So often in history, the actual participants get lost in the retelling of the story. This highly engaging book reveals the thousands of people responsible for landing men on the moon and finally and deservedly get their due. Culled from direct quotes from the people behind the scenes, NASA transcripts, national archives and NASA photos, the whole story of Apollo 11 and the first moon landing emerges.

Here is the story of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon -- a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away by steady astronauts in their great machines.

"All of the bots in Botsburg are powering down for the night ... but Bitty Bot isn't tired! Bitty decides to build a rocket and go on a space adventure instead of going to sleep"--

"A nation in need of hope, the most powerful rocket ever launched, and the first three men to break the bounds of Earth: Apollo 8 was headed to the moon. In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America's rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the...

The history of NASA's Apollo program from Earth orbital missions to lunar landings in a propulsive nonfiction narrative. Only now, it is becoming clear how exceptional and unrepeatable Apollo was. At its height, it employed almost half a million people, many working seven days a week and each determined that "it will not fail because of me." Beginning with fighter pilots in World War II, Maurer traces the origins of the Apollo program to a few exceptional...

"A riveting approach to the fascinating story behind Apollo 11's successful (but nearly disastrous) 1969 moon landing, Moon Landing, 1969 ties the preceding four centuries of science, technology, engineering and math to the Apollo 11 mission and the first steps on the moon with the art of storytelling. Structured in 11 episodes, the narrative takes us from pre-ignition to the moonwalk to splashdown. In addition, recurring "Solve the Mystery" sidebars...

Blast off and experience humankind's first steps on the moon in this new biography about Buzz Aldrin. You'll learn about astronaut Aldrin's life -- his childhood, his work on NASA's Apollo 11 mission, and his dream to get humans to Mars. This biography tells a true hero's story. In addition to running text about his remarkable life and achievements, readers will find fun facts, quotes from Aldrin, and lots of amazing photographs. It's sure to captivate...

"In 1971, Alan Shepard and his fellow astronauts made their way to the Moon in the cramped Apollo 14 capsule. Their mission: Study the moon in more detail than ever before. While the world watched on TV, Shepard and Edgar Mitchell gathered rock and soil samples wearing stiff, heavy spacesuits. But Alan Shepard had a secret hidden in his sock: two tiny golf balls. Golf was Shepard's favorite sport. And since the moon has virtually no atmosphere and...

"Through verse and informational text, the 1969 Apollo 11's historic mission is celebrated, from liftoff to moon landing to successful return to Earth."--