Chasing The Moon

Robert Stone & Alan Andres - CEN 629.454 S8797c 2019

Mostly familiar stuff, focused on people and politics. Well written and kind, pleasant to read, few surprises.

Much about NASA's interactions with the racist south of the sixties. I was impressed by the story of the Ralph Abernathy's Poor People's Campaign demonstration at the Apollo 11 launch. NASA administrator Thomas O. Paine and press director Julian Scheer met with Abernathy the afternoon before the launch, and invited buses, guest passes, and meals for 100 members of the campaign to watch the launch from the VIP stands.

• p250: Paine said "To change hearts, to lift people from poverty - these are gigantic tasks besides which our moon program is child's play. If it were possible tomorrow morning to not push the button and solve the problems of which you are concerned, believe me, we would not push the button."
• p294: Arthur Clarke's house was in the Cinnamon Gardens neighborhood of Colombo, where he was gifted with the first ATS-6 private satellite dish, by von Braun and the Indian government. A grave marker for his German shepard "Sputnik 1966-1978, son of Laika"