A decade in the making, this book is based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with each of the twenty-four moon voyagers, as well as those who contributed their brain power, training and teamwork on Earth. In his preface Chaikin writes, "We touched the face of another world and became a people without limits."

What follows are thrilling accounts of such remarkable experiences as the rush of a liftoff, the heart-stopping touchdown on the moon, the final hurdle of re-entry, competition for a seat on a moon flight, the tragic spacecraft fire, and the search for clues to the origin of the solar system on the slopes of lunar mountains.


From Publishers Weekly
Chaikin chronicles the historic voyages of the Apollo astronauts, from the program's inception in 1961 to the final mission in December 1972. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Science writer Chaikin spent eight years interviewing dozens of NASA flight controllers, engineers, technicians, and especially all 23 surviving astronauts who flew missions to the moon during the Apollo program. Fleshed out with never-before-published conversations taken from declassified on-board voice recorders, his book provides a vivid account of the first era of manned lunar exploration. Published to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first landing, Chaikin's insightful telling refreshes the oft-repeated stories of these pioneering flights with new details, anecdotes, and reflections that convey what the experience was like for the astronauts. He also shows that, paradoxically for one of the most intensively reported stories of its time, how little we really understood what happened on that July night in 1969. Reminiscent of Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox's superb Apollo: The Race to the Moon (LJ 6/15/89), this is a highly recommended purchase for both public and academic libraries.--Thomas J. Frieling, Bainbridge Coll., Ga.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Chaikin believes we have never truly come to terms with the fact that 24 men have left their footprints on the moon. In an effort to document and understand the shift in consciousness that transformed the moon--a celestial body long associated with goddesses, love, madness, and mystery--into a moving target and goal of the world's most sophisticated technology and determined egos, Chaikin conducted numerous interviews with the moon voyagers and their earthbound colleagues who guided and prayed for them. The result is a can't-put-it-down volume that picks up where Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff left off. These portraits of the men who were willing to be more alone than any human had ever been before are vibrant and compelling. And Chaikin meticulously chronicles each Apollo mission in dramatic detail, describing the dynamics within each trio, the emotions of the astronaut who had to orbit the moon alone while his more glorified comrades romped across powdery moonscapes, and the unprecedented, almost unimaginable experiences of the men who gathered moon rocks and watched the earth rise. This account helps us reclaim the awe these adventures originally inspired, the wonder at such audacity, and the now-ingrained image of the beautiful blue-green Earth spinning hopefully in the austerity of space. Donna Seaman


From Kirkus Reviews
For the 25th anniversary of the first moon landing, a winning and detailed account of the Apollo astronauts, a dozen of whom were the first human beings to walk on the face of the moon. The strength of the book lies in Chaikin's exhaustive research, including interviews with all 24 Apollo astronauts. Chaikin, an editor of Sky and Telescope, draws on the wealth of material from NASA's files--including recently declassified transcripts from the on-board voice recorders, which give candid glimpses of the astronauts' thoughts not intended for outside ears (not even Mission Control's). As a result, the reader gets an in-depth portrait of the program, which the book sets clearly in its time, with glimpses at the Vietnam War and social unrest at home that were eventually to overshadow its brilliant accomplishments. Even readers who followed the moon program at the time will find surprises (Buzz Aldrin's celebrating communion after the first lunar lander touched down) as well as nostalgic reminders of how much fun it was (Alan Shepard's smuggling along golf balls and a club head to try a few swings in lunar gravity). Chaikin effectively recaptures much of the emotion of Apollo: not only the macho fighter-jock exhilaration of flying higher and farther than anyone in history, but the worldwide tension when an explosion forced Apollo 13 to return prematurely to Earth; the frustration of astronauts bumped from the moon crews by illness or other twists of fate; the almost metaphysical calm of looking back at Earth from a quarter million miles away. And while the author's main focus is rightly on the astronauts themselves, the supporting cast, from politicians to engineers--and especially wives and families--gets its fair share of the spotlight. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of space flight: well written, full of fascinating characters and facts, and above all worthy of its subject. (First printing of 40,000; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing, Time-Life Books presents a three-volume illustrated set of the acclaimed work by Andrew Chaikin, A Man on the Moon. Chaikin's definitive account of the Apollo missions is brought to life with more than 500 illustrations and photographs, including some extremely rare or never-before-published photos collected from the archives of NASA, Life Magazine and even the astronauts themselves. The Time-Life edition also contains paintings by Apollo astronaut Alan Bean, commissioned artists' renderings and diagrams of the inner workings of spacesuits and rockets. The three-book commemorative set is showcased in a beautifully illustrated 4-color slipcase. Included in the set are: Volume One: One Giant Leap (368 pgs) Volume Two: The Odyssey Continues (256 pgs) Volume Three: Lunar Explorers (336 pgs)


From the Publisher
9 1.5-hour cassettes

FROM THE PUBLISHER

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon, Time/Life books has produced a 3-volume, fully illustrated edition of this acclaimed work, which tells the story of all the Apollo missions through the eyes of the astronauts. A Man on the Moon was the basis for Tom Hanks' Emmy-winning HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon." The illustrated edition includes more than 500 photographs, many of which have never before been published, from the archives of NASA, LIFE magazine, and the astronauts themselves.