John Houbolt : the unsung hero of the Apollo moon landings / William F. Causey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Causey, William F., 1949- author.

Series:

Purdue studies in aeronautics and astronautics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Houbolt, John C.

Project Apollo (U.S.).

Aerospace engineers--United States--Biography.

Aerospace engineers.

United States.

Space flight to the Moon--History.

Space flight to the moon.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 347 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

West Lafayette, Indiana : Purdue University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"In May 1961, President Kennedy announced that the United States would attempt to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth before the end of that decade. Yet NASA did not have a specific plan for how to accomplish that goal. Over the next fourteen months, NASA vigorously debated several options. At first the consensus was to send one big rocket with several astronauts to the moon, land and explore, and then take off and return the astronauts to earth in the same vehicle. Another idea involved launching several smaller Saturn V rockets into the earth orbit, where a lander would be assembled and fueled before sending the crew to the moon. But it was a small group of engineers led by John C. Houbolt who came up with the plan that propelled human beings to the moon and back-not only safely, but faster, cheaper, and more reliably. Houbolt and his colleagues called it "lunar orbit rendezvous," or "LOR." At first the LOR idea was ignored, then criticized, and finally dismissed by many senior NASA officials. Nevertheless, the group, under Houbolt's leadership, continued to press the LOR idea, arguing that it was the only way to get men to the moon and back by President Kennedy's deadline. Houbolt persisted, risking his career in the face of overwhelming opposition. This is the story of how John Houbolt convinced NASA to adopt the plan that made history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 A Young Engineer p. 3

Chapter 2 Evolution of an Agency p. 19

Chapter 3 The Space Task Group p. 33

Chapter 4 Predicting the Future p. 43

Part II Ideas p. 49

Chapter 5 From the Earth to the Moon p. 51

Chapter 6 More Committees, Groups, and Panels p. 57

Chapter 7 Parking Orbit p. 73

Chapter 8 Mode Discussions p. 89

Chapter 9 A National Commitment p. 105

Part III Debate p. 123

Chapter 10 The "Admiral's Page" and a Letter p. 125

Chapter 11 More Committees, New Issues p. 133

Chapter 12 "All That Nonsense" p. 145

Chapter 13 One Step Forward, Two Steps Back p. 153

Chapter 14 A New Way of Doing Things p. 161

Chapter 15 The Lunar Crasher p. 169

Chapter 16 A Letter From a Crank p. 179

Chapter 17 A Fifth Engine and a New Spacecraft p. 189

Chapter 18 Time for Serious Comparisons p. 197

Chapter 19 Almost There p. 207

Chapter 20 Charlie Frick's Road Show p. 215

Chapter 21 Scratching Backs p. 227

Part IV Decision p. 237

Chapter 22 A Surprise Announcement p. 239

Chapter 23 Not There Yet p. 253

Chapter 24 "An Act of Faith and Vision" p. 263.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-324) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Causey, William F., 1949- John Houbolt

ISBN:

9781557539465

1557539464

OCLC:

1111772571