Flying to the Moon

Every person should watch this great story. All my friends purchased it to give to their grandchildren.

Probably the only thing better than "Flying to the Moon" is the return trip home. Michael Collins was the Command Module Pilot on the historic first Moon landing mission, Apollo 11. That glorious spaceflight will forever be embedded in my mind and a fascinating history lesson for those not yet born in July of 1969. The author tells a GREAT story and Educators can be grateful to Mr. Collins for writing this book for the younger set. It should be a required reading in grade school History. I also read Michael Collins earlier book titled "Chariots of Fire" which recounts his career in far greater detail as an Air Force test pilot and his training as a NASA astronaut during the two man Gemini and subsequent Apollo trio manned spaceflights. His first mission was on Gemini 10 and later selected to be on Apollo 8, the first flight to circumnavigate the Moon on Christmas of 1968. Due to a pinched nerve in his spinal cord he was replaced on that flight by Jim Lovell of the now infamous, Apollo 13 Moon flight. Of course, he fully recovered from what could have prematurely ended his NASA career. Seven months after the wonderously successful flight of Apollo 8, he flew on the even more successful and most memorable Apollo 11. I think he must be very happy with how things turned out. On Apollo 11, Michael Collins became the first person to ever orbit the Moon by himself, completely alone. I can only begin to image what an absolute thrill that must have been. Nevertheless, as he writes in both his books, he was geniunely more concerned with the safe return of his crew mates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, after making the first ever landing on the Moon. Sadly, all of the Apollo astronauts are getting on in years - all are well into their late 70 and early 80s and several have already left us. Most have written their own books to share their experiences for all of us to better remember those long ago, buty still thrilling events. We can all be justly proud of their personal sacrifices, professional committment and outstanding achievements in pioneering manned spaceflight. BRAVO!!!

Michael Collins was a NASA astronaut from 1963-1970. During that time he flew on two missions: Gemini 10 and Apollo 11. These two missions, along with his training and military career are described in great detail in his earlier book "Carrying the Fire" which is geared for an older audience. This book is essentially same as "Carrying the Fire", but written with a younger audience in mind. However, I feel that many adults would like this book as well. You can't beat the price either, 4.95$ for any book is a great barginThe book opens with Collins describing the day of the first moon landing and then he begins to reflect on all the events that led him to be on Apollo 11 that day. The first few chapters of the book describe his earlier fascination with aircraft that ultimately led him to join the US Air Force. After an interesting and exciting career in the Air Force, which included being a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, he is chosen to be an astronaut in the third group selected. After years of training he eventually lift offs on his first flight in Gemini 10 with John Young. After more training and a nearly career-ending neck operation, he flies on Apollo 11.Through out this book, the author describes his feelings and experiences about being an astronaut, what it's like to fly in space, what he did, what he saw and all the numerous sacrifices he and his family made so that he could be an astronaut. His experience of being alone while orbiting the moon is exhilarating. All this done in a very non-technical and jargon free way. One final thing to add, this book won several Outstanding Book of Year Awards.