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An annotated bibliography of the Space Shuttle program, 1979-2011,
originally published by NASA as Towards A History of the Space
Shuttle. This version of the book includes both the first and
second volumes; the first volume is not elsewhere available in
print. Facsimile edition.
At a May 1981 "Proseminar in Space History'' held at the
Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in
Washington, DC, historians came together to consider the state of
the discipline of space history. It was an historic occasion. The
community of scholars interested in the history of spaceflight was
not large; previously, well-meaning but untrained aficionados
consumed with artifacts had dominated the field, to the exclusion
of the larger context. At a fundamental level, this proseminar
represented a "declaration of independence'' for what might be
called the "new aerospace history.'' In Retrospect, it may be
interpreted as marking the rise of space history as a recognizable
subdiscipline within the field of U.S. history. Bringing together a
diverse collection of scholars to review the state of the art in
space history, this proseminar helped in a fundamental manner to
define the field and to chart a course for future research. Its
participants set about the task of charting a course for
collecting, preserving, and disseminating the history of space
exploration within a larger context of space policy and technology.
In large measure, the course charted by the participants in this
1981 proseminar aided in advancing a very successful agenda of
historical research, writing, and understanding of space history.
Not every research project has yielded acceptable results, nor can
it be expected to do so, but the sum of the effort since 1981 has
been impressive. The opportunities for both the exploration of
space and for recording its history have been significant. Both
endeavors are noble and aimed at the enhancement of humanity.
Whither the history of spaceflight Only time will tell. But there
has been an emergent "new aerospace history'' of which space
history is a central part that moves beyond an overriding concern
for the details of the artifact to emphasize the broader role of
the spacecraft. More importantly, it emphasizes the whole
technological system, including not just the vehicle but also the
other components that make up the aerospace climate, as an integral
part of the human experience. It suggests that many unanswered
questions spur the development of flight and that inquisitive
individuals seek to know that which they do not understand.
First published in 1994 in the NASA Monograph in Aerospace History
series. From the introduction: "On 25 May 1961 President John F.
Kennedy announced to the nation a goal of sending an American
safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. This decision
involved much study and review prior to making it public, and
tremendous expenditure and effort to make it a reality by 1969.
Only the building of the Panama Canal rivaled the Apollo program's
size as the largest non- military technological endeavor ever
undertaken by the United States; only the Manhattan Project was
comparable in a wartime setting. The human spaceflight imperative
was a direct outgrowth of it; Projects Mercury (at least in its
latter stages), Gemini, and Apollo were each designed to execute
it. It was finally successfully accomplished on 20 July 1969, when
Apollo 11's astronaut Neil Armstrong left the Lunar Module and set
foot on the surface of the Moon." Illustrated.
This book presents the first comprehensive history of innovation at
NASA, bringing together experts in the field to illuminate how
public-private and international partnerships have fueled new ways
of exploring space since the beginning of space travel itself.
Twelve case studies trace the messy, risky history of such
partnerships, exploring the role of AT&T in the early
development of satellite technology, the connections between the
Apollo program and Silicon Valley, the rise of SpaceX, and more.
Some of these projects have succeeded, and some have failed; all
have challenged conventional methods of doing the public's business
in space. Together, these essays offer new insights into how
innovation happens, with invaluable lessons for policymakers,
investors, economists, and members of the space community.
For centuries humanity has engaged in a virtual exploration of
space through astronomical observation, aided by astounding
scientific and technological advances. In more than sixty years
since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, more than 6,000 functioning
satellites have been launched into Earth's orbit and beyond - some
to the farthest reaches of the Solar System - and more than 540
people have travelled into space. Unprecedented in its
chronological and geographical scope, this book charts the history
of space exploration from the first gunpowder rockets through the
Moon landings, and into a future of space tourism. Numerous
sidebars focus on the key individuals and inventions that brought
us closer to the farthest reaches of the universe. Filled with
astonishing images from the Smithsonian, NASA archives and other
international collections, this is the first in-depth, fully
illustrated survey of this universal human journey.
Since the first rocket-technology experiments of the early 20th
century, space exploration has captivated the world. Recent
advances and setbacks have included the new discoveries from the
Galileo mission, the Mars Global Surveyor's revelation that water
once existed on the Red Planet, the International Space Station,
the advent of space tourism, and the devastating Space Shuttle
disasters. This one-stop guide to space exploration provides a
wealth of information for student researchers. A substantial
'Chronology of Events' and a narrative history outline the key
events and people in the progression of space research and
activity. Five topical essays--including a look at the Space
Shuttle--examine several significant issues related to the politics
and technology of space exploration from an international
perspective. These chapters elucidate several sets of documents
that give shape and substance to the larger story. Primary
documents in this volume are organized by theme and represent the
variety of materials available to anyone seeking a better
understanding of the rise of space exploration. Also included are
biographical sketches of key people associated with space flight, a
listing of the human space flight missions undertaken since 1961,
and an annotated bibliography of additional reading.
