Lost Moon
The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13
by Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger · first published 1994
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
First-person account by the Apollo 13 commander covering his early test-pilot career through the Gemini and Apollo programs and the mission itself; recommended for anyone interested in the Apollo program.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…I was prompted to do so by another book discussion. Not his best book - I think Blood Meridian and The Road are better - but McCarthy is a great writer. For nerd non-fiction, I just read Jim Lovell's Lost Moon which though not a great book, is a good solid book about greatness.
on “Ask HN: Great book that you read recently?” ↗This is a good reminder to re-read Lost Moon, Jim Lovell's account of the mission.
on “The hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII” ↗Second this recommendation for the book and miniseries. Jeff Kluger and Jim Lovell's Lost Moon (retitled Apollo 13 after the movie based on it) and Kluger's Apollo 8 are also good reads. For podcast listeners, these episodes of the Omega Tau podcast cover the Apollo hardware at a very high level…
on “How the Apollo Fire Propelled NASA to the Moon” ↗The story of Apollo 13 never gets old for me. I enjoyed Lovell's book, Lost Moon [1] (and despite its occasional dramatic liberty/deviation, I rate the film Apollo 13 highly), and I can't resist plugging again on HN the Apollo in Real Time site [2], which features Apollo missions…
on “'Houston, we've had a problem': Remembering Apollo 13 at 50” ↗I also recommend Lost Moon (which is sometimes published as Apollo 13). I've joked with people it's the same story, except in outer space. If by "story" you mean getting the feeling every 20 pages or so of "they are dead now for…
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗If you are even tangentially interested in the Apollo program, or by extension Apollo 13, I can strongly recommend the book "Apollo 13", formerly sold as "Lost Moon", by Jim Lovell and Jeff Kluger. The book briefly outlines Lovells early life and career as a test pilot up to the Gemini and Apollo programs, and the Apollo 8 mission before spending the bulk of the…
on “Apollo 13 in Real Time” ↗Jeffrey Kluger also wrote Lost Moon, about Apollo 13, in collaboration with Jim Lovell. That is also an excellent read.
on “Apollo astronaut Frank Borman has died” ↗I highly recommend his book with Jeffrey Kluger, “Apollo 13”, originally published as “Lost Moon” in 1994.
on “Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, has died” ↗I recently read Jim Lovell's book Lost Moon about the problematic flight of Apollo 13. It paints a reasonably detailed picture of the 1960's systems that put men on the moon. I would say that the software problems are relatively simple compared…
on “Ask HN: opensource projects for space industry?” ↗Jim Lovell's account of Apollo 13, Lost Moon describes reprogramming the computers in-flight...in machine code. And there wasn't even a Workbench interface, just three digit messages for output. The programs were sent instruction by instruction…
on “Ask HN: Why are the computers aboard Curiosity so puny?” ↗This spring I read Lost Moon, Lovell's account of Apollo 13 co-authored with Jeffery Kluger. There's nothing routine when you're surrounded by a couple of hundred thousand miles of hard vacuum. http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Moon-Perilous-Voyage-Apollo/dp/B0...
on “A tale of the supreme competence of Neil Armstrong” ↗…picture of one deployed on the moon. That was also one of the many issues that cropped up during Apollo 13. They too had an RTG on board that was supposed to stay on the moon[1]. According to the book "Lost Moon" by Lovell and Kluger, a potential explosion of the Saturn V during launch was accounted/planned for, but the RTG "coming home" together with the LEM wasn't. IMO the book was a bit hazy on how that situation…
on “Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma” ↗Read Lost Moon where Lovell explained how he was rejected because he has had a flu in the past tense. It was couple of steps above hell out. They really got the creme de la creme.
on “Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, has died” ↗I have read the selection process that was described in Lost Moon (the book of appolo 13). The NASA were literally recruiting superhumans back then. The smartest, healthiest, toughest and on on ... So I am not at all surprised that he managed to pull it off. https://www.countbayesie.com/blog/2015/2/18/hans-solo-and-ba...
on ““Houston, We've Had a Problem” (1975)” ↗