Philip Gibson

#houston69: Apollo 11 - when men Walked on the Moon (Hashtag Histories) Philip Gibson

What if there had been social media during the first mission to land a man on the Moon mission in 1969?   If you were not fortunate enough to be able to witness the entire historic mission as it unfolded, this account will put you believably back inside those 8 dramatic and historic days. The unique social media format of the book allows us to experience all the drama and achievements as if we were following them live, and as if the participants were speaking to us directly in real time. The narrative is based on actual astronaut accounts, NASA transcripts of the fascinating continual communications with the astronauts, broadcasts of the all main TV networks covering the mission and the thoughts of many laypeople observers. The account also includes details that were not publicly available at the time, such as the secret speech to be delivered by President Nixon should the astronauts fail to return from the Moon. There is an extensive list of major sources at the end of the book. It is not a book, therefore, written in the usual book format. It is the story of man's first exploration of Earth's nearest neighbor, the Moon, told as if in real time in the form of imaginary social media posts by the main participants and observers. Although using the fictional (at the time) vehicle of social media, the book gives an accurate account of the historic mission, revealing what the people involved in, and those witnessing, the momentous events were thinking, doing and saying at each stage of the mission. The account covers the entire mission, from the tense build up and countdown to the launch to the heart-stopping descent to the lunar surface, the first moonwalk, the experiments on the surface, the journey back to Earth, re-entry, recovery and the triumphal reception back in New York.