Introduction to the Dover Edition

Preface

Acknowlegments

1. America Starts for the Moon: 1957-1963

2. Linking Science to Manned Space Flight

3. Apollo's Lunar Exploration Plans

4. Handling Samples from the Moon

5. Selecting and Training the Crews

6. Mission and Science Planning: 1963-1966

7. Setback and Recovery: 1967

8. Final Preparations: 1968

9. Primary Mission Accomplished: 1969

10. Lunar Exploration Begins

11. First Phase of Lunar Exploration Completed: 1969-1970

12. Apollo Assumes Its Final Form: 1970-1971

13. Lunar Exploration Concluded

14. Project Apollo: The Conclusion

Source Notes

Appendix

1. Organization Charts

2. Apollo Funding History

3. Lunar Exploration Planning, 1961-1967

4. Chronology of Major Events in Manned Space Flight and in Project Apollo, 1957-1975

5. Summary Data on Apollo Missions

6. Prime and Backup Crews, Support Crews, and Capsule Communicators for Apollo Lunar Missions

7. Crew Training and Simulations

8. The Flight of Apollo 13

Bibliographic Essay

Index

The Author

This official NASA history chronicles the behind-the-scenes conflicts and cooperation during the Apollo expeditions. It shows how the space agency's scientists, who were primarily interested in the moon itself, worked out their differences with the engineers, who were charged with the astronauts' safe landing and return. The close collaboration between the scientists and engineers ensured the success of a program that remains a major achievement for both fields.
The first half of the book concerns the preparations for the Moon landings, tracing the development of the Apollo science program from the earliest days. The second half documents the flights that followed Apollo 11, during which twelve astronauts explored the lunar surface and returned with samples for investigation. The author drew upon the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center's collection of more than 31,000 Apollo-related documents and conducted more than 300 interviews with program participants to assemble this definitive survey.

William David Compton received his PhD from the University of Texas. In 1974, he was awarded a contract to write NASA's history of the Skylab project in collaboration with Charles D. Benson. He was commissioned by The Johnson Space Center to write this volume.