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John Houbolt

The Unsung Hero of the Apollo Moon Landings

William F. Causey

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Purdue University Press img Link Publisher

Sachbuch / 20. Jahrhundert (bis 1945)

Beschreibung

In May 1961, President Kennedy announced that the United States would attempt to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth before the end of that decade. Yet NASA did not have a specific plan for how to accomplish that goal. Over the next fourteen months, NASA vigorously debated several options. At first the consensus was to send one big rocket with several astronauts to the moon, land and explore, and then take off and return the astronauts to earth in the same vehicle. Another idea involved launching several smaller Saturn V rockets into the earth orbit, where a lander would be assembled and fueled before sending the crew to the moon.

But it was a small group of engineers led by John C. Houbolt who came up with the plan that propelled human beings to the moon and back—not only safely, but faster, cheaper, and more reliably. Houbolt and his colleagues called it “lunar orbit rendezvous,” or “LOR.” At first the LOR idea was ignored, then it was criticized, and then finally dismissed by many senior NASA officials.

Nevertheless, the group, under Houbolt’s leadership, continued to press the LOR idea, arguing that it was the only way to get men to the moon and back by President Kennedy’s deadline. Houbolt persisted, risking his career in the face of overwhelming opposition. This is the story of how John Houbolt convinced NASA to adopt the plan that made history.

Rezensionen

— <b>John M. Logsdon, Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, The George Washington University</b>
"The choice of <i>how</i> to get to the moon was critical to meeting President Kennedy's goal of a lunar landing 'before this decade is out.' Bill Causey's deeply researched and clearly written book depicts how the persistence of one man, NASA engineer John Houbolt, decisively influenced the tortuous and contentious process of making that choice. The book nicely fills a glaring gap in the history of America's journey to the moon, and reminds us that the lunar journey was far from straightforward."
— <b>Roger Launius</b>, author of <i>Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race</i>
"John C. Houbolt was another of the 'hidden figures' of NASA during the Apollo era. Bucking institutional blinders, Houbolt convinced the leaders of the space agency that lunar orbit rendezvous was the best way to conduct the Apollo program. William Causey's biography of Houbolt tells the fascinating story of how this lone engineer battled bureaucracy to help America achieve President Kennedy's vision, 'before this decade is out,' of 'landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.'"
— <b>Howard McCurdy</b>, Professor, American University, Washington, DC
"Causey's book joins the list of essential reading for people seeking to understand the forces that made possible the Apollo space program. He expertly recalls the venture from the perspective of the people who organized the expeditions, and the sole engineer who convinced the country's finest spaceflight minds that getting to the moon and back by 1970 required lunar orbit rendezvous. In the process, Causey paints a vivid picture of the inner workings of American government and the making of technical decisions in the mid-twentieth century."

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Schlagwörter

earth orbit rendezvous, space travel, direct ascent mode, lunar, lunar orbit rendezvous, Apollo 11, LOR, space flight, Saturn V, NASA, nova rocket, moon landing, space race