the impossible.
Genres: history, science, 20th-century, adventure, non-fiction, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-the-odds, perseverance, teamwork
Setting: Cape Canaveral, Houston, Huntsville, Long Island
Period: 1960s
254 pages · Hardcover · Atheneum