Apollo to the Moon - by Teasel E Muir-Harmony Hardcover

About the Book

"A celebration of the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo missions to the moon, this narrative uses 50 key artifacts from the Smithsonian archives to tell the story of the groundbreaking space exploration program. Bold photographs, fascinating graphics, and engaging stories commemorate the 20th century's most important space endeavor: NASA's Apollo program to reach the moon. From the lunar rover and an emergency oxygen mask to space food and moon rocks, it's a carefully curated array of objects--complete with intriguing back stories and profiles of key participants. This book showcases the historic space exploration program that landed humans on the moon, advanced the world's capabilities for space travel, and revolutionized our sense of humanity's place in the universe. Each historic accomplishment is symbolized by a different object, from a Russian stamp honoring Yuri Gagarin and plastic astronaut action figures to the Apollo 11 command module, piloted by Michael Collins as Armstrong and Aldrin made the first moonwalk, together with the monumental art inspired by these moon missions. Throughout, Apollo to the Moon also tells the story of people who made the journey possible: the heroic astronauts as well as their supporters, including President John F. Kennedy, newsman Walter Cronkite, and NASA scientists such as Margaret Hamilton."--Publisher's website.

Book Synopsis

A celebration of the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo missions to the moon, this narrative uses 50 key artifacts from the Smithsonian archives to tell the story of the groundbreaking space exploration program.

Bold photographs, fascinating graphics, and engaging stories commemorate the 20th century's most important space endeavor: NASA's Apollo program to reach the moon. From the lunar rover and a survival kit to space food and moon rocks, it's a carefully curated array of objects--complete with intriguing back stories and profiles of key participants.

This book showcases the historic space exploration program that landed humans on the moon, advanced the world's capabilities for space travel, and revolutionized our sense of humanity's place in the universe. Each historic accomplishment is symbolized by a different object, from a Russian stamp honoring Yuri Gagarin and plastic astronaut action figures to the Apollo 11 command module, piloted by Michael Collins as Armstrong and Aldrin made the first moonwalk, together with the monumental art inspired by these moon missions. Throughout, Apollo to the Moon also tells the story of people who made the journey possible: the heroic astronauts as well as their supporters, including President John F. Kennedy, newsman Walter Cronkite, and NASA scientists such as Margaret Hamilton.

Review Quotes

"But this book is, in fact, much more than a compendium of gorgeous photographs of iconic objects in stasis. Through her particular selection of non-obvious, non-iconic objects, Muir-Harmony gestures to the stories and backstories that haven't been told about the Apollo mission...this tangible object, her book, is a fine place to begin to understand Apollo." -Los Angeles Review of Books

"The moon landing is a matter of public memory, which is another way of saying that it's contested history. In 1971, Collins became the director of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, overseeing the addition of "Space" to its name in 1976, and he provides the introduction to APOLLO TO THE MOON: A History in 50 Objects..." -The New York Times

"This remarkable book by Teasel Muir-Harmony, a curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, tells the story of the technical and human aspects of the Apollo program through a series of objects...From the forward by Michael Collins, command module pilot on Apollo 11, to the closing comments of Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot on the same mission, readers are in for a stunning ride through the familiar and the surprising." -Physics Today

"This clever and intriguing artifact key to Apollo makes the legendary missions feel human and freshly astonishing." -Booklist

"The saga of NASA's glory days, illustrated with artifacts from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum." -GeekWire

"There is something here for everyone from the person who doesn't know about these missions at all to the person who is looking to fill in the spaces of their knowledge." -Lit and Life

"It is very rare for me these days to read a book in print - but for this I'm glad that I made the exception. It's gorgeous, in its own geeky-techie-nostalgic way, and I am glad to have it on my shelves to pick up and dip into, over and over again." - Reading Reality

"The entire book is beautifully done, from the photographs to the people and items that were included, each focusing on a different mission or important event, I loved looking through this book." -Books Are My Thing

"...a book to be browsed and savored." -From the TBR Pile

"I live in the town that the space program built. Most of our schools are named after either astronauts or shuttles. My husband is an aerospace engineer, my mother works for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and we all drive past a Saturn V on a daily basis. With the space program being so much a part of my day to day life, I figured there wasn't much this book could teach me but I was so wrong!" -I Wish I Lived in a Library

About the Author

TEASEL E. MUIR-HARMONY, curator at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, is a distinguished scholar of space history. She earned a Ph.D. from MIT, writing a dissertation on the political implications of the Apollo program. She has published more than a dozen articles and book reviews, and has presented internationally on various topics in the cultural history of 20th-century space science.