The Secret of Apollo: Systems Management in American and European Space Programs (New Series in N a S a History)

Rating:
Summary: must have for aerospace managers
Review: This book is more a history of how systems engineering evolved than a look at the apollo program. It starts with a long look at the problems with the early military ICBM program and the hard lessons learned from its development as well as going into a look at the major players in the early military space program. It then goes on to problems with the early spacecrafts at the jet propulsion lab and how these were fixed through applying principles of systems engineering. And of course it goes in depth into a look at the managing of the Apollo program. This ends with a good look at the early failings of ELDO (initial european rocket program) and the successes of ESRO (precursor to the European Space Agency).

Reading this book, you begin to get a clear understanding of the complexity involved in trying to develop massive systems such as rockets and spacecraft. This is a must read for anyone looking to go into management in the aerospace sector or is interested in learning how the sector is managed or anyone interested in the history of the players in military space program.