Lost Moon the Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 Signed Edition

This work will forever carry the blessing and the curse of being joined at the hip to the memorable film rendition, "Apollo 13." I gather that in recent years the powers that be have thrown in the towel and now market book and movie under the same name. If memory serves correctly, the book appeared in 1994, the movie in 1995. I have often wondered about the synergy between the two; was "Lost Moon" written in the knowledge that it would immediately undergo the standard Hollywood facelift, or did Tom Hanks exert "go fever" upon the authors to meet production deadline? Such questions will no doubt swirl about this fine book into the foreseeable future.As to the content and literary merits of the work itself, a previous Amazon reviewer noted a certain jumpiness in the narrative, forward leaps and backward glances. I agree with that observation. It may be that the Apollo 13 incident took place so long ago--can it really be 33 years already?-that the authors at times came to the realization that most readers under 40 didn't really know Jim Lovell, and that biographical information had to be inserted to explain why this particular astronaut's position as commander of the flight made all the difference in the world to its bloodless outcome.With all due respects to Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong-space pioneers in their own right-historians of future generations may look upon Jim Lovell as the most accomplished of the space pioneers of the twentieth century. In April 1970 when he boarded the Odyssey for the flight to the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, Lovell possessed an impressive resume of space experience, in terms of both seat time and technical experience. In 1965 he had accepted the most undesirable of the Gemini assignments, the fourteen-day marathon of physiological and psychological stress designed to push the envelope of human endurance--with a manned two-craft rendezvous thrown in for good measure. In 1966 he and Buzz Aldrin, in another Gemini craft, finessed the skill of docking and physical adroitness in extravehicular tasking. In 1968, with Frank Borman and Bill Anders, he inaugurated manned flights aboard the new Saturn V rocket and stunned the world with the Christmas circumlunar Apollo VIII. Lovell's history of competence under fire is perhaps the major human element of this work. Who on NASA's active roster of 1971 was better prepared to handle a crisis the magnitude of Apollo XIII?Lovell's history with the space program is much better documented in the book, if awkwardly at times, than in the film. For those unfamiliar with the plot line, Apollo XIII was the third lunar mission, albeit a star-crossed one even before lift-off. Its original crew of Shepard, Mitchell, and Roosa was scrubbed for both health and political reasons involving Shepard's ten year hiatus from active space duty, a piece of history omitted in the book. Later, less than a week before the mission, command module pilot Ken Mattingly was unwittingly exposed to measles and replaced by back-up Jack Swigert. There is some fudging about Mattingly's dismissal from the Apollo XIII crew. In the book Lovell reports that NASA management made the call; in the film Lovell/Hanks replies straightforwardly to Mattingly/Sinese that "this was my call." To add to the mystery, a close examination of sources indicates Mattingly was either never interviewed for this work or declined to participate, a curious omission on a matter so germane to the plot.But Apollo XIII was star-crossed in more ways than anyone could have imagined. A design error in the critical fuel cell unit had transformed that equipment into a ticking bomb that exploded 200,000 miles from earth, rendering the mother ship useless and forcing the astronauts to relocate all operations and life support to the tiny Aquarius lunar lander. The technical complications alone for such an untested procedure were staggering; Lovell and collaborator Jeffrey Kluger communicate these problems with a manageable balance of technology and human drama. Like many other astronaut-authors, Lovell does not overly dwell on the human emotion or physical discomfort of his flight, which involved five days without heat, sleep, or edible food and immense technical improvising under god-awful conditions. The film version depicts considerable tension between Haise and Swigert after the explosion, with Lovell virtually having to separate them from coming to blows. Lovell reports nothing of this sort in the book, though he hints at mild irritation with Haise's sophomoric antics prior to the explosion."Lost Moon" brings to the knowledgeable reader visceral experiences that a film cannot really convey, given the limitations of screen time. Several dimensions of the flight-barely mentioned if at all on film-are treated at some length, such as NASA's concern about the radioactive fuel for the lunar station and its fiery reentry through earth's atmosphere, and the failure of the LEM to hold course after swinging around the moon. The "urine problem"-a major, complex situation for man and machine-is treated tastefully, though in his book Lovell does not report Haise's film complaint that "I think I caught the clap from Swigert." To term this work a pure autobiographical memoir of the flight is a bit misleading, since hundreds of professionals were involved at least indirectly with Lovell, and Glynn Lunney and Gene Krantz, to name two, get appropriate attention from the authors. The authors struck a good balance here. The only literary task still undone is a definitive treatment of Lovell's entire career. There ought to be at least one or two more good movies in there somewhere.

