American moonshot : John F. Kennedy and the great space race
by Brinkley, Douglas (Author)
Summary
As the fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the award winning historian and perennial New York Times bestselling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy's inspiring challenge, and America's race to the moon. On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astoni... Full description
- Preface: Kennedy's new ocean
- Rockets. Dr. Robert Goddard meets Buck Rogers ; Kennedy, von Braun, and the crucible of World War II ; Surviving a savage war ; Who's afraid of the V-2?
- Generation Sputnik. Spooked into the space race ; Sputnik revolution ; Missile gaps and the creation of NASA ; Mercury Seven to the rescue ; Kennedy for President
- Moonbound. Skyward with James Webb ; Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard ; ""Going to the moon": Washington, DC, May 25, 1961 ; Searching for moonlight in Tulsa and Vienna ; Moon momentum with television and Gus Grissom ; Godspeed, John Glenn ; Scott Carpenter, Telstar, and presidential space touring
- Projects Gemini and Apollo. "We choose to go to the moon": Rice University, September 12, 1962 ; Gemini Nine and Wally Schirra ; State of space exploration ; "The space effort must go on" ; Cape Kennedy
- Epilogue: The triumph of Apollo 11.