Saturn V: America’s Rocket to the Moon (America in Space Series, 5)

For the past year, I have been reading multiple books about the Apollo program, watching numerous documentaries about it, and even built the Saturn V Lego project (1,969 pieces and over 39" tall). I was looking for a good book focusing on the Saturn V, and this one is well-reviewed. On first glance it appeared to be just what I was looking for, a compact book with numerous diagrams and pictures to go along with the writing.Unfortunately, as I struggled through the first ten pages, all I could do was focus on how desperately the book needed an editor. The basics about rocket development prior to the Saturn V are there in parts, at least name-checked, but an editor is needed to lay it out as a coherent story. Introduce von Braun, perhaps via a spotlight on his initial thoughts of the Saturn. Then describe the progress of rockets over the 1942-1956 timeframe. Give a brief overview of each type and some info about their capabilities/limitations/successes/failures. Focus mostly on what was state-of-the-art in the late 1950's, and what the goals were. Talk about how they achieved those goals.My frustration makes me want to read all of this, as well as other books about pre-Saturn rockets, and write the book that this could have been.On the first two pages, the author throws out the name of rockets with no background and little-to-no context (Redstone, Jupiter, Jupiter-C, Redstone-S, Vanguard program - on the latter, it wasn't clear if it was a rocket or a group of people). On the following page, there are sentences such as this: "The satellite carriers then in preparation were like the Thor, the Juno II based on the Jupiter, and the Atlas C, supposed to be capable of placing payloads with a maximum weight of 3,085 pounds into orbit." If you are actually trying to learn the details of the rockets, how do you read that sentence? Should there be a comma after the word "were"? Is he trying to say, "At that time, the satellite carriers in preparation were the Thor, the Juno II which was based on the Jupiter, and the Atlas C. All of them were supposed to be capable of placing payloads with a maximum weight of 3,085 pounds into orbit."? Does the conclusion of his sentence apply to all rockets mentioned, or just the Atlas C? Unless you are just skimming the words and don't really want to learn the history, you have to read and re-read the language and determine what the point is. And at times it remains unclear.In the first ten pages, the book mentions the success of the Explorer I, with no background of what that is. It mentions the Redstone Arsenal, with no explanation of what it is. It mentions a Viking high-altitude research rocket with no context. It mentions the "Super Jupiter" with no context.Towards the end of the first section, the only part I could make it through, is the following: "Then von Braun described five generations of booster rockets. The first was the Vanguard, which as a super-light booster was in a class of its own. The next stage consisted of the Jupiter C, the Juno II, which was derived from the Jupiter, and the Thor-Able, a combination from the air force’s Thor medium range missile and the Able upper stage from the Vanguard program. The boosters of the first two generations had one thing in common: both been hastily developed in response to the Sputnik launches by the Russians. They were only capable of carrying very small payloads and were extremely unreliable.” It is hard to follow. It is missing a word ("both been hastily developed"?). Air Force should be capitalized (as should "Navy" elsewhere).Other sentences read odd or as if they were written by a high schooler: "Given the requirement for a launch thrust of 1,500,000 pounds of thrust…" or “Von Braun saw where the journey was leading, and he wanted to be part of the journey.”I had also bought the "Project Gemini" and "Project Mercury" books by the same author and publisher. Together, they would make a nice mini library. However, I dipped into the other two books and immediately see the same type of issues. Disappointing.

I'm a sucker for all things Saturn V. Yes, the subject has been done to death; there are dozens of excellent books on the rocket, not to mention documentaries, model kits, toys, Lego sets, and so on. I had high hopes for this title, and hoped that, at the very least, it'd include some interesting new insights that I hadn't read anywhere else.Although I suppose I shouldn't have expected much for $16, this book is a disappointment on virtually every level. The photographs are decent, as are the color cross-sections of the Saturn I, IB, and V that occupy the middle. The last part of the book, which includes summary details of all 32 Saturn flights, is useful if rather perfunctory. The first 60-odd pages try to cram in everything but the kitchen sink. We get an overview of the evolution of the Saturn series, the roles of the major contractors, the development of the launch and assembly facilities, and descriptions of each stage and engine. None of these subjects are explored in much depth, and occasionally the author will go off on odd tangents, the lengthy aside on Merritt Island's mosquito problem being an obvious one. The fact that the book was originally published in German (rather bizarrely some of the diagrams and tables still have call-outs in German), and has been rather clumsily translated, doesn't help the readability all that much. Maybe 2/5th of this book is actually devoted to the Saturn V, the rest focusing on the earlier Saturn launch vehicles. It's nice that they get their due, but the title is a clear case of false advertisement.There's also a rather frustrating number of technical errors. Liquid Hydrogen is described as being "25 degrees" colder than Liquid Oxygen, the SPS is credited with a specific impulse of 510 seconds, the first five Saturn I flights have perigees significantly higher than their apogees, and the loaded weight of the S-IC is listed at 617,294 pounds. The descriptions of of the operation of the F-1 and J-2 motors are clumsily written and don't jive with previously published material.If already own some of the classic technical books on the Saturn V and Saturn series, particularly "Stages to Saturn", the two books by Alan Lawrie, and the recent Haynes "Workshop Manual," there's really no reason to buy this one. It has potential, but it's too skimpy and sloppy to recommend to anyone but hardcore completists.

I have the other 4 books the author has done on the USA Space Program. They are well done and packed with information. This book, on the other hand, seems put together with a lot of filler as only 66 pages are devoted to the Saturn's history. The rest is all technical information, including a summary of each flight. It's not bad, but the weakest of the series.Would like the author to do a book on post Apollo, including Skylab and the space shuttle. His format would fit well and more needs told about the shuttle, such as NASA almost having a catastrophic failure with the shuttle's heat shield, years before it actually did have one. If only NASA would have addressed it the first time.

Received in good shape. Thanks!

Outstanding history of the technology that created America’s amazing moon rocket, the Saturn V.

Love this series. Detailed, but not overwhelmingly so. For an acknowledged "space nut," this series is a joy.