Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Man on the Moon
    A Man on the Moon
    A Man on the Moon
    Audiobook23 hours

    A Man on the Moon

    Written by Andrew Chaikin

    Narrated by Bronson Pinchot

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    On the night of July 20, 1969, our world changed forever when two Americans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, walked on the moon. Now the greatest event of the twentieth century is magnificently retold through the eyes and ears of the people who were there. Based on the interviews with twenty-three moon voyagers, as well as those who struggled to get the program moving, journalist Andrew Chaikin conveys every aspect of the missions with breathtaking immediacy: from the rush of liftoff, to the heart-stopping lunar touchdown, to the final hurdle of reentry.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNovel Audio
    Release dateSep 4, 2015
    ISBN9781518920998
    A Man on the Moon

    Related to A Man on the Moon

    Related audiobooks

    Astronomy & Space Sciences For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Man on the Moon

    4.5/5

    57 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      The Chapters are in the incorrect Order. Book is fantastic. 4/5 but the full expience from Sribd brings it to two.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A wonderful evocation of all aspects of the Apollo programme: the sense of achievement and purpose that animated the programme in the 1960s and early 1970s, before budget cuts and a narrower vision won out; the marvels of science and geology waiting to be discovered; the thrills and occasional terrors of spaceflight and the sometimes very narrow gap between success and disaster; and the lives, different motivations and experiences of the astronauts, some of whom saw their lunar experiences as very spiritual. I share entirely the deep sense of loss in not following up the Apollo programme. Back in 1969, it was thought there would be a permanent lunar base by 1978 and a manned mission to Mars in 1981. Now space exploration is treated more like a slightly embarrassing pursuit, such as trainspotting, rather than the ultimate long term policy for humanity that it truly should be.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      A fine book destroyed by a lackadaisical audio edit. The fine narration is let down by a randomised sequence of chapters. No doubt the author is impressed by the total disrespect given to his work.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The content and flow in this story is absolutely riveting.
    • 5/5
      I am speechless in describing what I felt listening to this book and what I felt when I finished it. I can simply say that it is a fabulous book and left me with a deep longing for exploration and hope for the future…
    • 4/5
      This has 'definitive' stamped all over it. An excellent factual account with just enough technological description to make the naturally compelling narrative comprehensible. The author's characterisations of the astronauts are clearly based on interview access to the men themselves and the account is well supplemented with author's notes and sources, bioraphical resumes and mission summaries as well as a comprehensive index.
    • 5/5
      Excellent. So vivid and detailed while still being engaging. Definitely worth the listen. Readers voice is very relaxing.
    • 5/5
      Andrew Chaikin provides a great story about the Apollo program that brought 24 astronauts to the Moon and safely back to Earth. And it is not a provision of technical details, instead the riveting descriptions center on people, their feelings and impressions, their fears and expectations. On following the lines it is almost possible to gain some sense of the vast distances or of the loneliness the pilot of the command module could experience as he orbits the Moon, especially on the far side without contact to any other human being, while his companions explore the surface of this strange and remote world.
    • 5/5
      I read the First Edition of this book when it was released in the 1994, and was immediately transported back to my childhood (as, initially, a pre-teenage boy) facinated by the exploration of space. This latest edition as an audio book has once again taken me back (now as a 60-year old man) to those heady exciting days of real exploration, and real heroes. It's a great uplifting story of fine men and women striving to achieve the near impossible. Many thanks.
    • 5/5
      Space geeks unite! I suppose it speaks to how much I enjoyed this book that I am in need of replacement copy, having read the first to shreds even with a protective cover. Undoubtedly there are more scientific and analytical reviews of this work but for those of us with less than an obsession for but more than a passing interest in, the Apollo space program, this book has proved to be the most informative and the most fun. Details about the program, the science, the people involved... it's all there. The book begins with a more general description of the missions before moving on to a more in-depth examination of the politics and the science involved in later missions. Another reviewer has commented that it felt as though, and in fact was, a combination of separate books, but I would argue that regardless, it is a faithful representation of the changes in the focus of the program. Once NASA had established it's ability to land men on the moon and perform work there, research and science would have to become the main focus. If it had not there would have been no reason to continue the program past Apollo 12. Ultimately this book is great fun for all the space geeks out there who love the history and the science, the politics and the stories behind the people and the events. A warning though, it's a book that will make you wish that we were, as a nation, still invested in manned space exploration. As Tom Hanks pondered at the end of the movie Apollo 13, I wonder when we'll go back.
    • 5/5
      Others have said how good this book is. It is. It sits comfortably alongside Tracy Kidders ´Soul of a New Machine´, or Shelby Foote´s ´Civil War´. Chaikin comes to this task with a background in the business, and a role in science writing and science journalism. The astronauts and support crews appear to have recognized Chaikin´s qualifications and opened up to him. He has returned the confidence with a book that is beautifully written, scientifically accurate and moving in an understated but deeply serious way. The text moves so smoothly that seems like a magazine article (which is sort of the way it started out), but then you find the notes and begin to get a glimmer of how much work and research has gone into this. It deserves applause for doing two very special things (on top of its achievement as a great technology history), and that is shining a light on the risks and recoveries that unlike Apollo 13 are largely forgotten, and for giving the science missions - the ones that followed Apollo 13 - due credit. Chaikin has written a book that has not only avoided jingoism, but a real history, and one that touches on the soul of the whole endeavour.
    • 5/5
      This was a book I couldn't put down. The Apollo program has always fascinated me and this was an in depth look at the program and the men who made it happen.
    • 5/5
      Andrew Chaikin's detailed account of the Apollo space program focuses as much or more on the experiences, thoughts and reactions of the people involved than on the technical details, drawing on extensive interviews with astronauts and others to bring those experiences to life. At 600+ pages, it might be a little slow in places, but the descriptions of the missions themselves, which make up the bulk of the book, are vivid and exciting, at least to a lifelong space enthusiast like me. The sheer, marvelous audacity of the whole enterprise comes across very well, leading me several times to look up from the book, lean back and shake my head thinking, "This is surely the craziest, most improbable, most wonderful thing we human beings have ever done!" But more than that, Chaikin manages to effectively convey the simple reality of it all. These astronauts, we are reminded, were just ordinary guys -- well, all right, perhaps slightly extraordinary guys -- walking around a real and solid landscape cracking jokes, getting excited about interesting rocks, cursing at uncooperative equipment, and falling victim to that "so much to do, so little time!" feeling familiar to anyone who's ever over-scheduled a vacation. The you-are-there feeling of real people doing real things is sometimes almost overwhelming. Unfortunately, so is the sense of sadness at the thought that it's been a terribly long time since anyone's done anything at all on the moon, however optimistic Chaikin might try to be about the possible future of space exploration.I've read quite a few books on this period in the American space program, from the excellent to the terrible; this is one of the ones I would most highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      My family have always been space nuts. Mostly my mum, since she grew up watching avidly for all news about Apollo. I found the book interesting and easy to read -- not too much technical detail.
    • 4/5
      I would like to give this three and a half stars. There was a ton of research done on the book, however the book is completely about the astronauts with a small a mount of geology thrown in. This is not about the engineering nor the astronauts tasks nor anyone elses. This is about the actual people who flew, from before their flight, during, and a bit about after. So that's why I it gets only a three and a half stars because I don't value that information very highly, especially as it is not of a highly analytical and therefore more relevant to others nature. This is more of a gossip, albeit of a good class and positive and informative. The narration is quite good except for an irritating stress on certain words, mostly thousand and million. I solved that a bit by listening on 1.2 speed.