Todd Zwillich

Summer 2019 (audiobook);

When the Audible Originals of choice for July included The Man Who Knew The Way to the Moon, in the same month I'd be going to NASA to celebrate the 50th and while I was already deeply immersed in the 11 new specials coming out for said-anniversary, this one was an instant scoop-up no-brainer.

The piece is about John C. Houbolt's one-man quest, refusing to let anyone get in his way, that made Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) possible. While I had heard a handful of pieces that had to do with Houboult, none of them had been this in-depth, nor had any of them made me feel so completely aware of how long, how hard, and exactly what the opposition he'd faced was.

This was incredibly detailed, amazingly easy to follow, and eye-opening in several places. I have to give a round of applause to the fact the piece is done very even-handedly, talking about the pro's and con's of everyone's actions, including Houbolts, and whether any of them are to be celebrated or denigrated.

And now I have a need to go learn all I can about Project Paperclip next.

… (plus d'informations)

An audio performance (including lots of interviews, clips, and other materials -- not a strict reading of a book, or a cast performance of a book) about the selection of Lunar Orbital Rendezvous and the engineer, John Houbolt, who went around process and hierarchy and pushed for that technique even when it was openly opposed by most of the rest of NASA's management. The story itself is interesting (although Houbolt seems to have been excessively bitter after his idea was accepted, over not getting enough recognition after the fact), but the presentation isn't great.… (plus d'informations)