Sunday, July 20, 2014

Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11

Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11
by Brian Floca

Forty five years ago today, Columbia orbited the moon, while after a precarious descent the Eagle landed on the lunar surface. With the words "Houston. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." we truly became a spacefaring civilization.

The world eagerly watched as mission commander Neil Armstrong and LEM pilot Buzz Aldrin took those first tentative steps onto humanity's first other world.

Meanwhile aboard the command module Columbia, CM pilot Michael Collins was the loneliest man who had ever been. He framed the whole of humanity within the lens of his camera and flew alone, above the moon.

Brian Floca's Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 is a gorgeous, moving, and eloquent homage to those brave men who, ignoring their own comfort and safety, joined the ranks of our greatest explorers - Columbus, Magellan, and Gagarin - and broadened the horizons of our species. Once again, Brian Floca has delivered a masterpiece of technical detail and accuracy. His elaborate and beautifully rendered watercolors capture both the details of the equipment and the real emotions of the astronauts (during the countdown sequence, we see Michael Collins look anxiously to his side). Floca's elegant prose captures
the excitement of the Apollo XI mission. This book  kept me on the edge of my seat and gave me goosebumps.

I can think of no better way to share my awe for the majesty of human space flight with my son than by reading him Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11.

Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11
by Brian Floca

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