Brandon Turcheck wrote on February 26, 2010

Book arrived in fantastic shape fine condition thanks to the shipping and plastic wrap it had.
Rating: 5 / 5

Brian wrote on February 27, 2010

For you engineering types out there who want to know the back tale, this is the book. It talks at length about development, testing, production and the people behind it all. An enjoyable read about a very vital engineering feat in world history. This is a moment modern man should be proud of and we should all know the tale in more detail. This is the engine that took men to the moon, how sad it would be if we lost its history.
Rating: 4 / 5

Daniel S. Farkas wrote on February 27, 2010

I found this book to have a small too much about the people and too small about the technical side. There was a lot of repetition because in the way the author chose to report about test sites, rather than chronological. All in all, I learned quite a bit about an exciting project, our mission to land a man on the moon and return him safely. My interest in the Apollo space program is still high after all of the years since the first landing occurred on my 20th birthday. I’m always looking for another book to read about the program.
Rating: 3 / 5

Just a guy in Oregon wrote on February 27, 2010

Thank you!

I am one of those people still alive today who looked up at the moon in July ‘69 and knew there were humans on the surface looking back at us. I was in my late teens. I remember watching every televised launch of the Saturn V and following closely the development of the space program from Mercury failures and successes all the way to the present. I remember watching the development of the F-1. I was one of many very close outside observers and someone, by virtue of my birth being timed exactly right, was of sufficient age to follow and know events as they happened.

As such a person my personal library is filled with books about space travel and hardware. I’ve read all the well loved books that describe the Apollo program. From these I already knew much of what the author describes. But, he provides the chronology of events smoothly focused on the F-1 alone which brings into much sharper focus for me the genius that made the concept of such an engine a reality.

My enjoyment of this book, my praise for this book, and my gratitude to the author for his efforts in writing the book are very high. As I look at the photos of the “injector plate” I realize that this was not only engineering it was technical art perhaps not duplicable today. But positive as my feelings are toward this book and the subject I must admit that it reminds me of the deep sadness and sense of loss that I have felt for decades as we’ve watched the debacle of the Space Shuttle Program.

You wouldn’t reckon a technical book like this one could make a person weep. I may just have to do that to discharge the emotion of loss and feelings of what might have been.

The author was kind, I reckon, in his final chapter describing efforts into the early 90s to resurrect the F-1 engine. He was kind to the new generation of managers at NASA who apparently cannot reckon outside the box far enough to realize that the best solution to future needs might have already been invented.

The author did not do as I expected and outline what the space program MIGHT have accomplished by now if the Saturn family of vehicles and engines had been retained. He failed to mention that a human colony on the moon would probably now be well over 20 years ancient. He failed to mention that a human landing on Mars would have probably taken place a decade ago. He failed to mention that the “International Space Station” could have been lofted into orbit by perhaps only five Saturn V vehicles or that a much larger Hubble telescope would have been providing us much better images of deep space.

He was very kind indeed in failing to mention in stronger terms the gigantic mistake that is the Space Shuttle. He was also kind in not mentioning the NIH ( not invented here ) attitude of NASA that prevented it from simply recommissioning the Saturn I and Saturn V instead of embarking upon the development of highly questionable “new” vehicles to act as surrogates. He was kind not to point out that the Aries V will use two of the Shuttle SRBs and five lower power liquid fuel mainstage engines rather than simply use five F-1s.

Ah, but those five “new” engines will not burn nasty kerosene. They will be “green” and burn pure hydrogen-never before used in a mainstage booster engine. And, they will have been invented by the current NASA regime AND they are billed as being much less expensive to build and launch compared to the ancient obsolete F-1s. And. . . . for those of you ancient enough. . . . remember how small the Shuttle was going to cost to turn around and low small time would be required?

He was kind indeed and that is the one thing that disappointed me about the book. As we look to the future we see a NASA struggling to use a single SRB as stand in for the flawless Saturn I-struggling with pogo effect among other potential problems.

In 1969, as I neared the end of my teen years, to look back at the technology of forty years prior was to see the late 20s and such things as radial piston engines in aircraft and rocketry in the hands of amateurs playing with glorified fireworks. But, sadly, to look back forty years today, this month, is to look back to Apollo 8 and the first Lunar orbiting visit in Devember 1968-something that we could not do today if the fate of the entire planet depended upon it.

Yes, the computers are light years quicker today. Digital still and video cameras would give us better views of the exploits than forty years ago. But, as I look back these forty years I see a past technology that reached a zenith and was then abruptly discarded. And now, as the failed Shuttle system is finally about to be finished after much needless loss of life, potential, and resources I see a NASA fumbling to remake the Saturns with better computers but proven perilous and unpredictable solid fuel rocket boosters.

So to those older readers like me. . . . read this book with pleasure but with the knowledge that it may make you sad. To younger readers who cannot remember the successes of Apollo this book will further your ability to comprehend mistakes and failures that are nearly certain to befall NASA as it attempts to reinvent launch vehicles and engines that do not need to be reinvented-they simply need to be reincarnated-they were developed decades ago by people who saw no limits to what they could imagine and build-dreamers and builders were those who made the F-1 engine!

With current computer controlled manufacturing techniques and the enormous advances in computing hardward and software the mainstage of the Saturn V could be recreated and used for perhaps a hundred years. And. . . . it would use improved F-1 engines.

This book is an anthem written in praise of the NASA that once was-I nearly felt like standing as I read it.
Rating: 5 / 5

Dr. Eric M. Jones wrote on February 27, 2010

Be warned, I am not an engineer or somebody fascinated with internal combustion engines. (Are rocket engines a subset of ICE’s? I know not. ) I know the importance of engines and the magnitude of the achievement by the Rocketdyne/NASA team. The largest, most complex rocket engine of the 20th century. In 13 flights, not one of the 65 engines had a signficiant problem.

Anthony Young capably describes the heritage, design, testing, installation, and in-flight performance of the F-1. To me, a non-specialist, it appears that Young has done an brilliant job. There were some engineering aspects that escaped me, and some aspects of program management that I skimmed. There are also some places where the book gets repetitious – which is why I deducted one star. All considered, I’m glad I had a chance to read it.

Finally, be aware that, in mid-2006, I evaluated the original book proposal for the publisher and, in about September 2008, received a pre-release copy, on which this review is based.
Rating: 4 / 5