Footprints in the Dust (Armchair Astronaut, Sept. 2011)

Note: I've reviewed and written about this book before on my blog, however, it is so good I want to talk about it again!!

Footprints in the dust. What comes to mind when you hear that phrase? For me, it reminds me of a space book I've read, and one of the finest. Welcome to the eleventh edition of Armchair Astronaut, everyone!

Footprints in the Dust is a book on the Apollo lunar landing missions, Skylab, and even theApollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Edited by Colin Burgess, it is the compilation of many writer's works. While each chapter is written by a different author, some authors have written several chapters in the book. 

Footprints in the Dust is the third book in the Outward Odyssey series, the preceding volumes entitled Into that Silent Sea and In the Shadow of the Moon. Together, these books cover both Soviet and American manned spaceflight from 1961-1975. Footprints in the Dust covers the years 1969-1975, and was published just last year!

As mentioned earlier, Footprints in the Dust starts with Apollo 11. After the first lunar landing, one reads about the hilarious Pete Conrad and his Apollo 12 crew, completing the second successful lunar landing in 1969. Moving on, one reads of the ill-fated Apollo 13 crew of Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. I thought that the Apollo 13 chapter name was well picked; it's entitled, "Apollo 13, we have a solution". :) 

I've read the Apollo 13 story many times, but each time I read it the fact strikes me once again how marvelous that rescue was. It's just amazing what people, with God's help, were able to come up with to save the crew. The Apollo 13 chapter in Footprints in the Dust is a must-read. 

Successfully bringing America back into space was none other than Alan Shepard himself. After his historic 1961 flight, he was grounded due to health problems. Fortunately, he was able to undergo surgery and was restored to flight status, this time commanding Apollo 14 to the moon. Along with Ed Mitchell, Shepard guided their Lunar Module (LM) Antares down to the lunar surface at Fra Mauro, while Stuart Roosa orbited overhead in the Command Module (CM) Kitty Hawk, named for the Wright Brothers. Fra Mauro was the originally scheduled landing site for Apollo 13. Besides becoming the 5th person to walk on the Moon, Alan Shepard became the first to golf on it!

The original Apollo 15 CM in Dayton, Ohio.

Apollo 15 is my absolute favorite mission, and Footprints in the Dust did a remarkable job of recounting the mission. Apollo 15 was the first mission to carry the Lunar Rover, the first vehicle to drive on another world. David Scott and Jim Irwin made remarkable discoveries on the surface while Al Worden made significant input on where the most productive landing sites may be for the remaining Apollo missions. Scott and Irwin landed their LM Falcon in the mountains of the moon, at Hadley Rile. Extremely well trained in geology, they brought back many fine specimens from the moon. Having the first-ever Lunar Rover helped a bunch, too!

John Young became the world's most experienced spaceman when he commanded Apollo 16--he became the first person to fly 4 times in space, and the first to enter lunar orbit twice. (He had been CM pilot aboard Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal to Apollo 11.) Along with Charlie Duke, he landed at the Descartes highlands and spent three days of exploring on the moon. After their surface time was over, the moon-walking due blasted off up towards CM pilot Ken Mattingly in his CM Casper. (I've actually seen Casper [see left] with my own eyes at the space center  in Huntsville!) 

Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt made up the last lunar crew, Apollo 17. The first and only night launch of a Saturn V, Cernan and Schmitt landed on the moon at Taurus-Littrow. Apollo 17 was significant; Schmitt was the first and only professional geologist to walk on the moon. Schmitt added much to the Apollo 17 mission. 

There was several things that set Footprints in the Dust apart from other space books I've read. First, it has little if no bad language. Second, when it introduces the missions, it tell the astronaut's backgrounds as well. Thirdly, it doesn't just center on American manned spaceflight. It also tells about the Soviet manned spaceflight programs, going on at the same time. It was awesome getting this overview, seeing what was happening at the same time!

Another thing I learned from Footprints in the Dust is how dangerous and risky each mission was. Apollo 11 was almost aborted because of program alarms. Less than a minute into flight, Apollo 12 got struck by lightning-twice. Of course we all know about Apollo 13. Apollo 14's lunar radar blinked out as it was landing on the moon. The Lunar Rover of Apollo 15almost rolled down a cliff! There were several problems on Apollo 16. And on Apollo 17, the Lunar Rover's fender broke! But through it all, Mission Control--and the astronauts--got safely through.

Finally, Footprints in the Dust talked about the Skylab missions andASTP. Skylab was America's first space station, and three crews visited it for months at a time. ASTP was the first international spaceflight, joining men of the US and Soviet Union. Tom Stafford, with his crew of Vance Brand and Deke Slayton, made up the American part of the crew. Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov made up the Soviet part. Once in orbit, they joined their spacecraft. I've read the hardest part of training for both parts of the crew was learn English or Russian!

Well, I shouldn't tell you too much! Suffice it to say that I think you should read Footprints in the Dust. If you want a good, interesting, and through (but not too deep) story of spaceflight in the late 60s and early 70s, read Footprints in the Dust!