tmi-book review
Jun. 17th, 2014 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacFirst Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen (Simon & Schuster, 2005)
Wow, is this book for real Moonshot-program buffs only. Fortunately, I am one. You will read a two-page transcript of Armstrong's parents' appearance on I've Got a Secret. You will learn how all three of the Apollo 11 astronauts took their coffee (no kidding, it's on p. 417). They didn't bring along any Tang; they didn't like it. There is an entire chapter (chapter 25) on the making of the decision as to who was going to get out of the LM first. There are equally comprehensive dissertations on how and when Armstrong decided what to say (he thought "Houston, Tranquility Base here" was going to be more important than "One small step for man"), on why the "flying bedstead" crashed, on whether he did the right thing in undocking from the Agena, and if you don't already know what the last two items refer to, you are not the intended audience for this book. If you are, though, you might find all these details fun. For all the clot of its data, it's well-written, though it is authorized and paints its subject in a gentle rosy light, his only flaw a certain lack of volubility. For instance, though Hansen goes into painfully exact detail on how Mission Control knew to ignore the computer overload alarms that bedeviled the moon landing, and how the astronauts reacted to them, he never reveals the reason for them (the astronauts had forgotten to throw a switch to turn off some no-longer-needed input). Hansen is sympathetic with Janet Armstrong, patient with Aldrin, respectful of Collins, and a little distant from Dave Scott. I wouldn't be 100% certain of the facts, though. Hansen says there were 18 active astronauts at the famous "the guys in this room" meeting in April 1967 (i.e. that they were the ones who would fly to the moon), but he only lists 17. In this business, you need to be able to count.
Wow, is this book for real Moonshot-program buffs only. Fortunately, I am one. You will read a two-page transcript of Armstrong's parents' appearance on I've Got a Secret. You will learn how all three of the Apollo 11 astronauts took their coffee (no kidding, it's on p. 417). They didn't bring along any Tang; they didn't like it. There is an entire chapter (chapter 25) on the making of the decision as to who was going to get out of the LM first. There are equally comprehensive dissertations on how and when Armstrong decided what to say (he thought "Houston, Tranquility Base here" was going to be more important than "One small step for man"), on why the "flying bedstead" crashed, on whether he did the right thing in undocking from the Agena, and if you don't already know what the last two items refer to, you are not the intended audience for this book. If you are, though, you might find all these details fun. For all the clot of its data, it's well-written, though it is authorized and paints its subject in a gentle rosy light, his only flaw a certain lack of volubility. For instance, though Hansen goes into painfully exact detail on how Mission Control knew to ignore the computer overload alarms that bedeviled the moon landing, and how the astronauts reacted to them, he never reveals the reason for them (the astronauts had forgotten to throw a switch to turn off some no-longer-needed input). Hansen is sympathetic with Janet Armstrong, patient with Aldrin, respectful of Collins, and a little distant from Dave Scott. I wouldn't be 100% certain of the facts, though. Hansen says there were 18 active astronauts at the famous "the guys in this room" meeting in April 1967 (i.e. that they were the ones who would fly to the moon), but he only lists 17. In this business, you need to be able to count.
