Includes bibliographical references (p. [389]-391) and index.

List of illustrations -- Author's preface -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- 1. Apollo : an extraordinary adventure -- The meaning of Apollo -- Dreaming of the Moon -- The Apollo spaceship -- Which way? -- Lunar orbit rendezvous -- Equipment -- Swords to ploughshares : von Braun's rockets -- 2. The Apollo flights : a brief history -- An alphabet of missions -- Failure of imagination -- Back in the saddle : Apollo 4 -- The lunar module flies : Apollo 5 -- The Saturn balks : Apollo 6 -- Testing block II : Apollo 7 -- Gutsy decisions : Apollo 8 -- A complete system test : Apollo 9 -- A dress rehearsal : Apollo 10 -- Task accomplished : Apollo 11 -- LIghtning strikes : Apollo 12 -- The successful failure : Apollo 13 -- Try again : Apollo 14 -- Exploration at its greatest : Apollo 15 -- The last hurrah : Apollo 17 -- Goodbye Apollo --

3. Launch : a fiery departure -- Preparations for launch -- Lift-off -- Getting through the atmosphere -- Second stage -- Third stage -- 4. Earth orbit and TLI -- Settling into orbit -- Around the world in 90 minutes -- Coasting around Earth -- The route to the Moon -- 5. Retrieving the lander -- Leaving Earth -- Transposition, docking and extraction -- "No latch, Houston" -- The fate of the S-IVB -- 6. Navigating to the Moon -- Crossing cislunar space -- Ground-based tracking -- Navigation from the spacecraft -- The guidance and navigation system -- 7. Coasting to the Moon -- Three men in a submarine -- Sustaining life -- The personal bit -- Cool air -- PTC : spacecraft on a spit -- Stirring the tanks : genesis of a failure -- Communications -- Telly from the Moon -- Checking the lunar module -- 8. Entering lunar orbit : the LOI manoeuvre -- The service module -- How not to crash into the Moon -- Lunar encounter -- The LOI PAD : it isn't magic -- The black void -- Luna close up : burning LOI --

9. Preparations for landing -- Overjoyed -- The second arrival burn -- How not to crash into the Moon -- The joys of lunar orbit -- In the descent orbit -- Entering the lunar module -- Continuing preparations -- Undocking -- 10. Next stop : the Moon -- :Go for the Pro" : the landing begins -- Slowing down : P63 -- "Hey, there it is!" : pitchover and P64 -- "Picking up some dust" : P66 -- 11. Orbital sojourn : looking at the Moon -- Luna cognita -- Unmanned probes -- Apollo reaches the Moon -- Science station in lunar orbit -- 12. Rendezvous and docking -- Orbital mechanics -- We have lift-off... from the Moon! -- Rendezvous techniques -- Braking and station-keeping -- A long day -- The role of mission control -- Epitaph for the lunar module -- 13. Heading for home -- Mission accomplished... nearly -- Trans-EArth injection -- Subsatellite -- The TEI PAD : a worked example -- Counting down to the burn -- The long fall to Earth -- A walk outside : EVA --

14. Re-entry -- A fiery return -- IN we come : entry from start to finish -- The entry PAD : a worked example -- Entry REFSMMAT -- Final four hours -- Last hour -- Human shooting star : P63 -- Ensuring capture : P64 -- Aiming for the ships : P67 -- Splashdown -- Epilogue -- Glossary -- Further reading -- Index.

"David Woods tells the exciting story of how the Apollo flights were conducted by following a virtual flight to the Moon and back. From launch to splashdown, he hitches a ride in the incredible spaceships that took men to another world, exploring each step of the journey and detailing the enormous range of disciplines, techniques and procedures the Apollo crews had to master. While describing the tremendous technological accomplishment involved, he adds the human dimension by calling on the testimony of the people who were there at the time." "In How Apollo Flew to the Moon there is wealth of accessible material: the role of the powerful Saturn V, the reasoning behind trajectories, the day-to-day concerns of human and spacecraft health between two worlds, and the sheer daring involved in traveling to the Moon in the mid-twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET.