Apollo 13 Owner’s Workshop Manual

Published on
February 3, 2020
Review Author(s)
Book Author(s)
David Baker
ISBN
978-0760346198
Other Publication Information
Hardcover, 192 pages, 250 color & 50 b/w photos
MSRP
$28.00
Product / Stock #
214080
Provided by: Quayside Publishing Group - Website: Visit Site
Cover

Those of us of a certain age remember April 13, 1970, as a “worst nightmare come to reality” day. On that day the crew of Apollo 13 radioed those famous words, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The mission ended with the successful and safe return of the astronauts, and gave the world an iconic moment revealing just how dangerous space flight can be.

The author of Apollo 13 Owner’s Workshop Manual is Dr. David Baker, who worked for NASA during the Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs. Dr. Baker was part of the team within Houston Mission Control throughout the Apollo 13 mission and, therefore, speaks with a considerable authority. He has written more than 80 books on spaceflight technology, and this is his fourth Haynes manual, following the NASA Mars Rover Manual, International Space Station Manual and NASA Space Shuttle Manual.

Apollo 13 Owners’ Workshop Manual presents an eyewitness account of the Apollo 13 mission. Beginning with an overview of the era’s equipment and technology, Dr. Baker focuses primarily on the planning, goals, and execution of the mission itself, including an hour-by-hour timeline of the crew’s near-disaster in space. Additionally, his thorough analysis of the post-flight investigation and lurking design problems with the spacecraft gives the reader a greater understanding of the design problems that led to the near-catastrophic failure.

In the publication’s 192 pages, Dr. Baker engages the reader in the details that describe just how close this “successful failure” was to almost becoming the Apollo program’s 2nd major accident.

Zenith Press publishes historical non-fiction in narrative, illustrated, and graphic formats. Building on a core of 19th and 20th century military history in America, Zenith also publishes titles on the history of aviation, technology and science, and also selected areas of cultural and social history – all with a distinctly American angle. From a narrative of a famed American WWII flying squadron to an illustrated celebration of NASA’s famed Space Shuttle program to a cultural history of moonshine in the 19th and 20th centuries, Zenith books are engaging American stories with a firm historical foundation.

Thanks to Quayside-Zenith Press for providing a copy of this excellent publication for view, and thank you to IPMS USA for allowing me to review it. This book is highly recommended for historians as well as modelers.

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