Moondust
by Andrew Smith · first published 2005
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In 1999, Andrew Smith was interviewing Charlie Duke, astronaut and moon walker, for the Sunday Times. During the course of the interview, which took place at Duke's Texan home, the telephone rang and Charlie left the room to answer it. When he returned, some twenty minutes later, he seemed visibly upset. It seemed that he'd just heard that, the previous day, one of his fellow moon walkers, the astronaut Pete Conrad, had died. The more Charlie spoke the more Andrew realised that his grief was something more than the mere fact of losing a friend. 'Now theres only nine of us,' he said. Only nine.
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You might be interested in a book called Moondust. The author realized in the early 2000s that at some point soon all of the astronauts who walked on the moon would be gone. He set out to interview each of them about their experiences at the time, and…
on “What Made Apollo a Success? (1971) [pdf]” ↗I just finished Moondust, which is a really good read for anyone interested in the Apollo story. The author was a journalist working on a story about the Apollo astronauts, and he was interviewing one of the men who walked on…
on “Apollo 10 Stopped Just 47k Feet from the Moon” ↗For anyone interested in the story of the astronauts who went to the moon, Moondust is a great read. In the early 2000s (if I remember right), the author traveled around the world to visit each of the living men who had set foot on the moon. He asks them about their experiences, both…
on “Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut, has died” ↗Anyone read Andrew Smith's Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth? Perhaps more about Mr Smith than the Apollo missions (sort of gonzo style journalistic account of his search for the Apollo astronauts) but interesting.
on ““Houston, We've Had a Problem” (1975)” ↗…the late 60s and early 70s, Neil Armstrong's fame probably would have been a lot more bearable. We wouldn't have to constantly ask the same 12 people what it's like to stand on the moon. Have you read MoonDust? It's a book about exactly what you described, what it was like for these men to try and build a life on earth after having walked on the moon. It comes up in most threads about Apollo this summer, and…
on “Apollo 11 50th Anniversary” ↗For anyone interested in the story of the astronauts who went to the moon, Moondust is a great read. In the early 2000s (if I remember right), the author traveled around the world to visit each of the living men who had set foot on the moon. He asks them about their experiences, both…
on “Astronaut Thomas Stafford has died” ↗…by flight when he watched crop duster pilots flying biplanes from an airfield near his home." Biplanes -> Looking at Earth from Moon in 40 years. This was my parents generation. I read Andrew Smith's Moondust and remembered how important the Apollo imagery on TV was to me as a child. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/24/biography.featu...
on “Edgar D. Mitchell, Sixth Moonwalking Astronaut, Dies at 85” ↗If you like this kind of thing I highly recommend Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth.
on “Scott Carpenter, Mercury Astronaut Who Orbited Earth, Dies at 88” ↗If you like that kind of thing I'd recommend Rocket Girls (the novels rather than the animé), and Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth (nonfiction).
on “Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars” ↗Track down a copy of Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth by Andrew Smith. Both paper and electrons.
on “Apollo Guidance Computer Talk” ↗I am currently reading Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth, by Andrew Smith. Around 2002, he decided to track down all the people who walked on the moon and are still living, and ask the basic question, "What do you do…
on “Ask HN: Great books about the moon?” ↗…were still living who had walked on the moon, and hear their stories firsthand. The premise of the conversations was, "What do you do after you've walked on the moon?" He wrote a book about it, called Moondust. I haven't read it yet, but it's in my Amazon cart at the moment.
on “Code to joy: learning to code in middle age” ↗You might want to read the one-to-three-star reviews before ordering. If they are to be believed, Moondust is less about the astronauts and more about Andrew Smith.
on “Code to joy: learning to code in middle age” ↗Agree. Reading the book, "Moondust", it's clear that more than a couple of the Apollo Commanders were going to land regardless of what the computer, radar or Mission Control advised.
on “NASA ‘Snoopy’ lunar module likely found 50 years after being jettisoned” ↗