The Man Who Ran the Moon: James Webb, JFK and the Secret History of Project Apollo

by PiersBizony (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $3.26

  In spring 1961 James E. Webb, a North Carolina farm boy turned Washington insider, took charge of the grandest exploration project ever known: America's bid for the Moon. He persuaded JFK to support him and gained control of 5 per cent of the US federal budget. Webb's NASA controlled half a million workers across America as they built new machines, launch pads and control centres. But when a spacecraft caught fire in 1967, killing three astronauts, the press exposed a series of failures and the profiteering of Webb's business partners. To protect NASA's future, Webb took the heat for the corruption and deaths and enabled his colleagues to land on the Moon by the end of the decade. America had won the Space Race but the name of the man who made it possible was wiped from history. The Man Who Ran the Moon reveals the secret history of Project Apollo and the true cost of America's victory in Space.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.26

  This is a brilliant popular history which will appeal to the huge audience of Andrew Smith's Moondust. It is written by a rising popular science star - a journalist who writes widely. It is a well-reviewed on hardback publication. Space historian Piers Bizony explodes NASA's 1960s mythology and unveils the man who gave up everything to win the space race. Neil Armstrong will forever be the first man on the Moon. But the person most responsible for putting him there is, incredibly, unknown. In 1961 James Webb, a South Carolina lawyer, took charge of America's bid for the Moon. Persuading a reluctant JFK and gaining control of 5 per cent of the US budget, Webb's NASA supervised half a million workers building new machines, launch pads and control centres. But in 1967, a spacecraft fire killed three astronauts. The press exposed numerous failures and delays, as well as Webb's business partners' profiteering. Webb shouldered the blame and his sacrifice enabled the Moon landing in 1969, but his name was wiped from history. Conducting extensive interviews and drawing on recently released original sources, Bizony tells the fascinating hidden story of the unconventional, charismatic man who made one giant leap for mankind.