Splashdown: NASA and the Navy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First, let me state that I was very disappointed to see a reader render such a terrible review for a terrific book. While I admit that the book is not what I would consider as an academic or scholarly researched reference, it is an impressive work by a individual who played a key role in communicating this history to the world during the Apollo era. I can't fathom giving a 1-star rating to such an excellent work.
Don Blair was aboard the recovery ships and witnessed first-hand the recovery process. He had numerous interactions with key personnel responsible for the recoveries and broadcast 5 splashdowns. His book is really a personal memoir of his experiences, with wonderful personal photos, documents that include ship menus, and numerous other interesting artifacts. There are numerous rare personal photos including Neil Armstrong inside the MQF playing a ukulele following their historic mission. In addition, it is the first time a photo has ever been published of the prime UDT recovery team of Apollo 11 (UDT-11 and UDT-12). He also showcases numerous personnel often overlooked in the more commercial books on the Apollo Program. I would almost liken his book to browsing through a personal scrap book of photos, news clippings, and other memorabilia.
Don's book fills a historical gap too often passed over in a variety of books chronicling the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo missions. I think it is an excellent book and consider it required reading for those conducting a serious study of the history of manned spaceflight. I believe that most historians will agree that Don's book has a permanent place on the Apollo bookshelf.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Splashdown: NASA and the Navy

This is the first-ever publication detailing the Navy's role in manned spacecraft recovery from 1961 to 1975, from Alan Shepherd's initial suborbital mission to the Apollo-Soyuz flight, which inaugurated the first space collaboration between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.Splashdown: NASA, the Navy, & Space Flight Recovery takes the reader through a detailed explanation of how recovery forces on land, sea, and in the air were deployed across the globe to be trained for any and all emergencies. This book gives concise histories of all prime recovery ships as well as back-up ships in manned and unmanned missions, with every ship's history followed by a retelling of the space missions themselves. The Navy's ships, men, and aircraft stepped in time and time again to play their vital role in the space program and returned to their regular assignments and deployments with little or no fanfare. Now their side of the story is told.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Click here for more information about Splashdown: NASA and the Navy