Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today at Stacking Books.

For Nonfiction Monday  --  "Team Moon How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 OnThe Moon" by Catherine Thimmesh.

 

Everyone knows about the Apollo 11 mission and the names Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins.  But it took a team of four hundred thousand people to make that historic flight a success.  From flight directors, rocket designers, software experts, engineers, geologists, doctors and aerospace technicians to builders, programmers, electricians, painters, welders, and seamstresses (who put together twenty-two layers of fabric for each space suit) -- each contribution was essential in landing the first human on the moon.

Thimmesh creates a compelling narrative woven throughout with direct quotes and vintage photographs that bring the story to life with the drama that captured the attention of the world.  Beginning with "The Dream . . .  And the Challenge" she takes readers from  imagination, through development, creation, and testing of the command module, lunar module and rockets.

She shares little known facts: the top-secret "Fate Has Ordained" speech written for President Nixon in the event that the astronauts died in the moon landing, the emergencies that the astronauts and the mission control staff on earth faced and solved and the extraordinary focus that went into every phase of the project.  

The book's rich detail is supported with an appendix with sections titled: Sources, Chapter Notes, Additional Sources, Photo Credits, For Further Exploration and Index.

Common Core recommended.