The captivating true story of NASA's effort to land the first man on the Moon, told through powerful free verse and stunning illustrations. A patriotic testament to American grit and ingenuity, Countdown presents exhilarating, informative, and accessible free verse by award-winning author Suzanne Slade paired with historic photographs and detailed illustrations by New York Times bestselling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez. Together, they capture the gripping historic story of NASA's twentieth century efforts to conquer a new space frontier. Through triumph and tragedy, success and failure, an entire nation is glued to the high-stakes, 2,979-day mission as eighteen astronauts climb into spacecraft; three men die before even leaving the ground; eight rockets soar into space; and 400,000 people-engineers, technicians, scientists, mathematicians, and machinists-join Project Apollo in pursuit of making a dream a reality. As part of her research for this book, Suzanne Slade interviewed one of the six remaining astronauts who has walked on the Moon, Alan Bean, and corresponded with Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 astronaut. At the end of each chapter, a brief interlude summarizes key mission events and the careers and achievements of the astronauts involved. Back matter includes more information about Team Apollo and the return of Apollo 11, author and illustrator notes, bibliography, and source notes.