Gateway to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex

"The one thing for which this century will be remembered 500 years from now was: This was the century when we began the exploration of space."-- Arthur M. Schlesinger

Tributes to Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
"A thorough account of the complex scientific, engineering, and managerial efforts that undergirded the astounding events that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration carried out."--Journal of American History

"Another simply superb NASA official history. . . . Construction, administration, and technology are carefully interwoven in an unusually candid and frank treatment of the history of America’s first lunar launching facility."--Aerospace Historian

Gateway to the Moon presents the definitive history of the origins, design, and construction of the lunar launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center, the terrestrial site of one of the greatest national adventures of the 20th century, humanity’s first trip to the moon. It includes archival illustrations and diagrams of locations, personnel, and equipment, from aerial views of sandy, undeveloped Cape Canaveral to some of the first photos of the mobile launchers and crawler-transporters.

Filled with the sense of wonder and pride that the earliest U.S. space achievements inspired, the book focuses on launch complexes 39A and 39B, the gigantic assemblies from which the Apollo-Saturn vehicles departed for trips into space, and on the massive eight-acre Vertical Assembly Building (renamed the Vehicle Assembly Building) and the attached Launch Control Center—some of the most awesome buildings ever constructed. It also analyzes the technological and governmental interactions necessary to ensure success of the launches.

Originally part of Moonport, one of the volumes of the NASA History Series, the book is based on extensive interviews with participants in the space program and wide? access to official documents, letters, and memoranda; in addition, the authors air criticisms directed at the Kennedy Space Center team and treat in detail mistakes in launch operations and conflicts within the program. Written for a general-interest audience, with jargon and acronyms translated into everyday language, the book offers a faithful account of technology in service to humanity.

Charles D. Benson, a retired colonel of the U.S. Army, is the coauthor of the official history of the Skylab orbital workshop.

William B. Faherty, director of the Museum of the Western Jesuit Missions in Hazelwood, Missouri, retired professor of history at St. Louis University, and archivist emeritus of the Midwest Jesuit Archives, is the author of 25 books, including the historical novel The Call of Pope Octavian.