Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume 7: Human Spaceflight: Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo

by John M. Logsdon (Editor)

The first six volumes of this projected eight-volume documentary history have become an indispensable reference work for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. civil space program and its development over time.  This volume contains over 100 key documents, many of which are published for the first time.  Each is introduced by a headnote providing context, bibliographical details, and background information necessary to understand the document.  These are organized into two chapters, each beginning with an essay that keys the documents to major events in the history of space exploration.  

Essay: “First Steps into Space: Projects Mercury and Gemini,” by Roger D. Launius
Documents: Includes official documents, research and memoranda on Manned satellites, man-in-space proposals, pilot selections, astronaut debriefings; “Space Rescue,” May 21, 1965; Gemini Program Mission Report; “Statements for Foreign Countries During Orbital Flights,” November 7, 1961; Use of a Television System in Manned Mercury-Atlas Orbital Flights; Flight Crew Operations Division, NASA, “Gemini Familiarization Package,” August 3, 1962.

Essay: “Project Apollo: Americans to the Moon,” by John M. Logsdon
Documents: Includes official documents, research and memoranda such as “Minutes of Meeting of Research Steering Committee on Manned Space Flight”; Manned Lunar Landing Program; Project Apollo Spacecraft Procurement Plan and Class Determination and Findings; “Manned Lunar-Landing through use of Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous,” NASA memo “Do We Have a Chance of Beating the Soviets?” April 22, 1961; “Selection of lunar landing site for the early Apollo lunar missions,” Outbound Lunar Biological Contamination Control Policy and Responsibility; “Apollo versus Skylab and Research Airplane Programs; Extravehicular Activities for the First Lunar Landing Mission; “Symbolic Items for the First Lunar Landing,” April 19, 1969; “Apollo 11: Mission Report,” 1971.

The NASA History Series
NASA SP-4407 volume 7

Genres: Space

857 pages, Hardcover

First published December 4, 2008

About the author

John M. Logsdon is the founder and from 1987 to 2008 was the director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.

In 2003, Logsdon was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a former member of the NASA Advisory Council. He is frequently cited as an authority on space policy and history by press entities such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has appeared on various television networks.

Logsdon is a professor emeritus of political science and international affairs, and has been on the GW faculty since 1970. He is also on the faculty of the International Space University In 1992–1993 he held the first chair in Space History at the National Air and Space Museum and in 2008–2009 was Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at that museum. Logsdon authored the entry on space exploration for the latest edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica and many articles and commentaries. He is author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest (MIT Press, 1970), and the general editor of the seven-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program (MIT Press, 1970). Dr. Logsdon is the author more recently of the award-winning John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

The International Astronautical Federation awarded Logsdon the 2013 Frank J. Malina Astronautics Medal for outstanding contributions including space policy decision-making, space history, and education. Logsdon is a recipient of the Exceptional Public Service, Distinguished Public Service, and Public Service Medals from NASA, the 2005 John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award from the American Astronautical Society, and the 2006 Barry Goldwater Space Educator Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and former chair of its Commission on Space Policy, Law, and Economics. He is a member of the board of directors of The Planetary Society and the Academic Council of the International Space University. He is on the editorial board of the international journal Space Policy and was its North American editor from 1985 to 2000. He is also on the editorial boards of the journals New Space and Astropolitics.

Logsdon holds a B.S. in physics from Xavier University (1960) and a Ph.D. in political science from New York University (1970).

source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Brian Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why would anyone read a book consisting of nothing but memoranda and summary reports? The short answer is because it is fascinating. Those readers who are already well steeped in the history of NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs will already have a grounding of what actually happened. This book provides the back story, the debates over every detail, large & small, the cautionary considerations, and the many alternative paths that manned spaceflight could have taken in the 1960s. It becomes very clear that the history we all know so well was never inevitable. This book is full of surprising details. Here's one tiny example: Gilruth favored the name "Project Astronaut" over "Project Mercury." Another: John Glenn mentioned hanging with von Braun until 2:30 AM going through von Braun's scrap books from his Peenemunde days.

A panel of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) in April 1961 examined Project Mercury and in their lengthy report made a chilling observation regarding the pure oxygen cabin environment: "Particular attention is required to the period before launch when the capsule and the astronaut's suit are being purged with pure oxygen at atmospheric pressure." (p. 185)

It is impressive about how little was known about the affects of high g-force experiences on human subjects.

One example of what did not come to pass is the consideration to not recover Mercury spacecraft. They had the astronaut bailing out with a personal parachute after reentry. Another is the plan to have only the mission commander do the lunar EVA on Apollo 11 -- one can only imagine how that would have set with Buzz!

A particularly fascinating portion of the book is the section dealing with the proposal to send Apollo 8 into lunar orbit. George Low kept awesome notes on the various meetings and the responses of the individuals involved. For instance, Slayton thought the lunar mission was the only way to have a landing before the end of the decade. Gilruth pointed out that a lunar orbital mission was actually the least risky of all proposed Apollo missions: no lunar module, no rendezvous, no landing.

The budget and planning notes toward the end of the volume are interesting. Even after missions 18, 19, and 20 had been cancelled, the Bureau of the Budget under Nixon wanted consideration given to cancelling 16 and 17 as well. In response, Fletcher examined the pros & cons to such an action and saved the day. Again, nothing that happened was ever inevitable.

[ella]

i did not read this in its entirety and i would not recommend that anyone reading this for fun do so. however, this was really fascinating to pick through! i especially enjoyed the first hand accounts from the astronauts and watching the science solidify into what’s common knowledge today