Culled from direct quotes from the people behind the scenes, NASA transcripts, national archives and NASA photos, the whole story of Apollo 11 and the first moon landing emerges.

Here is the story of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon -- a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away by steady astronauts in their great machines.

"With stunning, previously unpublished photos and other rarely seen images and documents, First on the Moon is an engrossing narrative of the groundbreaking Apollo 11 mission, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary. From the race to space between the Soviet Union and the United States to the landing on the Sea of Tranquility to splashdown on Earth and the aftermath, First on the Moon offers an exciting behind-the-scenes look at this historic, landmark...

High up in the sky, the Moon has spent her whole life watching the happenings of Earth below, from dinosaurs roaming to planes taking flight, hoping for a visitor, until one day in 1969 when a spaceship soars from Earth. Includes Earth timeline and a history of space exploration.

The Apollo missions marked the first time human beings left Earth's orbit and visited another world. Launius surveys a wide range of viewpoints and narratives, both positive and negative, surrounding the program. These include the argument that Apollo epitomizes American technological-- and political-- progress; technological and scientific advances garnered from the program; critiques from both sides of the political spectrum about the program's...

"A nation in need of hope, the most powerful rocket ever launched, and the first three men to break the bounds of Earth: Apollo 8 was headed to the moon. In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America's rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the...

"To date, everything written about Armstong's life and flights has been written from the outside looking in; Barbree is the only person whom Neil Armstrong trusted to share close personal details about his inspiring life story. Working from his years of notes, and with the full cooperation of the Armstrong family, Barbree has written the definitive biography of America's most famous astronaut and one of our greatest modern heroes. Much has already...

Tired of the usual birthday parties with magicians and pizza, Annabelle decides to take her guests for a party on the moon, but problems begin before they even arrive.

Shares the inside story of the dangerous Apollo 8 mission, focusing on the lives of astronaut heroes Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, while illuminating the political factors that prompted the decision to risk lives to save the Apollo program and define the space race. "By August 1968, the American space program was in danger of failing in its two most important objectives: to land a man on the Moon by President Kennedy's end-of-decade...

Orville is a little penguin who lives in a zoo and dreams of big adventures, like going to the Moon; the other animals are skeptical, but Orville is determined, so he builds a spaceship and sets out all by himself--and discovers that real adventures are best when they are shared with friends.