Scan barcode
Reviews
Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings by Earl Swift
lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
I won a copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Earl Swift has written a very far-reaching account of the Apollo Lunar missions and the rovers they took with them, but even in all its detail it remains an easy and fascinating read. There are so many things in here—brief biographies of the men involved in nearly all aspects of these missions, slight history of space engineering and NASA as an agency, even a little geology and some travelogue bits about Alabama (and the moon)—but it never feels overwhelming. It all comes together into a fascinating whole that will teach you something cool and probably move you, as well.
Earl Swift has written a very far-reaching account of the Apollo Lunar missions and the rovers they took with them, but even in all its detail it remains an easy and fascinating read. There are so many things in here—brief biographies of the men involved in nearly all aspects of these missions, slight history of space engineering and NASA as an agency, even a little geology and some travelogue bits about Alabama (and the moon)—but it never feels overwhelming. It all comes together into a fascinating whole that will teach you something cool and probably move you, as well.
lordcheez's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent retelling of the space program, using the lunar rover as the narrative device. It’s simultaneously optimistic and hopeful, despite the depressing end to the program.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
"Across the Airless Wilds" is an informative study of the history of the Lunar Rover. I learned a lot of details, and the text read smoothly. The narrator was great. I highly recommend it for readers interested in the history of the US space program.
czfries's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
bookanonjeff's review against another edition
5.0
Astounding History Of An Oft-Forgotten Era. One point Swift makes in this text is clear even in my own experience - *even as someone who has been to the NASA Cape Canaveral Visitor Center many times*: The era of Apollo after 11 and in particular after 13 is often forgotten in the zeitgeist. People talk about Armstrong and Aldrin all the time. People even talk about Lovell and Mattingly in Apollo 13 a fair amount (helped somewhat by the excellent and mostly realistic Tom Hanks movie and the fact that to this day, NASA sells quite a bit of "Failure Is Not An Option" merchandise).
But after that particular era is when the "real" lunar science began. And for that, NASA needed another tool that got a fair amount of (slightly inaccurate) press back in the day, but whose story has never been quite so thoroughly documented as this particular effort by Swift. That tool was the lunar rover, aka the "moon buggy", and here Swift does an extremely thorough job of documenting the first inklings of an idea that it may be possible through the early history of American rocketry (while not hiding one iota from its roots in Nazi experimentation) through the conceptualization and manufacturing of the actual rover and even into its impacts on modern rover design, such as the newest Mars rover, Perseverance.
The book does get in the weeds a bit with the technical designs and what exactly went into each, along with the various conceptual and manufacturing challenges of each. Similar to how Tom Clancy was also known to get so in the weeds about certain particulars from time to time, so Swift is in good company there.
But ultimately, this is an extremely well researched and documented book that does a simply amazing job of really putting you right there as all of these events unfold, all the way to feeling the very dirt and grit the final men to walk on the moon experienced when they had certain cosmetic failures on the buggy... millions of miles away from being able to really do anything about it. Truly an excellent work that anyone remotely interested in humanity's efforts to reach outide of our own atmosphere should read. Very much recommended.
But after that particular era is when the "real" lunar science began. And for that, NASA needed another tool that got a fair amount of (slightly inaccurate) press back in the day, but whose story has never been quite so thoroughly documented as this particular effort by Swift. That tool was the lunar rover, aka the "moon buggy", and here Swift does an extremely thorough job of documenting the first inklings of an idea that it may be possible through the early history of American rocketry (while not hiding one iota from its roots in Nazi experimentation) through the conceptualization and manufacturing of the actual rover and even into its impacts on modern rover design, such as the newest Mars rover, Perseverance.
The book does get in the weeds a bit with the technical designs and what exactly went into each, along with the various conceptual and manufacturing challenges of each. Similar to how Tom Clancy was also known to get so in the weeds about certain particulars from time to time, so Swift is in good company there.
But ultimately, this is an extremely well researched and documented book that does a simply amazing job of really putting you right there as all of these events unfold, all the way to feeling the very dirt and grit the final men to walk on the moon experienced when they had certain cosmetic failures on the buggy... millions of miles away from being able to really do anything about it. Truly an excellent work that anyone remotely interested in humanity's efforts to reach outide of our own atmosphere should read. Very much recommended.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating book!
I didn’t know about all the different companies who bid on the final lunar rover project, and on all the prototypes they had done over the years up to that point, including bigger split devices, like a semi with two bobtail-type trailers. Grumman, with its nautilus shell type wheel spokes, also interesting, and for making them from fiberglass and epoxy, not metal.
Nor was I aware of any of the names involved, other than von Braun, whether at NASA, such as Ferenc Pavlics, or the guy who had the soil engineering background mandating how traction would work, the Polish-Canadian-American Mieczyslaw Gregory Bekker.
Next? After Boeing/GM won the contract, NASA started cheating on it, and offloading weight from elsewhere on the Version 2.0 Lunar Module in general to the rover, a physics accounting cheat. It also, from Huntsville not HQ, started dumping other post-contract requests.
That said, all of this was against a backdrop of Congress continuing to slash NASA’s budget, which led to eliminations of missions, which forced it to speed up the timetable for a contract and construction of a rover if there was going to be one.
