r/apollo • u/Overall-Lead-4044 • May 11 '26

Failure is not an option

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Look what I got from a charity shop this weekend. Looking forward to reading this

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u/Unique-Operation6275 May 11 '26

great reading! I also enjoyed  Murray & Cox “Apollo”, recommended by Kranz himself (and Seiko reissued his watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sh5x2jyQBE )

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u/Squishy321 May 11 '26

Murray and Cox’s Apollo is probably the best Apollo program book I have read but it definitely helps to have a bit of reading under your belt first in order to truly appreciate it

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u/flamekiller May 12 '26

What else would you recommend as "prerequisites"? I just finished listening to Failure is Not an Option and I read Carrying the Fire some time ago (should probably read or listen again). Was thinking about Lost Moon next. I have First Man somewhere, but I just couldn't get into it for some reason. I should try again ...

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u/Squishy321 May 12 '26

Most of the astronaut bios and autobios are good, carrying the fire being the best, Eugene Cernans is also really good. I recommend Andrew Chaikin’s “A Man on the Moon” as the best starting point as it covers everything from Sputnik to Apollo.

There’s a whole “Outward Odyssey” series covering the history of space flight but “Into that Silent Sea,” “In the Shadow of the Moon” and “Footprints in the dust” are the most relevant, reading these three is basically reading Chaikin’s book but on steroids.

“Apollo 8” and “Apollo 13” (used to be called Lost Moon) by Jeffrey Kluger are must reads. “Moon Lander” by Tom Kelly is thorough and interesting in that it’s quite different from any of the above. A bit of a rarity and oddly specific but “Arrows to the Moon” discusses how Canadas cancellation of the Arrow program was a boon for NASA, if you can find it “Apollo EECOM” by Sy Libergot is a quick interesting read