Arrows to the Moon

On February 20, 1959, the Canadian government shut down the CF-105 Avro Arrow jet interceptor program, putting thousands of workers and the cream of Canada's aerospace engineering talent out of work.

South of the border, a brand new organization called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was charged with putting U.S. astronauts into space, and it desperately needed engineers. Within 10 weeks of the demise of the Arrow, 25 Avro engineers were working for NASA, and another seven would join them later. Other Avro engineers found work with the aerospace contractors that worked with NASA.

A little more than 10 years later, U.S. astronauts stood on the surface of the Moon in what is one of the greatest stories of technology and exploration in human history.

Arrows to the Moon tells for the first time the story of the Canadian and British engineers from Avro Canada who played key roles in putting Americans on the Moon and in building today's U.S. space program.

These stories include:

• Jim Chamberlin, the former designer of the Arrow who went on to design the Gemini spacecraft and help NASA decide how to go to the Moon.
  
• Owen Maynard, the engineer from Sarnia, Ont., who quickly rose through the ranks to give life to the Apollo Lunar Module and later oversee the engineering effort on Apollo.
• John Hodge, the British-born flight director who was faced with the first crisis in space when a Gemini spacecraft spun out of control.
  
• Rod Rose, the British engineer who helped plan the Apollo missions and picked out the first prayer to be broadcast from space.
  
• The people from Avro who put together the Mission Control system that controls human spacecraft.
  
• The Canadian doctors who followed the Avro team and greeted astronauts as they returned from space.
  
• The NASA cricket team, formed from among the ranks of the British engineers from Avro Canada.
  

Arrows to the Moon tells the story of the race to the Moon from the viewpoint of the engineers who came from Canada. It also includes new information on the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and the Canadian space program.

in 2009, Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk spent six months aboard the International Space Station for the first long-duration Canadian space flight. On that flight, Thirsk took a copy of Arrows to the Moon with him to honour the Canadians who helped point the way into space.

Praise for Arrows to the Moon

The major American website Space.com carries an interview with Chris Gainor and an excerpt from the book. Arrows to the Moon is reviewed on the Avro Recovery website.

The book has also been featured on the CBC National, Canada AM on CTV, The Space Show, the Space Channel, CP 24 in Toronto, CFCN TV in Calgary, and in Spaceflight magazine, the Vancouver Sun, and the Victoria Times-Colonist.

"a smashing tale ... superbly crafted" - Malcolm Parry, Vancouver Sun

"unexpectedly timely" - Sean Rossiter, Vancouver Sun

"Space history at its best" - Richard Taylor, Spaceflight

"For anyone who thinks Canada's contribution to the space program consists of the Canadarm in the shuttle's payload bay, Arrows to the Moon shows there was much more to it than that." - Les Leyne, Victoria Times Colonist

The author Chris Gainor

The publisher Apogee Books

Check out Chris Gainor's Canadian Spaceflight History website. Information and sources on the Avro Arrow. Web and book sources on Canadian spaceflight history. Read about Canada's contribution to the Apollo program.

Published by Apogee Books

For further information on Arrows to the Moon , go to the Apogee Books website.

You can read reviews and order "Arrows to the Moon" through

Last Updated May 17th, 2010

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