Book Review: Moon Rush: The New Space Race by Leonard David

About:

Moon Rush: The New Space Race by Leonard David talks about the history of man getting to the moon and suggests a path forward to the satellite which we, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. Mr. David is a space & science journalist with a long and distinguished career behind him and the 2010 winner of the prestigious National Space Club Press Award.

• 224 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426220057

My rating for Moon Rush: The New Space Race – 5
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Thoughts:

I’ve read several books about the race to the moon and the moon landing, the subject fascinates me and I still get excited watch the 1969 video of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing the Eagle. While I’m not as knowledgeable as many other enthusiasts, I certainly do enjoy the subject and a big supporter of the space program in general.

Moon Rush: The New Space Race by Leonard David is a bit different than other books about the space program which I read (First Man and Magnificent Desolation among them, the latter signed by the man himself), as it makes a case to for the future of lunar exploration.

The book starts with a short section about the mythologies about the moon, from Greek to Egyptian and other cultures. Next is another brief chapter trying to encompass the enormous effort behind the space program which succeeded in landing men on the moon, and bringing them back safely to Earth.  Another short section brings the reader through post moon landing history and up to where we stand today.

In the main part of the book, the author states that the race to the moon is back on, only that this time it is about commercial entrepreneurship. The Trump Administration has made it a goal to return to the lunar surface by the year 2024 and start on building a long-term presence there.

A government-private sector international alliance is building up to make this happen despite the many challenges which Mr. David  brings up in a section which I found most fascinating (issues like lunar dust seems to be a major obstacle).

This fascinating book is easy to read and well organized. The author included fascinating pictures, charts, maps, and rendering of the moon, vehicles and other related subjects.

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free from TLC Book Tours.
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