Tom Brokaw made "The Greatest Generation" a household term for the men and women who survived the Great Depression, won World War II and made America a super power.

Ed Buckbee's new book, "The Greatest Space Generation," chronicles the pioneers, mainly based in Huntsville, who took America to even greater heights -- to the moon and back on the Saturn V -- the first and only rocket so far to take man outside Earth's orbit.

As a new generation of Huntsville rocket scientists works toward a mission to Mars, Buckbee's book looks back in great detail at how Wernher von Braun's Huntsville team accomplished the greatest engineering feat of the 20th century.

"We sent (The Saturn V) to the moon nine times and it never failed. I wanted to record that story," said Buckbee, who was a public affairs officer for von Braun's NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center team and the first director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

"The Greatest Space Generation," includes essays by 15 members of the von Braun team who describe in great detail how they accomplished the seemingly impossible.

It has something for everyone: Technical details that will fascinate engineers and space enthusiasts; a glimpse at the national pride that came with the "smoke and fire show" that Huntsville showcased to the world; and a look inside the intangibles of von Braun's legendary management style and bigger-than-life personality that sold the ambitious plan to his team and the country.

"Ed Buckbee has woven the tale of the Greatest Space Generation and Wernher von Braun into a readable and important historical narrative," wrote Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt in the book's foreward. "He has added significant new insights and guidance for a following generation that will win the next geopolitical battle in space and then take Americans to Mars."

Those working on the Space Launch System NASA will soon aim at Mars, and those who will explore deep space stand on the shoulders of thousands of gritty and brilliant scientists, engineers and support staff that build the Saturn V, Buckbee said.

Deborah Barnhart, CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, wrote a chapter on the Mars Generation, those who are now attending Space Camp in Huntsville, surrounded by reminders of the accomplishments of their predecessors.

"They build robots, program computers to connect the globe, make movies with their phones and play electronic games with people around the planet they've never met. And they can do it all at once," Barnhart wrote. "Space Campers I know are already thinking about what their first words from Mars will be. Probably in 140 characters or less!"

Smoke and Fire

Anyone who lived in Huntsville in the 60s can tell stories of windows rattling, sometimes breaking, when NASA would test the massive Saturn I and Saturn V engines on Redstone Arsenal.

Buckbee was there for at least 40 of those tests, often taking VIPs and media to see, and feel, the pure energy of 160 million horsepower harnessed and on display on one of the massive test stands on Redstone, then perhaps the tallest structures in Alabama.

"It really scared the daylights out of me and others too," Buckbee said. "I could feel it like a hammer on my chest and could feel the heat coming up my leg."

He recounts a story of a Life Magazine photographer sent to cover one of the early engine tests. Buckbee said he tried to prepare the man for the coming shockwave of sheer force, heat and power.

The veteran journalist brushed him off, saying, "Son, I've covered wars, floods, tornadoes, every kind of destructive event you can think of. I think I can handle this little rocket engine test firing."

When the shockwave hit, "That Life Magazine photographer knocked over the camera and started running across the field. He didn't get one photograph," Buckbee said.

Grand vision, simple motivations

The book is filled with insights about von Braun, from the strong relationship he built with President John F. Kennedy, spurred by Kennedy's own visit to Huntsville to experience one of those powerful engine tests, to the notes he would write to his managers. There are also looks into his human quirks.

Buckbee said von Braun never carried cash with him, and often had to have one of his staff pay for his meal if they had lunch at a diner on one of his many speaking engagements.

Whomever paid for the meal would bring the receipt, usually just a few dollars, to Bonnie Holmes, von Braun's trusted assistant. She's write them a personal check, signed by von Braun.

"The thing is, nobody every cashed those checks. They were all over the walls in building 4200. Poor Bonnie couldn't balance Dr. von Braun's checkbook."

The success of the Saturn V team can be attributed both to von Braun and company's grand vision, as well as von Braun's simple motivations.

"Remember, today's work must be done today," von Braun would often remind his team, resulting in many late nights.

And the simple, but critical reminder: "Make sure your part works."

Von Braun's Mars plan

Some may not realize that von Braun not only dreamed of going on to Mars, he had a plan to do it using a Saturn V outfitted with a nuclear upper stage. He had plans to build a space station, then a moon base, and 50 Saturn Is and 100 Saturn Vs to make trips to Mars over a 25-year period, beginning in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

"The nuclear stage was actually ground tested at Area 51," Buckbee said.

But with the Vietnam war raging and social unrest of the time, von Braun's pitch to Congress in 1969 went nowhere.

Had Kennedy not been assassinated in 1963, "a lot of us believed he would have agreed to commit to a Mars landing after the moon," Buckbee said.

Asked what von Braun would think about today's mission to go to Mars, Buckbee said "He would be disappointed that we have not been there. He was confident we had that capability. He had thought it through."

Buckbee said he wrote "The Greatest Space Generation" to make sure the details of their achievements were not lost to history. As of last week, Buckbee said, he had attended the funerals of four Apollo-era rocket team members within 10 days.

"They are fading fast. That is another reason the book was really overdue."

Want the book?

"The Greatest Space Generation" is available at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center gift shop, or online at www.spacecampstore.com or on Amazon.com.

Haskins takes a weekly look at points of pride statewide. Email your suggestions to shaskins@al.com, or tweet them to @Shelly_Haskins using #AlabamaProud