Download PDF American Moonshot John F Kennedy and the Great Space Race Douglas Brinkley Books

Product details Paperback 944 pages Publisher HarperLuxe; Larger Print edition (April 2, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 0062859919

American Moonshot John F Kennedy and the Great Space Race Douglas Brinkley Books Reviews

• This book has the following fact errors, among many others
  
  Page 147 “Television cameras carried images [of the Vanguard TV-3 launch] nationwide on CBS and NBC, beginning a tradition of live coverage for rocket launches that would last into the 1970s…” and “…with millions watching as the Vanguard TV-3 took off…” There was no TV coverage of this launch; the first live TV coverage of a launch was October 11, 1958.
  
  Page 157 “Measuring just 6.4 inches in diameter, Explorer wasn’t very sophisticated or large—Nikita Khrushchev famously derided it as the ‘grapefruit satellite’...” Khrushchev, however, was referring to Vanguard 1, launched March 17, 1958. Explorer was 6.4 inches in diameter, but also more than six feet long.
  
  Page 182 “…as Administrator Keith Glennan addressed a packed press briefing, a curtain was pulled open, revealing the seven astronauts…” There was no curtain.
  
  Page 202 “…Echo 1 functioned as a kind of orbital mirror, bouncing radio-television beams off the Earth’s surface…” First, radio waves were bounced off of Echo, not the Earth’s surface. Second, it only was tested using radio signals and voice, but no television or video.
  
  Page 204 Caption First, this photo is not from the October 21st Kennedy-Nixon debate, but rather from the September 25th debate; second, three of the four debates were in October, not all four as the caption states.
  
  Page 211 “Five generations of rockets—starting with the early Vanguard, and then onward with ICBMs like Atlas, were born in the Eisenhower years...” Redstone (1950), Atlas (1953), Jupiter (1954) and Thor (Jan. 1957) all preceded Vanguard (Oct. 1957).
  
  Page 211 “There were all sorts of weather satellites...” The only type of weather satellite at the time was the TIROS series; three (which only had different cameras) had been launched.
  
  Page 240 “Seeing that capsule [Freedom 7] land in the Atlantic was one of the greatest thrills of Kennedy’s life.” This would not have been possible, as there was no live TV coverage of Shepard's recovery.
  
  Page 241 “Kennedy played host to Shepard for the rest of that day…” They were only together until 11 am.
  
  Page 242 A Shepard quote about Kennedy is said to refer their conversation at the White House, but actually refers to his post-flight phone call from the president.
  
  Page 246 A photo from Kennedy’s first State of the Union speech in January is wrongly identified as from his May 25 speech to Congress.
  
  Page 264 A photo from Kennedy’s October 1962 visit to Cape Canaveral is wrongly identified as being in Huntsville.
  
  Photo page 11 Full-page color photo identified as Gordon Cooper aboard Faith 7. The photo is actually of a mannequin in a Gemini spacecraft.
  
  Page 283 “Back in 1957, when JFK was deriding failed Vanguard launches…” On page 145, however, it states that “Kennedy didn’t comment on” the only Vanguard launch attempt that year (December).
  
  Page 285 “[FDR’s fireside chats] between 1933 and 1945…” They ended in June 1944.
  
  Page 296 “...a specially enlarged airplane, known as the ‘Super Guppy,’ to carry the third stage...”. This first aircraft was the Pregnant Guppy; the Super Guppy did not enter service until 1965.
  
  Page 300 “Other scientific evidence collected by NASA during the Kennedy years proved that Mars [was a dead planet].” The first US Mars probe was launched in 1964 and returned data in 1965.
  
  Page 326 “Later that day, at a White House Rose Garden ceremony...” (followed by a Kennedy quote) and “the president said with Glenn by his side.” First, there was no Rose Garden ceremony that day (it was rainy); and second, the quote is from Kennedy’s comments to the media on February 20th.
  
  Page 336 “…the three-stage Saturn V rocket would stand 363 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.” It was 58 feet taller; the Saturn itself was 363 feet tall.
  
  Page 380 “Schirra reported back to Mercury Control everything he did or encountered, his voice relayed via the Telstar satellite to TV and radio audiences around the world.” Telstar only relayed a videotape playback of the launch to Britain and France, not coverage of the mission; nor around the world.
  
  Page 402 “In early May, the president made a return visit to Huntsville for an earthshaking static firing of a Saturn booster stage.” The firing took place during his September 11, 1962 visit.
  
  Page 405 “Pointing to his Oval Office rocking chair...” and “…their informal Oval Office chat...” This meeting was in the Yellow Oval Room on the second floor of the White House.
  
  Page 412 Caption states November 18; this is actually November 16. Caption also refers to "USS Observational Island"; correct name is Observation Island.
  
