Apollo 11 Owners Manual Book Review

The Haynes Apollo 11 Owners Manual is an intriguing book and one of the first Haynes books to move away from the automotive sector. Don’t expect pages and pages of cross sectional diagrams of the Apollo 11 module and Saturn V rocket. There is much more to this book than that.

The first thing that hits you is the number of excellent colour photos and images that have been included in the Apollo 11 Owners’ Manual book.

The Apollo 11 Owners Manual begins with an introduction about the space race and how the Apollo 11 mission began as well as information on the Apollo 11 prime crew, backup crew and flight directors. There is then a chapter on the Saturn V rocket, which of course could not be left out of an Apollo 11 manual. This chapter includes information on Saturn 1, Saturn 1B, Saturn V and Apollo 4.

Following on we come to a chapter dedicated to the command and service modules. This includes information on electrical power, the life support systems, food, toilet stops, personal hygiene and what changes were made after the horrific fire which occurred during testing.

The guidance, navigation and control system gets it own chapter in the book and so does how communication was made from the moon. In the Lunar Module chapter the descent and ascent stages are discussed. There is also information about Apollo 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and of course Apollo 11.

The important space suit get its own chapter as well, here they discuss the water cooled garment, the pressurised inner suit, the outer protective suit as well all the other parts of the suit in great details such as the helmet and visor, gloves and boots, life support backpacks. Not to be left out is the waste management side of things and food and drink.

In one of the last chapters there is information on the post-Apollo 11 missions with details on Apollo 12-14, Apollo 15-17 and Apollo 18-20. There is also few pages on the misconceptions and conspiracy theories that we did not actually go to the moon. The book also asks and answers the question “Why did we stop going to the moon?”

There are several appendices with a table on the Apollo missions, a field guide to the Apollo hardware, the timeline of the race to moon and a table on what happened to the Saturn V rocket stages from the 15 planned Apollo flights.

Overall the Apollo 11 Owners Manual is a brilliant book which does contain detailed drawings and cross sections of the Apollo spacecraft but it also has lots more to offer than that. There are early black and white pictures of the astronauts and in-depth details on each part of what made the Apollo missions a success. There are also some pleasing images from the lunar surface. If you are intrigued by the Apollo 11 spacecraft and the Apollo missions and want to learn what went into landing us on the moon so many times then this is a great read, highly recommended.

Buy Apollo 11 Owners Manual from Amazon UK

Astronomy Manual by Haynes Book Review

Astronomy Manual by Haynes – The Practical Guide to the Night Sky

This Astronomy Manual by Haynes (yes the people who publish the car manuals) has an introduction by Sir Patrick Moore with the foreword by Dr Brian May.

The Astronomy Manual begins with details about everything in our solar system. The images and diagrams are very good, and easy to read and understand. The book reminds me of a type of colourful encyclopaedia. The Sun and each planet in turn is covered in full colour with images of the planets moons and with lots of information on each planet.

The Our Perspective chapter looks at where we are in the galaxy and this chapter covers Stars, Exoplanets, the Milky Way galaxy and more. On top of these, Quasars, the different types of galaxies and the Big Bang are also covered.

There are then two chapters split into amateur viewing and professional viewing. The amateur viewing chapter starts with naked eye viewing and how to read star charts and planispheres. This chapter includes some basic star charts and then takes the reader through some of the more common constellations in more depth. There is then information on binoculars and what to look for when purchasing a pair as well as how they work and how to get the best out of a set of binoculars for astronomical use. The book then talks about the various different types of telescopes that can be purchased and how to use Go-To telescopes and how to polar align your mount. The book then covers equipment accessories such as eyepieces, filters and lots of others astronomy accessories. There is an interesting section on the various types of astronomy computer software that can also be purchased.

One very interesting section in the amateur section is how to create your own observatory, and there are details on creating roll off roof observatories or using a Sky pod, shed or a dome as your observatory.

The professional viewing chapter covers all the major high end professional scopes that are sited around the world and those in space, such as the Hubble Space telescope, Spitzer and Chandra. Gamma Ray Bursts are covered here as well as imaging in the infrared. The final part talks about the possible future of telescopes.

There are several appendices in the book including lists about the constellations, as well as simple star maps. There is also a rather nice lunar map showing the features of the moon. There is also a list of the Messier objects for reference.

It’s nice to see an up to date book on Astronomy which even includes details about astronomy apps on the iPhone and Android smart phones. The book is also very up to date when it comes to the information on DSLR and CCD astrophotography. There is also a section on Webcam imaging which is a very cheap way to get into imaging the planets and the moon.

This is a very good overall book on Astronomy, as it contains a little bit of everything you ever really needed to know. This is definitely a book for beginners as well as those who have been into astronomy for a while.

Author: Jane A. Green
RRP: £19.99

The Haynes Astronomy Manual is available at Waterstones or directly from Haynes

Haynes Space Shuttle Manual Book Review

This is the first astronomy/space based Haynes manual I have seen, and I am pleasantly surprised. I really didn’t know what to expect, I probably thought it was just going to be engineering drawings with lots of information on how to service and build your own space shuttle, a bit like the Haynes car manuals. But there is more to this book than just cross sections of the Space Shuttle.

There are some amazing colour photographs from NASA charting the initial testing and build of the shuttle, right through to the various missions of the shuttle. There are great images of the insides of the shuttle and of course there are some cross section diagrams of the shuttle with in-depth details on each of the sections of the shuttle and about all the dials on the flight deck.

The book begins with some early details on the Genesis project, with some great photos of the early missions and pilots. There is then a section on the building of the shuttle with images of the build from the beginning. There is then a chapter on the anatomy of the shuttle, with in-depth descriptions of each part in turn.

The space shuttles main tanks are covered as well in a separate chapter, including details on the build of the external tanks and the solid booster tanks. The following chapters then cover the flying of the shuttle and how the astronauts go about living on the shuttle. The book as you would expect then covers all of the main missions the space shuttle has completed.

This is a very interesting book of nearly 200 pages worth of information. The funny thing I liked was the title on the cover ‘NASA
Space Shuttle 1981 onwards (all models)’.

Overall this is a really nice book which contains an amazing amount of information about the NASA Space Shuttle. It’s also nice to see full colour images, and it’s a book you can actually read and not just look at the pictures!

If the Space Shuttle interests you then get this Haynes manual on the Space Shuttle, you won’t be disappointed.

Author: David Baker
RRP: £19.99

The Haynes Space Shuttle Manual is available at Waterstones or directly from Haynes

Apollo 11 Manual by Haynes

The Apollo 11 Manual by Haynes really caught my idea when reading the December 2009 edition of The Sky at Night magazine.

What a great and very unique gift for an astronomer, the acutal intricate manual to the Apollo 11 spacecraft in a Haynes style book.

This manual looks at the evolution and design of the mighty Saturn V rocket, the Command and Service Modules, and the Lunar Module. It describes the space suits worn by the crew and their special life support systems.

The book also tells you about how the Apollo 11 mission was flown – from launch procedures to ‘flying’ the Saturn V and the ‘LEM’, and from moon walking to the earth re-entry procedure.

Perfect for any astronomer or someone interested in space flight.

Buy the Haynes Apollo 11 Manual from Amazon with Free Delivery.