Returning People to the Moon After Apollo

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Why Did the United States Send Men to the Moon in the 1960s?

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 1-8

3. The American Rocket

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 9-17

4. Apollo 11 – Getting There

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 18-36

5. The Eagle’s Journey

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 37-56

6. American Knowhow

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 57-67

7. After Apollo 11

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 68-73

8. Legacy of Apollo

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 74-82

9. The Other Competitor in the Race

   • Pat Norris

   Pages 83-120

10. Why Is It Taking So Long to Return to the Moon?

    • Pat Norris

    Pages 121-142

11. When Will the United States Go Back?

    • Pat Norris

    Pages 143-177

12. China, the Communist Challenger

    • Pat Norris

    Pages 178-191

13. Russia and the Rest

    • Pat Norris

    Pages 192-209

14. Conclusions

    • Pat Norris

    Pages 210-214

15. Back Matter

    Pages 215-231

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July 2019 marks 50 years since Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps on the surface of the Moon. As people around the world celebrate the anniversary of this great American achievement, they might wonder why there have been no further human missions to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. 


This book assesses the legacy of the Apollo missions based on several decades of space developments since the program’s end. The question of why we haven’t sent humans back to the Moon is explored through a multidisciplinary lens that weaves together technological and historical perspectives. The nine manned Apollo missions, including the six that landed on the Moon, are described here by an author who has 50 years of experience in the space industry and whose work spanned the Apollo 8–13 missions. The final section of the book provides a comprehensive assessment of today’s programs and current plans for sending humans to the Moon.

• Apollo program
• Apollo missions
• Apollo 50th anniversary
• Moon landing
• Neil Armstrong
• Elon Musk
• Buzz Aldrin
• Apollo 11
• moon exploration
• New mission to the moon
• Next moon landing

“Norris presents a well-argued and readable answer to the titular question, accessible to both technical specialists and enthusiasts alike, which this reviewer will not spoil by revealing. … The true test of Norris’ analysis will be time itself.” (Andy Sinharay, Aerospace, November, 2020)

“It takes a fresh and very readable approach, introducing much information that I at least was unaware of. … I found this book to be an absorbing and refreshing read. I’m sure that Odyssey readers will view it in the same vein.” (John Silvester, Odyssey The e-Magazine of the British Interplanetary Society, Issue 63, 2019)

• Byfleet, UK

  Pat Norris

Pat Norris’s 50 years of space experience includes the Apollo Moon landings as a NASA contractor and the Hubble Space Telescope as a European Space Agency programme manager. Since 1980, he has worked for CGI, and he is currently a part-time consultant to its Space Business Unit. He was Chairman of the trade association of Britain’s space industry, Ukspace, from 1995 to 1997 and Chairman of the Space Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) from 2004 to 2012. He is the author of two books on space surveillance as well as many articles, book chapters and conference presentations on all aspects of space. He is a Fellow of the RAeS and of the Royal Institute of Navigation, as well as a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. He was awarded the Apollo Individual Achievement Award in 1969 and the Sir Arthur Clarke Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

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