With these books, kids can learn space is far out

By Leanne Italie

updated 4:01 p.m. ET July 13, 2009

As 600 million people watched live on television, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their bug-like Eagle module on the moon, four miles off course with less than 30 seconds of fuel to go. The U.S. had won the space race. Man had walked on the moon.

It was July 20, 1969. There had been frustrating disappointments against the Soviets, including a fire that killed three astronauts during a training simulation early in the moon mission. Armstrong, Aldrin and their Apollo 11 comrade, Michael Collins, returned home as heroes to a grateful nation.

But two days before Armstrong's historic moonwalk, William Safire in Richard Nixon's White House was prepared for a far different outcome, drafting a speech the president never had to give called "In Event of Moon Disaster."

"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace," began the speech that surfaced in the National Archives three decades later. "These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice."

Instead, Nixon cheered on the Apollo 11 crew by radiophone from his Oval Room: "For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this Earth are truly one — one in their pride in what you have done and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth."

Armstrong and Aldrin planted an American flag and explored their powdery new world for 2 1/2 hours. The U.S. space program seemed invincible, until very real tragedy struck again 16 years later.

The shuttle Challenger blew up 73 seconds after takeoff, also live on television but this time in full color rather than ghostly black and white. Seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, who had won a contest to be the first civilian teacher on a space flight, were killed that chilly Florida morning on Jan. 28, 1986.

"Their truest testimony will not be in the words we speak, but in the way they led their lives and in the way they lost those lives — with dedication, honor and an unquenchable desire to explore this mysterious and beautiful universe," President Ronald Reagan told a stunned and mourning nation.

On Feb. 1, 2003, an American president once again found himself comforting his country after a space disaster. The shuttle Columbia had disintegrated on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, raining debris on the small Texas town of Palestine and killing seven crew members.

"The cause in which they died will continue," George W. Bush said. "Our journey into space will go on."

It's been 40 years since Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon, but the space race — its triumphs, tension and sadness — need not be light years away for young people living in a world where shuttle flights and beautiful pictures from Mars almost feel routine.

To inspire, entertain and educate kids ahead of the Apollo 11 anniversary, consider these books:

— "Moon Landing" (Candlewick, $29.99, ages 9-12) by Richard Platt and designed by David Hawcock. A spectacular pop-up putting into context some of the most famous moments in the space program. Archival photos and mini-booklets stashed in slots enhance the three-dimensional paperwork featuring a fiery Redstone rocket blasting Al Shepard on his way, a Gemini capsule and a large, protruding full moon with astronaut landing spots.

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