THE EVER-CHANGING MOON: Book Two: Man’s First Journey to the Lunar Highlands by Rob Bailey (2023). Again, another book that I could not put down. The author left us wanting more at the end of the first book with those immortal words, “Houston, we have a problem!”, and he delivered so much more with this one as well.
This book highlights the missions between Apollo 11 and 17, with a short chapter or two on the space shuttle and joint Soviet/US missions. Apollo 11, 13, and 16 get the most coverage. There are so many more details than I was ever aware of with Apollo 11, 13, and 16. These guys were real heroes… the best of the best put to the test. They had simulated every possible thing, so they were convinced that nothing would stop them from carrying out their mission. Even Mission Control and all the support agencies worked together without personal biases or ego. They worked as one to bring home the astronauts of Apollo 13, never doubting that they would come home safe, and this teamwork was all caught on camera.
Another thing that you are hit with in both of these books, but more so in this one, is the amount of man-hours put in by so many committed personnel who were developing strategies, equipment, and scenarios for complications and success long before the mission ever got a go. This type of commitment is almost unheard of today… in fact, I wonder if we could do this today? The camaraderie is amazing… in the midst of crisis or just regular problems, they were calm and collected, working the problem with all expectation of fixing it and getting everyone home. Again, I wonder if that is something we could even expect out of a “team” of scientists and engineers today?
The author says, “At first, it seemed there was no hope of getting the repair done (to Apollo 16) in time for an April launch. The motivated and talented engineers hunkered down and worked around the clock, racking up excessive overtime. Against steep odds, Tribe’s group replaced the bladder in less than two weeks. The brutal schedule took its toll on morale but is an example of the behind-the-scenes team effort necessary to send men to the Moon. One of those men, Charlie Duke, was relieved to have an extra month to recover from his pneumonia.”
The hard work and confidence led to humor in almost every area of the mission throughout. The humor is one of the wonderful things that carries this book through so much detail. And if you ever get the chance to meet Charlie Duke, ask him if he likes orange juice yet?