I have recently become obsessed with the infancy of NASA since I was a dumb kid 14 in 1969. I was ignorant of anything not directly related to the narrow realm of my teenybopper life. After Apollo 11 returned home that summer, some friends (dopey kids like me) were looking up at a full moon and I remarked how amazing it was that men walked up there. The glib answer was, 'Yeah, but can you believe the Mets won the World Series? With hindsight I now marvel at the work of men like Lovell, Armstrong and so many other 'farm boys' who took on the mantle of 'astronaut' along with 500,000 people who labored to make Lunar landings a reality. As for Lovell, the more I know of him and his life the more I am enamored! WHO but a splendid gentleman sends a Rolls Royce from Neiman-Marcus, to his home while he was in Lunar Orbit on Christmas Day in 1968, delivering a surprise, gift wrapped mink jacket for his wife ...with a hand written card that said, "...to Marilyn..with love, and Merry Christmas from The Man in the Moon." That was it for me! The man could do NO WRONG after that, and he didn't. His very humble early years and subsequent career as a Naval Officer were a joy to read about. That he and his fellow astronauts were able to get home after the explosions on Apollo 13 is clearly the stuff of legend and I am SO happy this icon of bravery and skill is still alive. I loved seeing his cameo on the movie as the CO of the Iwo Jima. My copy contains a 'sticky' note from Lucent Technologies on the flyleaf with what appears to be Lovell's signature. I didn't order a 'signed copy' and don't know if it is genuine. Other than to say the penmanship is quite beautiful, it was a nice thrill though I'm not an autograph person. Real or not - I felt distinct pleasure in reading a most compelling recollection by a true American hero. My regret is that I didn't pay more attention in the late 60s to what was taking place in the world.

This is a great and inspiring book co-authored by astronaut Jim Lovell. You don't have to be an engineer to understand it, and it holds your interest throughout. This was a mission that had to be aborted before its moon landing, and it is almost miraculous that the astronauts made it safely home. I remember when it happened, and there were millions of prayers said for this crew. What a great time in America's history.I already owned a paperback copy but wanted a hardcover edition for my small collection of "keeper" books. (I usually read Kindle editions.) Highly recommended for the space or history buff, or really for any American.I ordered the hardback edition from Better World Books and it arrived well within the promised time frame and is in what appears to be like-new condition, although it was a used book in "very good" condition.It has since been reissued under the title "Apollo 13" but is the same book as "Lost Moon." I also ordered that edition for a high school student who plans to major in aeronautical engineering in college.

Excellent true account of the Apollo 13 disaster, how it went from boring to sudden "news" and the way the family members were used as pawns to try to get them to do what the news rags wanted. Also, very little of what happened in the film was not prepared for in advance. Some, such as the Co scrubbers was a thought on the spot w/time and people, but the LEM lifeboat was a preparation they had planned on.....just in case. NASA did a great deal of planning. Excellent and exciting more than the film....imagination!!

Great book and delivered on time.

I wanted to read this book, but copies are hard to come by.

It took me over 10 years to get round to buying this book, but when I found it for a decent price on Marketplace I took the plunge. I think it's the fastest book I've ever read, it really pulls you in on a factual, emotional journey.Co-written by Jim Lovell himself in the third person, the book is based on the actual timeline of events and features transcripts of the air-ground voice communications as well as some very interesting background information.If you're a fan of Apollo 13, which is generally factually correct (with the odd exception), then this book drills down into more detail and will probably provide the answer to anything you were curious about or had a burning desire to know about!After reading the book, I then re-watched the film and it completely transformed my viewing experience. With the extra knowledge gained you seem to pick up on certain detail / remarks in the film which you think you missed before.Don't delay like I did, I can certainly recommend this book.

Fascinating book, great to read the ‘ behind the scenes’ stories about the NASA space programme. Good to read in conjunction with the film Apollo 13.Great read

I was familiar with this story from the Tom Hanks Apollo 13 movie and, for some reason, I was expecting the emotions to be the same. The book is not actually written solely by Jim Lovell so it is in a 'third person' narrative. For this reason, I could not get to the heart of the story and found the NASA Speak somewhat baffling. Perhaps another go at reading will change my mind.

Awesome, and signed by the mission Commander! 3 brave and brilliant men supported by some of the best brains in th business.

Only found out recently this is the book Apollo 13 is based on. Still waiting for husband to read it