The greatest adventure of the 20th century came with a deadline - "Before this decade is out". John Kennedy's words in 1961 burned in the minds of the astronauts training to land on the moon. Through their eyes, revealing previously unknown personal details, Andrew Chaikin chronicles the Apollo missions from their disaster-plagued beginnings, through their spectacular climax to their premature end. From flamboyant prankster Pete Conrad to scientist Jack Schmitt, who had to prove he was made of the "right stuff" to go to the moon, memorable characters abound. With consummate ease, Chaikin makes technological details accessible to the lay person and gives each aspect of the moon voyage, from a Saturn V lift-off to the euphoria of a moon walk, a minute-by-minute feeling of excitment.
- ISBN10 0140272011
- ISBN13 9780140272017
- Publish Date 30 April 1998 (first published 30 June 1994)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 October 2023
- Publish Country AU
- Imprint Penguin Random House Australia
- Format Paperback
- Pages 670
- Language English