Son of Apollo

Christopher A. Roosa is a retired colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and is a combat veteran. He served in various positions in Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has worked as a senior congressional staffer on the House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, as a special assistant on the U.S. secretary of defense’s first Base Realignment and Closure Commission, as a political advance person for the U.S. Office of the Vice President, and as director of policy for a NASDAQ-100 corporation. For the last fifteen years he has also worked as an independent contractor for the U.S. government. Jim Lovell is a retired American astronaut, naval aviator, and mechanical engineer. He was the command module pilot of Apollo 8 and the commander of Apollo 13.

• List of IllustrationsForewordPrefacePrologue1. The Launch of Apollo 142. The Roosa Family3. Growing Up in Claremore4. Life after Claremore5. Flight Training6. The Barrett Family7. Meeting My Mother8. Early Family Life9. Houston, Texas10. Getting on a Flight11. Apollo Casualties12. Pastimes13. Apollo 1114. Apollo 1315. Apollo 1416. Moon Trees17. The Country Western Tapes18. Postflight19. Tales from the Road20. Apollo Launches21. Astronaut Downtime22. Growing Up after Apollo 1423. The Apollo Groupie Scene24. Apollo 1725. Reflections of an Apollo Command Module Pilot26. The Last Flight of Apollo27. Leaving NASA28. My Father’s PassingEpilogue

"Readers will appreciate Christopher Roosa’s memories and walk away from the book with admiration both for him and his father."-Tyler Peterson, H-Sci-Med-Tech "Oklahoman Stuart Roosa would be proud that his son took time to let the world know what it was like in those exciting years to be the son of Apollo."-Bill Moore, Chronicles of Oklahoma “U.S. Marine Corps Reserve colonel Christopher Roosa provides a unique view of the Apollo program from the perspective of an astronaut’s child. This book belongs on the shelf of everyone who revered the space program, as well as the values we seek to emulate from it within our families.”-Stephen M. Ryan, general counsel to Sen. John Glenn, who flew on Friendship 7 and space shuttle Discovery (STS-95) “Australia has played a role in NASA’s programs since Apollo 14, with Phil Chapman on the support team. But space has always been about not only the astronauts but their families. Now a pilot’s son reflects on those heady days from the perspective of the children and the families. A great read.”-Paul Scully-Power, Australia’s first astronaut, who flew on space shuttle Challenger (STS-41-G) “Having had my own children witness what it was like in those days of the Apollo program, it’s great that Christopher Roosa has written a story from the viewpoint of those who had a seat at the table. He shares family stories that only someone growing up during the Apollo program would know. An interesting read for space enthusiasts and those with gun and outdoor interests.”-Maj. Gen. Bill Anders, U.S. Air Force Reserve, lunar module pilot on Apollo 8 “Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa was an accomplished test pilot and smoke jumper whose career took him to the moon, where he spent a day and a half completely alone in lunar orbit. He observed and photographed the moon with a detail no human had ever before captured. His early death in the last century robbed us of many firsthand insights. Yet only a family member can tell us what it was truly like to be around a lunar explorer-not only during their NASA glory years but also when faced with the question every moon voyager faced when returning to Earth: what do they do next?”-Francis French, space historian and editor of Apollo Pilot: The Memoir of Astronaut Donn Eisele