This work will forever carry the blessing and the curse of being joined at the hip to the memorable film rendition, "Apollo 13." I gather that in recent years the powers that be have thrown in the towel and now market book and movie under the same name. If memory serves correctly, the book appeared in 1994, the movie in 1995. I have often wondered about the synergy between the two; was "Lost Moon" written in the knowledge that it would immediately undergo the standard Hollywood facelift, or did Tom Hanks exert "go fever" upon the authors to meet production deadline? Such questions will no doubt swirl about this fine book into the foreseeable future.
As to the content and literary merits of the work itself, a previous Amazon reviewer noted a certain jumpiness in the narrative, forward leaps and backward glances. I agree with that observation. It may be that the Apollo 13 incident took place so long ago--can it really be 33 years already?-that the authors at times came to the realization that most readers under 40 didn't really know Jim Lovell, and that biographical information had to be inserted to explain why this particular astronaut's position as commander of the flight made all the difference in the world to its bloodless outcome.
With all due respects to Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong-space pioneers in their own right-historians of future generations may look upon Jim Lovell as the most accomplished of the space pioneers of the twentieth century. In April 1970 when he boarded the Odyssey for the flight to the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, Lovell possessed an impressive resume of space experience, in terms of both seat time and technical experience. In 1965 he had accepted the most undesirable of the Gemini assignments, the fourteen-day marathon of physiological and psychological stress designed to push the envelope of human endurance--with a manned two-craft rendezvous thrown in for good measure. In 1966 he and Buzz Aldrin, in another Gemini craft, finessed the skill of docking and physical adroitness in extravehicular tasking. In 1968, with Frank Borman and Bill Anders, he inaugurated manned flights aboard the new Saturn V rocket and stunned the world with the Christmas circumlunar Apollo VIII. Lovell's history of competence under fire is perhaps the major human element of this work. Who on NASA's active roster of 1971 was better prepared to handle a crisis the magnitude of Apollo XIII?
Lovell's history with the space program is much better documented in the book, if awkwardly at times, than in the film. For those unfamiliar with the plot line, Apollo XIII was the third lunar mission, albeit a star-crossed one even before lift-off. Its original crew of Shepard, Mitchell, and Roosa was scrubbed for both health and political reasons involving Shepard's ten year hiatus from active space duty, a piece of history omitted in the book. Later, less than a week before the mission, command module pilot Ken Mattingly was unwittingly exposed to measles and replaced by back-up Jack Swigert. There is some fudging about Mattingly's dismissal from the Apollo XIII crew. In the book Lovell reports that NASA management made the call; in the film Lovell/Hanks replies straightforwardly to Mattingly/Sinese that "this was my call." To add to the mystery, a close examination of sources indicates Mattingly was either never interviewed for this work or declined to participate, a curious omission on a matter so germane to the plot.
But Apollo XIII was star-crossed in more ways than anyone could have imagined. A design error in the critical fuel cell unit had transformed that equipment into a ticking bomb that exploded 200,000 miles from earth, rendering the mother ship useless and forcing the astronauts to relocate all operations and life support to the tiny Aquarius lunar lander. The technical complications alone for such an untested procedure were staggering; Lovell and collaborator Jeffrey Kluger communicate these problems with a manageable balance of technology and human drama. Like many other astronaut-authors, Lovell does not overly dwell on the human emotion or physical discomfort of his flight, which involved five days without heat, sleep, or edible food and immense technical improvising under god-awful conditions. The film version depicts considerable tension between Haise and Swigert after the explosion, with Lovell virtually having to separate them from coming to blows. Lovell reports nothing of this sort in the book, though he hints at mild irritation with Haise's sophomoric antics prior to the explosion.
"Lost Moon" brings to the knowledgeable reader visceral experiences that a film cannot really convey, given the limitations of screen time. Several dimensions of the flight-barely mentioned if at all on film-are treated at some length, such as NASA's concern about the radioactive fuel for the lunar station and its fiery reentry through earth's atmosphere, and the failure of the LEM to hold course after swinging around the moon. The "urine problem"-a major, complex situation for man and machine-is treated tastefully, though in his book Lovell does not report Haise's film complaint that "I think I caught the clap from Swigert." To term this work a pure autobiographical memoir of the flight is a bit misleading, since hundreds of professionals were involved at least indirectly with Lovell, and Glynn Lunney and Gene Krantz, to name two, get appropriate attention from the authors. The authors struck a good balance here. The only literary task still undone is a definitive treatment of Lovell's entire career. There ought to be at least one or two more good movies in there somewhere.
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Fraudulent
Was supposed to be a signed copy. Pic attached is the “signed” version.So disappointed.
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Top reviews from other countries
Fernando Saenz Perez
Lectura recomendable para aficionados al programa espacial
Reviewed in Spain on July 19, 2016R. Thompson
Extremely Insightful - Fills in the gaps Apollo 13 missed out
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2013Margaret Matthews
Book - Lost Moon
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2023