When the Earth disappears behind the moon, Collins loses contact with
his fellow astronauts on the moon's surface, with mission control at
NASA, and with the entire human race, becoming more alone than any human
being has ever been before. In total isolation for 21 hours, Collins
awaits word that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have managed to launch
their moon lander successfully to return to the orbiter--a feat never
accomplished before and rendered more problematic by the fuel burn of
their difficult landing. In this singularly lonely and dramatic setting,
Collins reviews the politics, science, and engineering that propelled
the Apollo 11 mission across 239,000 miles of space to the moon.
Fountas & Pinnell Text Level U