| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-01-10 |
| Size | | Length: | 176 pages | | Height: | 12.8 in | | Width: | 9.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 51.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
APOLLO: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT "I believe this nation should commit itself, before the decade is out, to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." With those words, in May of 1961, President John F. Kennedy set an astounding challenge before the American people and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA). We would get to the moon in less than nine years. July 1999 marks the thirtieth anniversary of man's first moonwalk, and the sheer scope of the achievement still astounds us. NASA was sometimes asked, "Why not send an artist to the moon?" Well, they did, in Alan Bean, lunar module pilot for Apollo 12 and, on November 19, 1969, fourth man to walk on the moon. Bean resigned from NASA in 1981 to dedicate himself full-time to painting and, through his art, chronicling the Apollo missions. His paintings make the technological wonder of Apollo a human adventure. His very personal record of a unique time in our history shares the stories, memorializes the heroes both in space and on the ground and paints the landscape of a future world that only twelve astronauts have ever visited. 1998 HBO Apollo miniseries kicks off 30th anniversary; July 1969--first moonwalk.
Artist and former astronaut Alan Bean presents his very personal account of a unique time in our history, sharing with readers his stories of his adventures on the Moon, and memorializing the heroes both in space and on the ground who helped the Apollo missions succeed. 90+ color paintings by Alan Bean.
Industry Reviews
With the descent of the lunar lander Intrepid, Apollo 12 astronaut Bean became the fourth man to walk on the moon. Since his retirement from NASA in 1981, Bean has devoted himself to his realist paintings; this handsome volume allows him to display both his artistic skills and his orbital experience, reproducing dozens of Bean's paintings of lunar surfaces, moonwalks, astronaut gear and so on, alongside a blow-by-blow narrative of Apollo 12, which Chaikin (The National Air and Space Museum Book of Aviation and Space Flight) has written very much from Bean's perspective. Chaikin and Bean describe the thrills and setbacks on the latter's path from naval aviator to astronaut, his first view of the blue-and-white Earth from 293,000 miles and the technical problems of making sure an American flag stays up on the moon. Final chapters track Bean's adventures with the paint and canvas he took up in 1974 ("Flying skills are so much like painting skills, it's amazing"), the exploits and close calls of other astronauts and Bean's hopes for his art and for space exploration. Short paragraphs in which Bean explains his pictures' subjects and techniques alternate with the longer segments of narrative; this format can make the whole book seem scattered, though the images, and the anecdotes, retain undeniable power. The meticulously detailed paintings themselves add warmth and a mid-19th-century softness to the photos and equipment on which many of them are based. (Oct.)
Publishers Weekly (08/31/1998)
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