Seeing human face of Apollo 11’s recovery

“Moon Men Return: USS Hornet and the Recovery of the Apollo 11 Astronauts,” by Scott W. Carmichael, Naval Institute Press, 237 pages, $36.95.

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Forty-one years ago, men from Earth walked on the Moon.

That accomplishment satisfied half of the pledge made by President Kennedy eight years earlier — to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

The other half of Kennedy’s pledge remained to be redeemed — to return that man safely to Earth. That would take another four days.

Today, the difficulty in completing that portion of Kennedy’s promise is often overlooked.

In books and film, the re-entry and recovery of Apollo 11 frequently is treated as the “happily ever after” portion of the accomplishment.

The image of the capsule floating down under three parachutes forms a visual punctuation to end the story.

“Moon Men Return: USS Hornet and the Recovery of the Apollo 11 Astronauts” reveals the real challenges that were overcome in order to obtain that iconic image.

Written by Scott W. Carmichael, the book takes the first detailed look at the recovery phase of the first Moon mission.

The apparently effortless recovery proved anything but effortless. Hornet, the ship chosen for the recovery, was one of the most distinguished ships in the 1960s navy, but — as a World War II veteran — as elderly as it was distinguished.

The carrier burned out a shaft bearing at sea too late to return to port. The bearing was replaced at sea.

Tight navigational accuracy was required to place Hornet close enough to the capsule to see it as it re-entered.

In 1969, navigation and weather satellites were in their infancy.

The recovery zone was in an isolated part of the ocean, too remote for land-based navigation systems, such as Loran.

Hornet used sextants to find its location. The landing site was changed, on the fly, due to weather.

“Moon Men Return” reveals the storm zone was discovered by a top secret spy satellite, not intended for weather detection.

Had an intelligence officer not shown initiative to step outside his responsibility, the capsule could have landed in a tropical storm.

Based on interviews with the participants, “Moon Men Return” presents the human face of the Apollo 11 recovery in an entertaining and fascinating manner.

It is a great tale of both sea and space.

Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian and model-maker, lives in League City.