Review by Choice Review
The Apollo program is generally viewed as quite successful in the history of space flight. In 1968, Apollo 8 marked the first time that humans left Earth and its orbit. Apollo 11 in 1969 was even more spectacular in that humans walked on the surface of the moon and safely returned to Earth. But what about the Apollo missions that were never flown? This book, in the fine Springer-Verlag/Praxis series, addresses this question. The obvious lost missions were Apollo 1, which was destroyed in a launch pad fire in 1967, and Apollo 13 (1970), which did not land on the moon because of a malfunction caused by an explosion in the spacecraft's oxygen tank. Less known are the fact that Apollo 18, 19, and 20 were canceled due to lack of political will following the successful landing of Apollo 11. UK historian Shayler has written several books on space exploration; this particular book is not overly technical and will be enjoyed by space enthusiasts. General readers. J. Z. Kiss Miami University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
