How did NASA boldly advance the Apollo Program over the course of a decade to accomplish the greatest feat of mankind: the landing of humans on the Moon and their safe return to Earth? In this episode, Will sits down with Charles Murray—renowned author of The Bell Curve and Coming Apart—to discuss a lifelong passion project: the Apollo Program. While many focus on the astronauts, Murray’s book, Apollo: The Race to the Moon, tells the story of the engineers, the mission controllers, and the institutional genius that made the Moon landing a reality.
What We Discuss:
The Cold War Background: How the Bay of Pigs Disaster led to President Kennedy deciding to set the Moon as a benchmark of Space Race victory, and why he chose it, along with whether the Soviet space program was really that far ahead of America’s. They cover Von Braun and the Germans at the Marshall Space Flight Center, the incredible story of the NASA Langley Research Center, and much more.
The Engineering Talent Pool: How the mid-century U.S. produced an unprecedented concentration of technical brilliance, and how many of Apollo’s engineers came from educational backgrounds other than what one might expect.
The Saturn V & The Lunar Module: Examining the “otherworldly” engineering and the sheer scale of the incredibly advanced spacecraft and rockets.
Saving the Mission: How a handful of personnel in Mission Control made split-second decisions that saved the program from disaster, and how courageous decisions made by NASA leaders over the decade ensured Kennedy’s pledge was fulfilled.
The SpaceX Connection: Why Elon Musk is the true heir to the Apollo legacy and how SpaceX mirrors the NASA of the 1960s.
The Future of Human Achievement: What missions today could inspire the same civilizational impact as the moon landings.
About the Guest:
Charles Murray is a Hayek Emeritus Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. While widely known for his sociological work, his history of the Apollo program is considered a definitive look at the technical and organizational triumphs of the Space Race.
Get Charles Murray’s book about Apollo here: Apollo: The Race to the Moon
See his other books here: Charles Murray’s books
Find his other work here: Charles Murray AEI
Note: I am an Amazon affiliate. Using the above Amazon links to Mr. Murray’s books is a way of supporting my work at no cost to yourself.
