# Preface

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When future generations review the history of the twentieth century
they will judge humanity's movement into space, with both machines
and people, as one of its most important developments. Even at
this juncture the compelling nature of space flight, and the activity
that it has engendered on the part of many peoples and governments,
makes the U.S. civil space program a significant area of investigation.
People from all avenues of experience and levels of education
share an interest in, if not always an attraction to, the drama
of space flight. No doubt the lunar landing of Apollo 11 in the
summer of 1969 is the high point of this continuing drama.

Although President John F. Kennedy had made a public commitment
in 1961 to land an American on the Moon by the end of the decade,
before this time Apollo had been all promise, and now the realization
was about to begin. Its success was an enormously significant
accomplishment coming at a time when American society was in crisis;
if only for a few moments the world united as one to focus on
the historic occasion.

Apollo 11 lifted off on July 16, 1969, and after confirmation
that the hardware was working well began the three day trip to
the Moon. Then, at 4:18 p.m. EST on 20 July 1969 the Lunar Module--
with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin--landed
on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited overhead in
the Apollo command module. After checkout, Armstrong set foot
on the surface, telling millions who saw and heard him on Earth
that it was "one small step for man--one giant leap for mankind."
Aldrin soon followed him out and the two plodded around the landing
site in the 1/6 lunar gravity, planted an American flag but omitted
claiming the land for the U.S. as had been routinely done during
European exploration of the Americas, collected soil and rock
samples, and set up scientific experiments. The next day they
launched back to the Apollo capsule orbiting overhead and began
the return trip to Earth, "splashing down" in the Pacific
on July 24.

This flight rekindled the excitement felt in the early 1960s during
the first Mercury space flights, and set the stage for later Apollo
landing missions. An ecstatic reaction circled the globe, as everyone
shared in the success of the mission. Ticker tape parades, speaking
engagements, public relations events, and a world tour by the
astronauts served to create good will both in the U.S. and abroad.
Five more landing missions followed through December 1972, three
of them using a lunar rover vehicle to travel in the vicinity
of the landing site, but none of them equalled the excitement
of Apollo 11.

During and since the completion of the Apollo 11 landing twenty-five
years ago numerous books, studies, reports, and articles have
been written about the project. This selective, annotated bibliography
discusses primarily those works judged to be most essential for
researchers seeking to learn more about the Apollo program's varied
history. It should be noted that the word "selective"
is judiciously chosen here; the works listed below do not begin
to exhaust the list of those that could have been included. A
complete bibliography of books and articles on lunar science alone
would at least double the size of the present bibliography. It
should also be noted that many of the works included below are
not recommended to researchers but are included here to give them
a sense of some relevant titles that they may not wish to consult.
A thematic arrangement of material concerning the project will,
it is hoped, bring clarity and simplicity to such a complex subject.
Any such division is necessarily somewhat arbitrary, but subjects
include Apollo and its precursors, the race with the Soviets,
the Apollo decision, Apollo technology, operations (including
coverage of specific missions and reference works dealing with
lunar photography, for want of a better place to put the latter),
popular culture and promotion of spaceflight, science, the astronauts,
and the management of the Apollo program, with a section on juvenile
literature at the end. Along with a summary of the contents of
each item, judgments have been made on the quality, originality,
or importance of some of these publications. An index concludes
this work.

Many people assisted in producing this compilation. Lee D. Saegesser,
ably assisted by William S. Skerrett and Jennifer M. Hopkins,
was instrumental in obtaining many of the documents listed below,
and the three of them selected the photos that appear in the bibliography
and on its cover; J.D. Hunley compiled roughly half of the entries,
then edited and critiqued the text; Patricia Shephard typed portions
of the manuscript; the staffs of the NASA Headquarters Library
and the Scientific and Technical Information Program provided
expert assistance in locating bibliographical materials; Martin
Manning of the United States Information Agency provided a copy
of a USIA report; and the NASA Headquarters Printing and Design
Center developed the layout and handled printing. Special thanks
go to Dr. Joseph N. Tatarewicz who provided a great deal of information
for the entries in Chapter 7 on Science.

This is the second publication in a new series of special studies
prepared by the NASA History Office. The Monographs in Aerospace
History series is designed to provide a wide variety of studies
relative to the history of aeronautics and space. This series'
publications are intended to be tightly focused in terms of subject,
relatively short in length, and reproduced in an inexpensive format
to allow timely and broad dessimination to researchers in aerospace
history. Suggestions for additional publications in the series
are welcome.

ROGER D. LAUNIUS

Chief Historian

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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