Americans Walk on the Moon - the Road to Apollo 11

July 20, 1969 was the greatest moment in American history - perhaps in the history of the world (leaving religious considerations out of the discussion). America landed two men on the Moon, and safely returned them to earth. It was a marathon 8-year effort involving hundreds of engineers, physicists, technicians, astronauts, and various support personnel. And, irony of ironies, the project was headed by an ex-Nazi SS major, Werner von Braun.

In this book, we'll trace the long road to Armstrong and Aldrin stepping on the moon, starting with early dreamers such as Tsiolkovsky, Goddard and Oberth, and leading to the three 1960s NASA astronauts who made the mission possible - Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins. Along the way, we'll take a brief look at early rocket development, the V-2, the Soviet-American space race, and the three American programs that put men in space - Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.