Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon – by Jeffrey Kluger

When most people see the word “Apollo” followed by a number, they rightly deduce that it stands for one of the NASA led space missions during the 1960s and 1970s. Those same people, however, probably couldn’t tell you which Apollo mission accomplished what. This is especially true since time has eclipsed many memories, and it’s now been over 50 years since the majority of these missions took place.  For someone like me who was only a toddler at the time, it’s hard for me to understand the importance and necessity of these missions, and how much they dominated world news and became so intertwined with the pop culture of the time.

The Apollo 8 mission was the first mission to “go to” the moon.  No, it wasn’t the first to LAND on the moon - that would be Apollo 11.  It did, however, exceed everyone’s expectations and expedited the space program by managing, for the first time, to leave Earth’s orbit and circle the moon a few times before returning home.  So, yes, the mission WAS a big deal, but history has regulated the mission to a footnote in many aspects since, a couple of Apollos later, they managed to actually land on the moon, and people across the U.S. stayed up all night to hear Neil Armstrong utter his famous words.

This is truly a great book, and had the author decided to write a book about ANY of the space missions – including the earlier Mercury or Gemini missions – I’m convinced the read would have been stellar as well.  Jeffrey Kluger simply tells a wonderful story.  I was never bored, nor did I feel he was overly detailed or technical. He spends about 2/3 of this book describing events leading up to this mission, and the other 1/3 the actual flight itself.

All these years later, it probably isn’t as obvious to many why the “space race” was so important. The United States was still in the midst of a cold war with Russia, and our adversaries seem to be winning the race on every front.  Then, in 1961, President Kennedy boldly announced that the U.S. would send a man to the moon by the end of the decade.  Academia everywhere raised their eyebrows.  When the young president was brutally assassinated two years later, his bold prediction was now attached to a fierce determination and success was now non-negotiable.  NASA was created, and the entire nation became enthralled with these brave young men who were called “Astronauts” and their seemingly improbable goal set by the late president.

The author gives us just the right background where all of this is concerned.  He also focuses heavily on one astronaut, Frank Borman, who would be the commander of Apollo 8.  Again, had the author focused on any of the astronauts at the time, I’m convinced it would have been equally as enrapturing.  Yes, Borman’s story is wonderful, but the same could be said for all of his fellow astronauts.

Sadly, any story about the Apollo missions can’t be told adequately without revisiting the tragedy of Apollo 1. The first Apollo mission was badly rushed and improper care was taken. A fire in the cockpit killed the entire crew during a simulation while still on the ground.  Again, this story – while tragic - is necessary. Not only does it illustrate the dangers of all of the space endeavors, but it also raised the question by many that asked “Is all of this space stuff really necessary?”

Once the Apollo 8 mission begins, the journey of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders is told in fascinating detail.  This portion of the book reminded me of watching a suspenseful movie that you’ve already seen and know the ending; you KNOW the hero will prevail at the end, but the many moments of tension still cause your knuckles to turn white.   This story really gives you a tremendous admiration for, not only the astronauts in space, but also for their wives and loved ones back home who knew the possibility was quite likely for an accident to happen causing their astronaut husbands to drift off and literally die by being “lost in space”.

So, yes, this book manages to be a thriller even though some may initially perceive that it is nothing more than detailing one of the many space missions that took place over the last half-century.  I was surprised how quickly the pages turned.   I mean, the author even manages to make a member of Mission Control in Houston lighting a Zippo lighter sound exciting. I’m serious here.

Post Note: Many people are familiar with the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission due to the excellent Ron Howard/Tom Hanks movie of the same name. THAT movie was based on a book (Apollo 13 – formerly titled “Lost Moon”) that was co-authored by this author along with the mission commander Jim Lovell.  That was an excellent book as well, and I would also highly recommend it.