The Most Famous NASA Stories: 6 Books to Learn What Really Happened

First, there was the space race—when America and the Soviet Union battled to get to the moon first. Then there was the billionaire space race — when the likes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson raced to launch rockets for private space flight. But NASA is where American space exploration all started.

Back in the 1950s, rockets were just starting to get off the ground, and the thought of sending mankind all the way to the moon was just a dream. The most famous NASA stories happened in the next two decades.

Space nerds can go back to the beginning with Blinkist, the award-winning knowledge app. Blinkist breaks down nonfiction books and brings you the best parts in 15-minute explainers, which you can either read or listen to.

We’ve rounded up the 6 best NASA stories—everything from the Apollo 11 moon landing to the Black women behind critical missions. All of these books are available on Blinkist, so NASA lovers can dive into the organization’s most impressive achievements and inspirational missions, even if they’re short on time.

Here are the 6 most famous NASA stories to teach you all about space exploration.

1. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

You’ve probably heard of Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and maybe even John Glenn, the first American to orbit earth, but what about the group of Black female mathematicians who helped get them there? Hidden Figures tells their story. It starts in the 1940s, when Black women left behind their families, homes, and teaching jobs to work as mathematicians at NASA—known back then as NACA. Despite all the adversity they faced, these women went on to play key roles in the space race, including working on calculations for the NASA flight that sent the first American astronaut into space and for the Apollo moon landing. Hidden Figures has even been turned into a movie, amplifying the stories of NASA’s all-Black all-female team behind some of its biggest missions.

2. Shoot for the Moon by Richard Wiseman Shetterly

Facing a daunting challenge? Who better to seek inspiration from than the people who have achieved the impossible? Shoot for the Moon tells the story of the NASA engineers and mathematicians who put Apollo 11—and with it, mankind—on the moon for the first time in 1969. The book breaks down the things that kept the team motivated towards a goal that had never been achieved before, and how teams and companies around the world have adopted similar mindsets.

Even if you’re not a NASA engineer or mathematician, Wiseman’s book gives you practical advice you can apply to any challenge.

For example, competition has been shown to boost performance, especially if you’re working as part of a team against a rival team.

For NASA, it’s clear who the competition was: America was battling the Soviet Union in the space race. But for you, this may be your marketing team against key competitors in your industry, or even yourself training to lift heavier than a friendly rival in the gym.

“Merely imagining that you are competing against a rival can help boost performance.” – Richard Wiseman, Shoot for the Moon

3. Shoot for the Moon by James Donovan

Shoot for the Moon tells the story of 12 years of space exploration. It starts in 1957, when the space race kicked off and the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into space, and ends in 1969, when America’s Apollo 11 touched down on the moon. Donovan’s book shares details of the NASA missions leading up to Apollo 11’s historic spaceflight—both those that worked and those that weren’t so successful—as well as the landmark mission itself. NASA astronaut Michael Collins, who was the command module pilot on Apollo 11, said Shoot for the Moon is “the best book on Apollo that I have read.”

4. Rocket Men by Robert Kurson

The moon landing may be one of the most famous NASA stories, but the organization has had many other missions that were just as fundamental to space exploration. Rocket Men dives into one such mission: that of Apollo 8.

Apollo 8 was the first rocket to orbit the moon with astronauts aboard. It not only placed America firmly back in the space race—the country was falling behind the Soviets until then—it also paved the way for future missions.

With Apollo 8, NASA was able to scout landing locations, take detailed photos, and build up training and calculations that would eventually be used on the Apollo 11 landing.

Even more impressive? The Apollo 11 mission was a success despite immense time pressure—just four months!—and equipment that had never before been tested in space.

Kurson dives into the mission and the astronauts who made man’s first trip to the dark side of the moon. 

5. Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt

The space race often honors the public players, but what about the hoards of scientists—many of them female—who worked behind the scenes to make missions happen? Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the story of the women working in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which later became a part of NASA. 

From its start developing jet engines, the Jet Propulsion Lab soon expanded into working on rockets, satellites, and eventually missions to the moon, Venus, and Mars. Holt dives into the stories of the women responsible for the calculations that made it all happen.

6. Upside: Bringing NASA to Your Closet

The Blinkist app doesn’t just break down nonfiction books, it brings you the most important parts of podcasts, too. Upside is hosted by Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung, who interview founders and venture capitalists about their successes outside of Silicon Valley. Where does NASA come in? With Michael Markesbery’s story.

Markesbery is the co-founder and CEO of OROS, an outdoor fashion brand using NASA-inspired technology to make outerwear warm without the bulk. The shortcast covers how Markesbery went from college student to company founder, using NASA technology to disrupt the fashion industry.

Looking for more book recommendations? Once you’ve geeked out about NASA, learn more about World War 2 or cryptocurrency, or get book recommendations from the likes of Tim Ferris and Elon Musk.