Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon by Robert Kurson

Rocket Men

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The compelling inside story of three astronauts who led mankind’s first mission to the Moon, by the bestselling author of Shadow Divers.

“Robert Kurson tells the tale of Apollo 8 with novelistic detail and immediacy.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian and Artemis

By August 1968, NASA faced critical pressure to land a man on the Moon by decade’s end and beat the Soviets in space. Abandoning its cautious approach, NASA risked a sudden launch to send the first humans to the Moon—in just four months—during Christmas.

Amid historic turmoil—the Tet Offensive, assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and Chicago riots—the Apollo 8 mission became America’s boldest test under pressure. Robert Kurson highlights the three astronauts and their families: commander Frank Borman on his final mission; idealistic Jim Lovell, who dreamed of the Moon since childhood; and Bill Anders, a young engineer and pilot on his first space flight.

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with astronauts, families, NASA staff, and experts, Rocket Men offers a vivid, definitive account of one of America’s finest hours. Kurson reveals the epic risks and courage required for humanity’s first journey beyond Earth to a new world.

“Rocket Men is a riveting introduction to the [Apollo 8] flight... Kurson details the mission in crisp, suspenseful scenes... [A] gripping book.”—The New York Times Book Review