[Burrows98] Burrows, William. This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age. Random House (New York): 1998.

This massive work covers space exploration from Kepler to John Glenn's return to space on the space shuttle. Burrows is a former science correspondent for The New York Times and other publications and has written several award-winning books on space exploration. Burrows is especially adept at connecting the goings-on at NASA with the prevailing political circumstances.

[Chaikin94] Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. Penguin Books (New York): 1994.

Chaikin's book is the current definitive history of the Apollo project. Taken from hundreds of hours of interviews with astronauts and controllers and founded upon more than ten years of research, this is a must-have for anyone seriously interested in the United States space program.

[Collins88] Collins, Michael. Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space. Grove Press (New York): 1988.

Apollo 11's command module pilot Micheal Collins gives the history of the space program from a personal point of view. It is easy to tell, reading this book, that Collins is speaking of friends and beloved colleagues.

[Szebehely67] Szebehely, Victor G. Theory of Orbits. Academic Press (New York): 1967.

One of two standard references for orbital mechanics. This is intended as an advanced working text for actual space scientists. Translunar orbits are covered in depth as a special case of the restricted gravitation problem of three bodies.

[Szebehely89] Szebehely, Victor G. Adventures in Celestial Mechanics: A First Course in the Theory of Orbits University of Texas Press (Austin): 1989.

One of two standard references for orbital mechanics. This is the easier to understand, intended for the general student with a working knowledge of physics and calculus.

[Platoff93] Platoff, Anne. "Where No Flag Has Gone Before: Political and Technical Aspects of Placing a Flag on the Moon." NASA Contractor Report 188251. August 1993.

A detailed history of the plans to raise the U.S. flag on the moon. Includes drawings and photographs.

[Kelly01] Kelly, Thomas J. Moon Lander: How We Developed the Lunar Module. Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series, Dominick Pisano et al., eds. Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, D.C.): 2001.

Chief engineer Tom Kelly gives an engaging and personal first-hand account of the development of the lunar module. Although sometimes written in the terse and technical style of an engineering document, Kelly's treatment of Apollo figures as friends and fellow human beings places the reader in the thick of the action.

[Hall96] Hall, Eldon C. Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Reston, Va.): 1996.

This short book discusses the evolution of electronics and computer technology during the early 1960s and its influence on the design and construction of the computers carried aboard the Apollo spacecraft. There are many references to papers published by the computer designers documenting their innovations.