July 20 of this yr will mark the semicentennial of the Apollo 11 moonlight landing . In festivity of this historic mission , TASCHEN is bring out a special 50th anniversaryeditionof its bookMoonFire : The Epic Journey of Apollo 11 .
The book sport text edition by Norman Mailer , whose original oeuvre was titledOf a Fire on the Moonwhen it was first published inLifemagazine . Mailer , who is famous for his purpose in the New Journalism apparent movement of the 1960s and ' 70s , reportedly finished this 115,000 - word piece on a tightdeadlineless than three weeks after the astronauts returned to Earth .
The photos are perhaps the substantial standout , though . " This volume includes century of images sourced from the NASA vaults , powder magazine archive , and private collections , document the lead up to , aftermath , and breathtaking moments of that giant jump for mankind , " TASCHEN writes in its description of the 348 - page hardcover book .
In one section , there ’s a full - page photo of spaceman Ted Freeman , Buzz Aldrin , and Charlie Bassett floating around in NASA ’s KC135 aircraft — which was aptly dub the " Vomit Comet"—as part of a zero - gravity preparation exercise . However , Aldrin would be the only one to make it to outer space , as both Freeman and Bassett end up dying in aircraft fortuity .
Another picture shows a snug - up flavour at Aldrin ’s thrill as he leaves a footprint on the moon . There are also shots ofNeil Armstrong , submit by Aldrin on a 16 - mm film camera , as he takes his first lunar stride . Then he verbalize the famouswordsthat we all know today : " That ’s one small step for adult male ; one giant spring for mankind . ”
The book , which will be released in June , can be pre - logical for $ 50 on TASCHEN’swebsite .
