Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Rocket Men summary
Robert Kurson
The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon
24 mins
What is Rocket Men about?
Rocket Men (2018) tells the riveting story of Apollo 8, the moon mission that put the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the Space Race. In 1968, NASA chose to risk everything. They had to beat the Soviets to the moon, and they had just four months to do it.
Table of Contents
Rocket Men
summarized in 8 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 8
The Space Race began as a rivalry between the two largest Allied powers, the Soviet Union and the United States.
Cast your mind back to 1946. The Second World War had come to an end. The Allied forces, led by the Soviet Union and the United States, had been victorious. But relations between the two countries hadn’t just deteriorated; they’d become distinctly sour. In that year, Joseph Stalin declared that the Soviet Union would soon surpass the West in science and technology, and an ideological battle began.
By the end of the 1950s, it was clear that Stalin had made no idle boast. The Soviet Union already had the upper hand.
The symbolic peak of the Soviet Union’s success was the launch of the famous Sputnik satellite into orbit. Though small, this technological step, taken in October 1957, was significant for humankind. But the technological clout of the Soviets gave many people pause. After all, rockets that were powerful enough to launch satellites into space would be powerful enough to launch missiles across the world.
To make matters worse, the United States was lagging behind. When they attempted to send their own satellite into space that same year, it was a massive failure. The rocket rose just a few feet above the launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.
And then, in April 1961, the Soviets confirmed their dominance. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became not just the first human to be fired into space; but they also achieved the very tricky task of getting him to orbit the Earth, and then to return safely again.
It was clear after Sputnik that if the Americans wanted to keep up, they would have to push themselves to the limit. Their efforts had mixed results.
To begin with, in September 1958, president Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Thanks to NASA, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he flew the first mission of its Mercury program. Shephard’s mission was a success, but somewhat underwhelming when compared to the Soviet’s accomplishments. He had made it to space, and he had made it back, but he’d only managed to do it after Gagarin.
That same May, President John F. Kennedy stood before Congress and proclaimed that the United States would not stop. Its audacious goal was to send a man to the moon and bring him home safely before the end of the decade. This sounded impossible – but striving to achieve the impossible pushed the United States to catch up to the Soviet Union.
Want to see all full key ideas from Rocket Men?
Key ideas in Rocket Men
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Best quote from Rocket Men
Apollo 8 jettisoned used parts during its mission, going from a takeoff weight of 6.2 million pounds to a return weight of 12,000 pounds.
—Robert Kurson
Who should read Rocket Men?
- Amateur astronomers
- Space-exploration enthusiasts
- People with an interest in politics and social issues of the 1960s
Categories with Rocket Men
Books like Rocket Men
The Art of Rhetoric
Aristotle
Uncover Persuasion and the Principles Behind Oratorical Skill
20 min
4.6
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
A Passionate Tale of Revenge Fueled by Unfulfilled Love and Loss
20 min
Hopping over the Rabbit Hole
Anthony Scaramucci
How Entrepreneurs Turn Failure into Success
23 min
4.2
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers