Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Moments

"A visual feast. We're right alongside Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin through the months of training, the incredible journey to the moon, and the hero's welcome that greeted their return. Pickering and Bisney have produced a precious chronicle of a time that will never come again." -- Andrew Chaiken, author of A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts "Focused almost exclusively on the three astronauts of Apollo 11, this profusely illustrated book recounts the adventure of the first Moon landing."―Roger D. Launius, former associate director of collections and curatorial affairs, National Air and Space Museumxa0"Apollo 11 was humanity's greatest achievement. Pickering and Bisney have collected some of the best images of little-known events from the lead-up to humankind's first steps on another world."―Jason Rhian, senior editor, SpaceFlight Insider "Visually engaging and comprehensive. From training to splashdown, from the Saturn V towering on the launchpad to intimate moments among the crew, Picturing Apollo 11 offers a rich portrait of the first lunar landing."―Teasel Muir-Harmony, author of Apollo to the Moon: A History in 50 Objects Jim Banke reviewedxa0Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Momentsxa0xa0Perfect book to celebrate Apollo 11's 50th anniversaryxa0March 18, 2019In an age where the phrase "print is dead" is becoming more of a reality every day -- and I'm one who for years has preferred to consume his news on a screen rather than paper -- along comes a book filled with images that is best presented as it is: a high-quality, bound tome filled with photos precisely arranged to tell the story of what is one of humanity's greatest achievements so far. That achievement -- the 1969 flight of Apollo 11, the first lunar landing -- is reverently presented here as a visual feast that includes an unexpected sense of intimacy that puts the reader right next to the men and women who were involved with every step of the mission, from pre-flight training and hardware assembly to splashdown and the post-mission celebrations.All of this comes courtesy of authors Pickering and Bisney, who have proven their visual story telling skills with other books collecting images from the space program. This book, like the others, is built from the thousands and thousands of space program-related photographs, negatives, transparencies and digital images they have collected quite literally from childhood. Material sourced from NASA or government contractors working on the Apollo program are supplemented by private news photographers who had a front row seat to Apollo and were willing to share. The brothers Mark and Tom Usciak should be singled out in particular.As the authors note in their book, the description that these are "rare views and undiscovered moments" is quite true. I have been associated with the space program at Cape Canaveral for more than 30 years and I can vouch for that description. While the book certainly contains a number of photos familiar to anyone who has read even a little about Apollo 11, the vast majority have been seen by very few, if not at all. In any case, the way they are presented here, with accompanying text that is non-technical and helpful, makes it all seem fresh and new. And if you're like me, you will find yourself surprised with what the captions say about these moments captured on film. The one that grabbed me the most and prompted me to just stare at the picture for a long while was one featuring NASA astronaut Ted Freeman in which the caption notes the very next day after this picture was taken Freeman died in a T-38 jet crash.And that underscores what I think is the true value of this book. It's the human story, the many pictures of people and their faces, that is seen here -- not just endless views of cold machinery and rockets and spacecraft in flight. It took the intelligence, leadership, dedication, talents and just plain hard work of hundreds of thousands of people to make Apollo 11 a reality. "Picturing Apollo" does an outstanding job of reminding us that the voyage from the Earth to the Moon was a human undertaking and a shining moment in the history of mankind.If you can only make one purchase to satisfy your desire to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 this summer -- of all the other books, DVDs, merchandise and very likely just plain junk that will be offered -- buy this book. Proudly display it on your bookshelf and at every opportunity, show it to your children and grandchildren. “Focused almost exclusively on the three astronauts of Apollo 11, this profusely illustrated book recounts the adventure of the first Moon landing.”―Roger D. Launius, former associate director of collections and curatorial affairs, National Air and Space Museum “A visual feast. We’re right alongside Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, and Buzz Aldrin through the months of training, the incredible journey to the Moon, and the hero’s welcome that greeted their return. Pickering and Bisney have produced a precious chronicle of a time that will never come again.”―Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts “Visually engaging and comprehensive. From training to splashdown, from the Saturn V towering on the launchpad to intimate moments among the crew, Picturing Apollo 11 offers a rich portrait of the first lunar landing.”―Teasel Muir-Harmony, author of Apollo to the Moon: A History in 50 Objects “Apollo 11 was humanity’s greatest achievement. Pickering and Bisney have collected some of the best images of little-known events from the lead-up to humankind’s first steps on another world.”―Jason Rhian, senior editor, SpaceFlight Insider “A vivid reminder that Apollo 11 was not only an astonishing technological accomplishment but also a deeply human one.”―Ron Miller, coauthor of Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space J. L. Pickering is a spaceflight historian who has been archiving rare space images for over 40 years. John Bisney is a journalist who has covered the space program for CNN, the Discovery Science Channel, RKO and SiriusXM Radio. Together, they have coauthored Spaceshots and Snapshots of Projects Mercury and Gemini: A Rare Photographic History , Moonshots and Snapshots of Project Apollo: A Rare Photographic History , and The Space-Age Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A Rare Photographic History (2019). Read more