Books like Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin

How does one go about organizing something as complicated as a strategic-missile or space-exploration program? Stephen B. Johnson here explores the answer -- systems management -- in a groundbreaking study that involves Air Force planners, scientists, technical specialists, and, eventually, bureaucrats. Taking a comparative approach, Johnson focuses on the theory, or intellectual history, of "systems engineering" as such, its origins in the Air Force's Cold War ICBM efforts, and its migration to not only NASA but the European Space Agency. Exploring the history and politics of aerospace development and weapons procurement, Johnson examines how scientists and engineers created the systems management process to coordinate large-scale technology development, and how managers and military officers gained control of that process. "Those funding the race demanded results," Johnson explains. "In response, development organizations created what few expected and what even fewer wanted -- a bureaucracy for innovation. To begin to understand this apparent contradiction in terms, we must first understand the exacting nature of space technologies and the concerns of those who create them."

Digby and his sister Hannah stumble across Armstrong's moon rock in Mr. Rummage's flea market stall. This book relates the biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong's life and his most famous achievement in a story format. Wonderful illustrations help recount his famous and historic first steps on the Moon.

103 pages, 2 unnumbered pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm.800L Lexile

First humans to leave the Earth's orbit, 1968.

Donn Eisele, a former U.S. Naval Academy graduate and test pilot, flew aboard Apollo 7 in 1968—NASA’s first manned mission after the Apollo 1 tragedy—and later chronicled his experiences in unpublished memoirs that were revealed posthumously.

In this entrancing account, space traveler Michael Collins recalls his early days as an Air Force test pilot, his astronaut training at NASA, and his unparalleled experiences in orbit, including the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned lunar landing. The final chapter to his autobiography, revised and updated for this edition of Flying to the Moon, is an exciting and convincing argument in favor of mankind's continued exploration of our universe. "Several astronauts have written about their experiences, but none so well as Michael Collins...This is just the book to give the child whose parents made Yeager and The Right Stuff best sellers."-The Washington Post Book World [[GoogleBooks][1]] [1]: https://books.google.com/books/about/Flying_to_the_Moon.html?id=obUlJ9n1H1oC "GoogleBooks"

"Beloved American hero Buzz Aldrin reflects on the wisdom, guiding principles, and irreverent anecdotes he's gathered through his event-filled life--both in outer space and on Earth--in this inspiring guide-to-life for the next generation. Everywhere he goes, crowds gather to meet Buzz Aldrin. He is a world-class hero, a larger-than-life figurehead, best known of a generation of astronauts whose achievements surged in just a few years from first man in space to first men on the Moon. Now he pauses to reflect and share what he has learned, from the vantage point not only of outer space but also of time..."--