  Page 437 “As for the law firm orchestrating the construction of the Manned Spacecraft Center, it was, no surprise —Brown and Root...” Brown and Root was an industrial services contractor, not a law firm.
  
  Page 441 “While Glenn lost in 1964, he eventually ended up serving in the Senate...” Glenn withdrew from his Senate race in 1964; he lost his primary in 1970.
  
  Page 443 “...Gemini VIII in 1965...” Gemini VIII was in 1966.
  
  Page 447 Caption refers to Apollo 11’s “mobile launch platform” instead of correct name, “mobile launcher.” The date (“May 17”) is incorrect; rollout was May 20.
  
  Page 452 “Grissom was buried…not far from [Kennedy’s] eternal flame…” Grissom’s gravesite is more than half-a-mile to the south.
  
  Page 452 “Only in late 1967, when the Soviets’ N1 rocket blew up on the pad, killing Russian engineers and designers, did the Kremlin stop competing.” First, the N1 pad explosion was in 1969; second, no fatalities were reported; and third, the N1 program continued into early 1974.
  
  Page 458 References LM’s “descent engines” (plural). The LM had a single descent engine.
• Fun to read history of my time as I grew to adulthood. It was a family adventure. BTW...Leroy Gordon Cooper was born and raised in a Shawnee Oklahoma. Not California as indicated on pg 403.
• Though the release of this book is timed to coincide with the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it is in reality a Presidential biography of John F. Kennedy through the lens of the space race of the 1950s and 60s. It brilliantly places JFK in the time, place and context of an era where American achievement and prestige on the world stage is in question following early Soviet technological triumphs.
  
  This book pulls back the curtain using archival sources - including JFK's hidden tape recording system installed in the White House - to reveal his deliberative processes that ultimately led him to make his bold declaration in 1961 of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. In this day and age, when elected officials make grandiose promises which remain unfulfilled and thus ultimately ring hollow in our ears virtually before the politician is finished speaking, it is startling to read how JFK's summons to the moon galvanized America's citizens, its government leaders, and, most importantly, its budget appropriators into sustained action in single-minded pursuit of that goal.
  
  Characters of the era vividly come to life as flesh-and-blood humans, including the Mercury 7 astronauts, the early, fabled leaders of NASA, Lyndon Johnson and others. But brought most vividly to life were JFK and Wernher von Braun, probably the two most central figures in the audacious goal of a lunar landing before the end of the 1960s. Fortunately, Mr. Brinkley, though clearly editorializing, does not flinch from properly characterizing von Braun's contribution to manned spaceflight in the larger context of his Nazi past and complicity in war crimes, reminding us that the man was no hero. Kennedy, on the other hand, is revealed as the thoughtful, deliberate, highly intelligent, galvanizing leader he was. Even though we all know how JFK's story ended, when we are met with his sudden and violent death on a Dallas street, you feel a personal sense of loss that a great mind and inspiring leader was removed from the scene in such a ignominious manner; this book makes you yearn for what else might have come from this brilliant man who was taken from us at only 46.
  
  The Apollo program and the 1969 moon landing are rather quickly wrapped up in an epilogue after JFK's death, so if you are looking for a history of the Apollo program, this isn't it, but nor was it meant to be. This book brilliantly reminds us of JFK's rightful place in space history as the driving force and inspiration for one of mankind's greatest adventures, and makes it clear that if anyone other than Kennedy had been president in the first years of the 1960s, our history would have turned out very differently, proving that the character and wisdom of the person in the Oval Office truly matters.
  
  I highly recommend this book and enjoyed it thoroughly.
• This was a good review of Kennedy's involvement in the space race. Only covers the Kennedy years but a lot of background information I was previously unaware of. Recommended.
• Dr. Brinkley puts a well thought out and captivating story about an era that ends in triumph and not tragedy like most events in history. It was fascinating to read about how women were also physically and mentally tested to become astronauts and compared to their male counterparts. These women, who were called the Mercury 13, were part of the many unsung heroes in our race to the moon. The book also challenges the reader and society to wonder What will be the next moonshot?....What leader or event will unite societies to bring about a triumph in today’s age?”
• According to , American Moonshot John F. Kennedy and the Great Space is WhisperSync capable. I purchased the audible version with it, only to find its not whispersync’d.
• This is a fantastic read. The idea of a “moonshot” project - a bipartisan push for a shared and worthy goal - is a vivid reminder of what a united America can accomplish as a nation in such a circumstance. Brinkley’s book begs the question of whether we will be able to do it again, and to what end. Looking at the obstacles that had to be overcome some 50 years ago - detailed superbly in the book - against the backdrop of current events, one has to wonder. But the book reveals enough of a blueprint and showcases the type of human optimism that certainly still exists to let the reader contemplate the next great moonshot.
• product as stated