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  • Deputy Sheriffs

On this matter I can highly recommend the following book:

The Apollo Guidance Computer
Architecture and Operation
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Guidance-Computer-Architecture-Operation/dp/1441908765/

And yes, the mentioned book:

How Apollo Flew to the Moon
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Springer-Praxis-Books-Exploration/dp/1441971785

is the most comprehensive technical compendium of the Apollo program.

 

It is worth to mention that the core of the navigational software of the Apollo Guidance Computer is even nowadays still in use in everything that leaves the earth orbit.

 

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

And one more recommendation:

If you are interested in mission control and the work of all the flight controllers, this book nails it:

Apollo EECOM
Journey of a Lifetime

by Sy Liebergot
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-EECOM-Journey-Lifetime-Apogee/dp/1896522963/

It comes with hours of recordings of the audio backbone of mission control.

The Apollo 13 part is of course also covered and it really is impressive how highly professionally they handled the situation, totally calm and highly focused. 

ATC sometimes sounds different ;)

 

 

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

Mathijs, 

there is one book that might be of interest especially for you as Product Manager:

Moon Lander
How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module

by Thomas J. Kelly 
http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Lander-Developed-Smithsonian-Spaceflight/dp/1588342735/

Thomas Kelly was product manager for the lunar lander at Grumman and had to build the LM within 8 years out of nothing. I have read that book multiple times and I really learned quite a lot from it for my daily work. The dedication to detail, the ability to include every ones opinion, to push everything and everyone together forward, to make decisions and to stand to them, to be able to accept wrong decisions and recover from that in no time, ... In short, in my opinion this is the book every product/project manager should sleep with under his pillow.

I had more then once nearly tears in my eyes when I compared the chaos in projects I was involved in (not as lead) with the story Thomas Kelly tells. Unfortunately people like him are quite rare...

In the late 90th Tom Hanks produced a TV mini series "From the Earth to the Moon" telling the story of the entire Apollo program after he made the Apollo 13 movie. He dedicated one complete episode to Thomas Kelly.

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