Finally, after many, many snafus, and Sonny Morea from Huntsville running roughshod on the Boeing and GM folks, there was one. The USGS, in a sidebar, constructed a “Grover” from an old vehicle it had, to give astronauts something to train on. Much of this was done near Sunset Crater in Arizona; other major portions along the Rio Grande Gorge in northern New Mexico. I’ve visited both places more than once, though was unaware of the fake moon field NASA created near Sunset Crater.
And, then, there WAS a rover. Finally.
And, three missions that showed every cost overrun on construction was more than worth it. The problems with lunar depth perception are illustrated by some of the photos.
Side note: I have a personal connection of sorts to this part of the tale. When I was a kid, I met Jack Schmitt. I still have an autographed business card of his and an Apollo 17 mission glossy.
In a nice epilogue, Swift talks about the robotic rovers NASA has put on Mars, and how they were inspired by some of the early designs inspired by Bekker, and as articulated by Grumman and Bendix on their lunar rover designs. From there, he talks about NASA plans past and present to contract with private agencies to put a robotic rover on the Moon, whether at the lunar South Pole or elsewhere.
As for Jack Schmitt’s words just before the epilogue? I would be surprised if there’s a man on the Moon before 2030. Going beyond him, I’d be hugely surprised if there’s a man on Mars before 2040. I think Musk, Bezos, et al will realize just how much that costs, even if they want to cut massive corners on crew safety that could either leave someone dying in mission or else dying years early from cancer due to interplanetary radiation. But, that’s another story.
I didn’t know about all the different companies who bid on the final lunar rover project, and on all the prototypes they had done over the years up to that point, including bigger split devices, like a semi with two bobtail-type trailers. Grumman, with its nautilus shell type wheel spokes, also interesting, and for making them from fiberglass and epoxy, not metal.
Nor was I aware of any of the names involved, other than von Braun, whether at NASA, such as Ferenc Pavlics, or the guy who had the soil engineering background mandating how traction would work, the Polish-Canadian-American Mieczyslaw Gregory Bekker.
Next? After Boeing/GM won the contract, NASA started cheating on it, and offloading weight from elsewhere on the Version 2.0 Lunar Module in general to the rover, a physics accounting cheat. It also, from Huntsville not HQ, started dumping other post-contract requests.
That said, all of this was against a backdrop of Congress continuing to slash NASA’s budget, which led to eliminations of missions, which forced it to speed up the timetable for a contract and construction of a rover if there was going to be one.
Finally, after many, many snafus, and Sonny Morea from Huntsville running roughshod on the Boeing and GM folks, there was one. The USGS, in a sidebar, constructed a “Grover” from an old vehicle it had, to give astronauts something to train on. Much of this was done near Sunset Crater in Arizona; other major portions along the Rio Grande Gorge in northern New Mexico. I’ve visited both places more than once, though was unaware of the fake moon field NASA created near Sunset Crater.
And, then, there WAS a rover. Finally.
And, three missions that showed every cost overrun on construction was more than worth it. The problems with lunar depth perception are illustrated by some of the photos.
Side note: I have a personal connection of sorts to this part of the tale. When I was a kid, I met Jack Schmitt. I still have an autographed business card of his and an Apollo 17 mission glossy.
In a nice epilogue, Swift talks about the robotic rovers NASA has put on Mars, and how they were inspired by some of the early designs inspired by Bekker, and as articulated by Grumman and Bendix on their lunar rover designs. From there, he talks about NASA plans past and present to contract with private agencies to put a robotic rover on the Moon, whether at the lunar South Pole or elsewhere.
As for Jack Schmitt’s words just before the epilogue? I would be surprised if there’s a man on the Moon before 2030. Going beyond him, I’d be hugely surprised if there’s a man on Mars before 2040. I think Musk, Bezos, et al will realize just how much that costs, even if they want to cut massive corners on crew safety that could either leave someone dying in mission or else dying years early from cancer due to interplanetary radiation. But, that’s another story.
keithlafountaine's review against another edition
4.0
What's fascinating to me about this book is how much I didn't know or understand about the lunar rover. From a layman's perspective, it's easy to think the lunar rover is just a car that drives around. From the get-go, Earl Swift lays out why that's not the case -- how it has to contend with both the sun's burning temperature and Space's freezing cold; how it had to be a certain weight so it could get off Earth; how it had to be a certain size so it could be stowed with the Apollo crew. Even something as erudite as driving is different since the Moon's surface is littered with stones, craters, mountains, and hills, all of which make traversing it both difficult and dangerous.
This proved to be a page-turner for that reason. The conception and creation of the lunar rover, along with the scientific results it helped yield, are fascinating. I don't have a background in engineering or science, but I found myself inhaling pages upon pages of dense information about the different concepts and designs anyway. Swift brings all of this down to the layperson's level, which definitely helps.
I wasn't expecting to tear through this as quickly as I did, but it was well worth the read. A fascinating subject and one of the unsung products of the Space Race.
This proved to be a page-turner for that reason. The conception and creation of the lunar rover, along with the scientific results it helped yield, are fascinating. I don't have a background in engineering or science, but I found myself inhaling pages upon pages of dense information about the different concepts and designs anyway. Swift brings all of this down to the layperson's level, which definitely helps.
I wasn't expecting to tear through this as quickly as I did, but it was well worth the read. A fascinating subject and one of the unsung products of the Space Race.