Chariots for Apollo:: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon

by Charles Pellegrino, Joshua Stoff, Charles R. Pellegrino

Book Overview

It began in the depths of the Cold War, with two nations hurtling steel chariots into the atmosphere, each vowing to be the first to the moon. Then, in 1961, John F. Kennedy challenged America -- and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380802619
• ISBN13: 9780380802616
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Quill
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

An incredible story well told...

There are countless books chronicling the race to the moon and the triumphs of the Apollo program. Most of them are well worth reading too. Chariots sets itself apart though. Rather than celebrating the astronauts, or even the flight controllers and ground crews, Chariots goes behind the scenes at Grumman Aerospace Corporation, the company that won the contract to build the Lunar Module (LM). The reader sees firsthand the technical and engineering mountains that had to be scaled in order to make the moon landing possible. It's an incredible story full of pitfalls, heartbreaks (and a few heart attacks), breakthroughs, divorces and happy endings. Building the first (and so far only) spacecraft designed to land human beings on another world presented engineering challenges that had never been considered before, and Grumman rose to the challenge. An indispensable book for any amateur historian of the space age.

an excellent technical history of the LM

This is a very good read. As a mechanical engineer, I was fascinated by the technical aspects of the discussion of the Lunar Module (LM) development, but also pleased at the author's style of decribing the people involved. A very good book in the spirit of Tracy Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine."

Fascinating for Apollo addicts who want to dig deeper.

Great book! There are many, many "Space Race" books out there with basically the same tale to tell. This is the book to read when you want to dig deeper. Detailed info, funny anecdotes, and incredibly interesting stories of the design and construction of the LM. I for am pleased that Pellegrino/Stoff chose to focus on one aspect of this often-told story, and tell it very well indeed. I will definitely be re-reading this one.

Glad to have it back in print!

It's good to see Pellegrino and Stoff's book back in print after so long. Anyone who saw Tom Hanks' excellent HBO series will recognize where the episode about the development of the lunar module came from. Pellegrino is a passionate writer, and that comes across here. You'd hardly expect it of a book about technology, but this book almost sings. Very highly recommended. Read his book about the Titanic, too.

Once you start reading, you won't be able to stop.

Pellegrino takes you to perspectives not indulged by the general public. A look at the engineering marvels that made history.