A Long Voyage to the Moon

The Life of Naval Aviator and Apollo 17 Astronaut Ron Evans (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight)

By: Geoffrey Bowman

Narrated by: Douglas R Pratt

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

As command module pilot of Apollo 17, the last crewed flight to the moon, Ron Evans combined precision flying and painstaking geological observation with moments of delight and enthusiasm. As a patriotic American in charge of command module America, Evans was nicknamed “Captain America” by his fellow crew members.

Born in 1933 in St. Francis, Kansas, Evans distinguished himself academically and athletically in school, earned degrees in electrical engineering and aeronautical engineering, and became a naval aviator and a combat flight instructor. He was one of the few astronauts who served in combat during the Vietnam War, flying more than a hundred missions off the deck of the USS Ticonderoga, the same aircraft carrier that would recover him and his fellow astronauts after the splashdown of Apollo 17.

Evans’ astronaut career spans the Apollo missions and beyond. He served on the support crews for 1, 7, and 11 and on the Apollo 14 backup crew before being selected for Apollo 17 and flying on the final moon mission in 1972. He next trained with Soviet cosmonauts as backup command module pilot for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission and carried out early work on the space shuttle program. Evans then left NASA to pursue a business career. He died suddenly in 1990 at the age of 56.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"At long last, those unfamiliar with Evans' life and career get to know the last person to perform a deep space EVA." (Emily Carney, National Space Society)

“In this thoroughly detailed biography, Geoffrey Bowman captures a man of unflappable calm and easygoing warmth who met the final frontier with unabashed exuberance.” (Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon)

“I am delighted that this book now tells the story of Ron’s remarkable life.” (Farouk El-Baz, geologist and trainer of Apollo astronauts)

©2021 Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (P)2021 Redwood Audiobooks

a relatable hero and role model

I'm a fellow Kansan so I feel a great connection. This book is an excellent way to learn and emulate how ordinary people can obtain greatness. A little salty language here and there but in a context to give more power to the narrative.