Moon Bound (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)

Moon Bound Springer Praxis Books Space Exploration Often lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA s activities for the following two decades Moon Bo

Often lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions, the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA s activities for the following two decades Moon Bound complements the author s recently published work, Selecting the Mercury Seven 2011 , extending the story of the men who helped to launch human spaceflight and broadeOften lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions, the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA s activities for the following two decades Moon Bound complements the author s recently published work, Selecting the Mercury Seven 2011 , extending the story of the men who helped to launch human spaceflight and broaden the American space program Although the initial 1959 group became known as the legendary pioneering Mercury astronauts, the astronauts of Groups 2 and 3 gave us many household names Sixteen astronauts from both groups traveled to the Moon in Project Apollo, with several actually walking on the Moon, one of them being Neil Armstrong This book draws on interviews to tell the astronauts personal stories and recreate the drama of that time It describes the process by which they were selected as astronauts and explains how the criteria had changed since the first group Moon Bound is divided into two parts, recounting the biographies relating to the nine astronauts from NASA s Group 2 in the first part, and the fourteen finalists in Group 3 in the second part The stories of both selection groups are narrated through the experiences of four finalists with interesting backgrounds One of these men is Al Rupp of the USAF who, as a West Point cadet, cheekily helped to steal the Navy mascot goat prior to the annual Army versus Navy game in 1953, thus achie