It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
A Man on the Moon

A Man on the Moon

The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts

Summary

The race to the moon was won spectacularly by Apollo 11 on 20 July 1969. When astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their 'giant step' across a ghostly lunar landscape, they were watched by some 600 million people on Earth 250,000 miles away.

'A Man on the Moon' is the definitive account of the heroic Apollo programme: from the tragedy of the fire in Apollo 1 during a simulated launch, through the euphoria of the first moonwalk, to the discoveries made by the first scientist in space aboard Apollo 17. Drawing on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with the astronauts and team, this is the story of the twentieth century's greatest human achievement, minute-by-minute, in the words of those who were there.

About the author

Andrew Chaikin

Born in 1956, Andrew Chaikin grew up in Great Neck, New York, with a fascination for the heavens and space exploration. While studying geology at Brown University he participated in the Viking mission to Mars at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition to his work as a space historian and science journalist, Chaikin has taught extensively at NASA. He lives in Vermont. Info about Chaikin's other books can be found on his website, www.andrewchaikin.com.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more