Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon

I will use this book in my middle school curriculum when I teach about space. When I showed it to students, they pretty much just looked at the pictures. After they watched "Apollo 13" it made a lot more sense to them. Then they wanted to understand more about the technology available at the time. This book makes a great companion piece to "The Right Stuff" and "The Dish" as well. If you are trying to get a historical perspective on that time period and didn't live through it as some of us did, please do yourself a favor and read it. The current textbooks cannot portray the taste of adventure we felt each time the astronauts voyaged out into dangerous places,as students back home gathered around black and white TV's brought into the classrooms to watch splashdowns. Knowing that the support structures have to be so huge may help people both understand why it costs so much to run a space program as well as perhaps pursue careers in the aerospace industry that are not just in the small astronaut corps.

I apologize for paraphrasing the title of Dr. Jones's review, but it really is appropriate and fitting; the book does give you "a catch in the throat [and] a hint of a happy tear in [your] eye in admiration for the men and women of Apollo" on so many different levels. Through her compelling writing and her keen eye for selecting breathtaking photos (in Thimmesh's context, even black and white, mission control shots are "breathtaking"), as well as the stunning layout and design she herself put together for the book, Ms. Thimmesh truly impresses on the reader the incredible nature of the mission and the accomplishments of so many who contributed to the endeavor. I would reiterate the comments dismissing out of hand Mr. Waldron's completely off the mark review (and would ask other readers to consider the response to Mr. Walderon's review by clicking on the comments to his review). It would be a shame if any reader (and particularly children who did not have the privilige of experiencing those historic events first hand) were disuaded from reading the book and sharing, at least at some level, in the wonderous accomplishments of so many. It is hard to understand how one could not encourage everyone they know to read this book; failing to do so would not only deprive someone of (re)experiencing the truly awe inspiring nature of this epic event, it also deprives those who did so much for mankind (and it is hard to overstate the importance of their accomplishments--if on no other level than the perspective it gave humanity on the chunk of rock they share with each other) of some long overdue recogintion. This is truly a book that should be read by everyone--not just children--to try and regain that perspective. I recomend it wholeheartedly to everyone. The book is Simply Breathtaking!

This is an exquisite book. I have had the privelege of meeting a number of people who contributed to Apollo and, as far as I can tell, they all remember it as the most important thing they did during their working lives. They are tremendously proud of having been a part of it - as well they should! - and it is their participation that is at the heart of Catherine Thimmesh's wonderful book. "Team Moon" let's us meet a couple of dozen representative members of the team of 400,000 people who worked to make Apollo a success and sets their stories in the context of a brief - but very well written - account of the first landing mission. The book also includes a superb selection of photographs beautifully presented. Suitable for ages 10 and up - including 62 year olds - it's the first Apollo book I've read in a while that gave me a catch in the throat, a hint of a happy tear in the eye in admiration for the men and women of Apollo.

Of course! How could I not have realized that it took a gargantuan effort to send Apollo 11 to the moon and allow a world full of people holding their breath to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon? I've been an avid follower of the space programs of the world since I was in grade school. I had space maps and photos of the astronauts all over my bedroom walls. And yet, I never thought about all the people who made the moon walk possible. Catherine Thimmesh did. Through precise research and personal interviews, she has crafted the story of the people who made it happen. The number 400,000 and a period of eight years qualifies the effort as gargantuan. Thimmesh writes the story in an accessible manner that will leave readers eager to turn the page. From flight director Gene Kranz taking the stairs because he didn't want to risk being stuck in an elevator to the program alarm that occurred twelve minutes before moon landing, Team Moon reveals the drama that evolved at key steps in the mission to set foot on the moon. People needed to see images. How do you take can't-miss photographs on the moon? Parachutes had to open, without fail, on re-entry. Heat shields needed to protect the capsule from burning up and destroying lives. I'm so glad that Thimmesh took the time to interview the people who had such valuable stories to tell us. Especially gratifying is the beauty of this book. The well-chosen photos are startling in contrast to the rich black background. Sources, references, and pointers for further reading will help fascinated readers continue their own journey into space. Highly recommended for schools, classrooms, and every home that has a reader who is curious about the world--and space.

Thank God for children's literature blogs. Without them I swear I'd miss half the cool new children's books coming out each and every year. Now I'm a children's librarian of variegated tastes. I like my books fictional, preferably fantastical, and with a British sense of humor. Basically if you place a non-fiction book in my lap without warning me first, I scream and fly into a fit of severe heebie-jeebies. But when I heard about "Team Moon", it sounded too good to pass up. First of all, it was written by Catherine Thimmesh, who won my love when I read her, "The Sky's the Limit: Stories of Discovery By Women and Girls". At this point Thimmesh could write a book about how thrilling it is to learn about the history of mouthwash and I'd probably be all ah-twitter. I expected to find "Team Moon" fascinating. What I did not expect was to learn just how close to failure the launch was, how dangerous it became, the concerns that people had, and the sheer number of people and projects that had to work together to get it going. For kids today, the fact that human beings once walked on the moon is old news. But how did we even do it? How do you go from walking on the earth one day and skipping amongst the stars the next? What "Team Moon" does is take kids through the entire Apollo 11 experience, but in a remarkably immediate way. Right off the bat the ship is blasting off, and there are continual flashbacks to things like the construction of the spacesuits, the spaceship itself, and so on. There's also a lot of high drama. Did you know that hidden software testing alarms started going off during the mission when it was considered impossible that any of them would happen during a real flight? Did you know that the astronauts almost ran out of fuel when they were trying to land on the moon and almost died that way? Or that the temperature in the fuel tank started rising up and up and up and no one could figure out why? Through every detail and every nail-biting moment, Thimmesh guides the reader through a two-day period that had the world on the edge of its seat. Reading this book, I guarantee that you'll be there too. Children's television shows/ literature/ what have you, are always going on about the importance of teamwork and working together. Heck, that thought has inspired countless horrid motivational posters worldwide. It's awfully difficult to show such an idea in a concrete and understandable form that doesn't involve ants, though. Not anymore. "Team Moon" excels at showing just how reliant every aspect of this launch was on every single person working it. Had I given the project's team any prior consideration, I suppose I could have come up with the guys who made the space suits or the brainiacs in the black glasses at mission control. One fellow I never counted on was Cliff Smith. While Buzz, Neil, and Michael were traipsing their merry lunar path, Smith was down here on earth battling an Australian wind storm that