With President Bush’s call for a return to the lunar surface, dozens of titles about the Moon have hit bookstores. From the volumes that have crossed my desk, most are nostalgic or historic accounts that showcase the people behind earlier lunar missions. Robert Godwin has assembled one of the more original books from this genre. The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook: A Pictorial History of Lunar Vehicles (Apogee, 2007) shows readers the designs for rovers, orbiters, and landers destined for the Moon. Some of this hardware will be familiar to those who were around for the Apollo missions, while others never left the drawing board.
Through his research, Godwin uncovered vehicles forgotten for more than a generation. Typically, the mock-ups of early generation hardware look horribly outdated when viewed through today’s. Godwin takes the historic blueprints and creates realistic vistas using modern design technology. Along with contemporary views, the book contains photographs of the engineers and tests that provide historic context.
The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook is a quick-hit collection of images supplemented by text. If you are more into the schematics and techy side of the early lunar hardware, there may not be enough substance for you.
The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook also presents this completely subjective account without unnecessary criticisms and after-the-fact conclusions. The book is a collection of space vehicles that Godwin found fascinating. The author delivers the nuts and bolts without an arrogant interpretation.
Essentially, the book is a pictorial survey of “what could have been” should had NASA received a blank check for lunar missions. Not just a pleasure for historians and students, this book could serve as inspiration for those working on our return to the Moon.