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Title: The All-American Boys by Walter Cunningham ISBN: 0-7434-5849-4 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (23 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The best of the Apollo era books!
Comment: As a Flight Controller during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab programs and later as Deputy Manager of the Space Shuttle program, I was fortunate to have a front row seat for the opening of the space frontier. Naturally, I have a great interest in what anyone has to say about those years and therefore have purchased almost every book written about them. Some are very good and some are not worth reading. Among the best, for me, are "Apollo: The Race To The Moon" by Charles Murray and Catherine Cox, "Flight" by Chris Kraft", "Failure Is Not An Option" by Gene Kranz, and "Carrying The Fire" by Mike Collins. The updated version of "The All-American Boys" is now at the top of my list of favorites.
Why? Without getting into such boring details as his early childhood and his later personal life, Cunningham has captured not only what it was like to be there during Apollo but very effectively addresses what we as a country were able to do in a very short time, why we did it, how we did it, and what it means to our future. While I may disagree with Walt's assessment of some of the principal people involved (Chris Kraft especially), I find his overview of the first four decades of manned spaceflight to be very insightful and his ability to communicate it to the reader very rare. Often, when I reflect on post-Apollo events such as the Apollo Soyuz Test Program, the mistakes of trying to justify the Space Shuttle program on "payback" and allowing passengers to ride along, the dreadful years with Dan Goldin as NASA Administrator, putting American astronauts on the Russian Mir, inviting the Russians to be a "partner" on the Internation Space Station, and the horrible tragedies of Challenger and Columbia, I am not too proud of NASA. Cunningham does an excellent job of communicating those feelings.
Finally, I think the last chapter of this book, "What Our Past Tells Us About The Future", should be mandatory reading for every American, but especially for the current NASA management, Congress, and anyone who questions the need to keep exploring. Thanks, Walt, for reminding us why we must keep looking beyond the horizon.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Insider Speaks About Apollo
Comment: I have to admit that my favorite of the astronaut books is Mike Collins' "Carrying the Fire", but I think "The All-American Boys" has to be second. This book is essentially the personal observations and reflections from within the Gemini and (mostly) Apollo programs, and as an external bystander from the early days of the Shuttle until now. What I like about the book is Cunningham's candor, a trait he was always know for within the program, and willingness to discuss the less glamorous, and less appreciated aspects of an astronaut's life in the 1960s.
Generally this type of book is fairly sanitized, and results in a glossy, picture perfect view of the Apollo program and its participants. Here Cunningham tells the story without pulling any punches. He attempts to give everyone their due, but in the end if he has negative information to convey he doesn't shirk from it. Others may disagree with his opinions (I do in a few instances: for example, I think he is unduly hard on Armstrong and Scott for their handling of their Gemini thruster problem), but he makes it clear at the outset that these are his views, and not the official party line. Many come out better than their average perceptions in the public (mostly because so many of these names are now generally forgotten), guys like Bill Anders and Rusty Schweickart, who really did some of the early pioneering that allowed the Apollo 11 and subsequent successes. Certainly the depiction of Conrad and Bean is very sympathetic, and reinforces their good guy personas with more detail devoted to their contributions than they normally get. Many come out worse, in some cases much, much worse. Many (but not all) of the Mercury 7 come across as self important, pompous windbags. I was particularly annoyed by Wally Schirra during the Apollo 7 mission. I had actually believed the position that Cunningham takes, namely that he and Eisele were trying largely to be team players while Wally was the one with the "Bull Moose Complex" (Cunningham's words) and temper that made the mission so agonizing for everyone, especially the ground controllers. Certainly Chris Kraft comes out as a very competent, but egotistical manager, and it still seems unfair that especially Cunningham's career was cut short largely through Kraft's efforts when he was really being painted with the same brush as Wally. (Donn Eisele also got a bit testy with the controllers, but Cunningham always showed restraint and deference. That has been established in numerous sources other than his own book.)
Cunningham does not pretend to be perfect, and admits to shortcomings, while giving credit where it is due. He makes no bones about it, for instance, that he thinks Armstrong and Scott mishandled the Gemini thruster situation, by jumping to quickly to an emergency measure that scrubbed the remainder of the mission too quickly (I disagree), but also goes on to say that nobody could have flown the Apollo 11 landing better than Armstrong (I agree). Likewise he says that Scott's Apollo 15 landing was the best scientific exploration of the moon in the entire series. This dichotomy explains in a nutshell why I liked the book: Cunningham is unafraid to critique a performance, yet will turn around and give the same person kudos for other events. In other words, he recognizes and addresses the fundamental truth that each human has individual strengths and weaknesses.
Particularly illuminating are his views on post-Apollo NASA, a giant bureaucracy that is slow to do anything and serves more as a political rather than a technical organization, especially under Dan Goldin in the Clinton years. The International Space Station, vis-a-vis Russian participation, particularly, is held up for scrutiny as the debacle it has become. Also discussed are institutional safety problems in the agency that led to the Challenger and Columbia accidents (Did we learn nothing from Apollo 1?), and the political appointment of astronauts based on politically correct social theories rather than professional competence.
In summary, this book, along with "Carrying the Fire" are the two books by Apollo astronauts that actually show insight into the program from the inside. Read them both, they will greatly expand your understanding of what made Apollo great.
Rating: 5
Summary: BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!
Comment: The All-American Boys - BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO Cunningham! Not" a kiss and tell" or "know-it-all-book," but a lucid picture from the inside of NASA of human destiny in space and the passion of those who were lucky enough to make the journey. Five hundred years from now, the one thing that will be remember from the Twentieth Century is....Man Landing On The Moon. Of all the space books, this one is the most concise and easiest to read about a most complex journey. It is also a story of the triumph of American heroes who through great risk and determination made their bodies work like machines and their minds like computers. I liked reading for the first time about the selection process and competition of how the first man on the moon was chosen. Cunningham brings us into the NASA training program as if we were in training and reveals what it takes physically and mentally to be an astronaut. I could feel Cunningham's sadness and pain from the lost of his friends in the devastating Apollo 1 fire that took the lives of astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee, even though, he was chosen to fly the very next mission. It must have been bitter sweet. A mission that was very successful. This new updated and revised edition includes a "tell it like it is" observation of NASA's successes and failures. I found his commentary on the NASA and the shuttle program to be very informative. It is a book that should be in every school library across American and, definitely, required reading for students. A terrific read.
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Title: Apollo Eecom: Journey of a Lifetime (Apogee Books Space Series) by Sy Liebergot, David M. Harland, Ron Howard ISBN: 1896522963 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Virtual Apollo: A Pictorial Essay of the Engineering and Construction of the Apollo Command and Service Modules (Apogee Books Space Series) by Scott P. Sullivan ISBN: 1896522947 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race by Thomas P. Stafford, Michael Cassutt ISBN: 1588340708 Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press Pub. Date: 20 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: First on the Moon by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin ISBN: 156852398X Publisher: William s Konecky Assoc Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.98 |
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Title: For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut by Scott Carpenter, Kris Stoever ISBN: 0151004676 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 27 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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