An all-encompassing look at the history and enduring impact of the
Apollo space program In Apollo's Legacy, space historian Roger D.
Launius explores the many-faceted stories told about the meaning of
the Apollo program and how it forever altered American society. The
Apollo missions marked the first time human beings left Earth's
orbit and visited another world, and thus they loom large in our
collective memory. Many have detailed the exciting events of the
Apollo program, but Launius offers unique insight into its legacy
as seen through multiple perspectives. He surveys a wide range of
viewpoints and narratives, both positive and negative, surrounding
the program. These include the argument that Apollo epitomizes
American technological--and political--progress; technological and
scientific advances garnered from the program; critiques from both
sides of the political spectrum about the program's expenses; and
even conspiracy theories and denials of the program's very
existence. Throughout the book, Launius weaves in stories from
important moments in Apollo's history to draw readers into his
analysis. Apollo's Legacy is a must-read for space buffs interested
in new angles on a beloved cultural moment and those seeking a
historic perspective on the Apollo program.
Given the near incomprehensible enormity of the universe, it
appears almost inevitable that humankind will one day find a planet
that appears to be much like the Earth. This discovery will no
doubt reignite the lure of interplanetary travel. Will we be up to
the task? And, given our limited resources, biological constraints,
and the general hostility of space, what shape should we expect
such expeditions to take?
In "Robots in Space, " Roger Launius and Howard McCurdy tackle
these seemingly fanciful questions with rigorous scholarship and
disciplined imagination, jumping comfortably among the worlds of
rocketry, engineering, public policy, and science fantasy to
expound upon the possibilities and improbabilities involved in
trekking across the Milky Way and beyond. They survey the
literature--fictional as well as academic studies; outline the
progress of space programs in the United States and other nations;
and assess the current state of affairs to offer a conclusion
startling only to those who haven't spent time with Asimov,
Heinlein, and Clarke: to traverse the cosmos, humans must embrace
and entwine themselves with advanced robotic technologies.
Their discussion is as entertaining as it is edifying and their
assertions are as sound as they are fantastical. Rather than asking
us to suspend disbelief, "Robots in Space" demands that we accept
facts as they evolve.
Stenciled on many of the deactivated facilities at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, the evocative phrase "abandoned in place"
indicates the structures that have been deserted. Some structures,
too solid for any known method of demolition, stand empty and
unused in the wake of the early period of US space exploration. Now
Roland Miller's color photographs document the NASA, Air Force, and
Army facilities across the nation that once played a crucial role
in the space race. Rapidly succumbing to the elements and
demolition, most of the blockhouses, launch towers, tunnels, test
stands, and control rooms featured in Abandoned in Place are
located at secure military or NASA facilities with little or no
public access. Some have been repurposed, but over half of the
facilities photographed no longer exist. The haunting images
collected here impart artistic insight while preserving an
important period in history.
An engrossing read, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight
is a volume consisting of scholarship on the current state of the
discipline of space history presented in a joint NASA and NASM
conference in 2005. The essays presented in the book question such
issues as the motivations of spaceflight, and the necessity, if
any, of manned space exploration. Though a highly informative and
scholarly volume, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight is
thoroughly enjoyable for readers off all different backgrounds who
share an interest in human spaceflight. At a May 1981 "Proseminar
in Space History'' held at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC, historians came
together to consider the state of the discipline of space history.
It was an historic occasion. The community of scholars interested
in the history of spaceflight was not large; previously,
well-meaning but untrained aficionados consumed with artifacts had
dominated the field, to the exclusion of the larger context. At a
fundamental level, this proseminar represented a "declaration of
independence'' for what might be called the "new aerospace
history.'' In Retrospect, it may be interpreted as marking the rise
of space history as a recognizable subdiscipline within the field
of U.S. history. Bringing together a diverse collection of scholars
to review the state of the art in space history, this proseminar
helped in a fundamental manner to define the field and to chart a
course for future research. Its participants set about the task of
charting a course for collecting, preserving, and disseminating the
history of space exploration within a larger context of space
policy and technology. In large measure, the course charted by the
participants in this 1981 proseminar aided in advancing a very
successful agenda of historical research, writing, and
understanding of space history. Not every research project has
yielded acceptable results, nor can it be expected to do so, but
the sum of the effort since 1981 has been impressive. The
opportunities for both the exploration of space and for recording
its history have been significant. Both endeavors are noble and
aimed at the enhancement of humanity. Whither the history of
spaceflight Only time will tell. But there has been an emergent
"new aerospace history'' of which space history is a central part
that moves beyond an overriding concern for the details of the
artifact to emphasize the broader role of the spacecraft. More
importantly, it emphasizes the whole technological system,
including not just the vehicle but also the other components that
make up the aerospace climate, as an integral part of the human
experience. It suggests that many unanswered questions spur the
development of flight and that inquisitive individuals seek to know
that which they do not understand.
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement-why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the Space Age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the United States
sparked this documentary history series. The extension of human
activity into outer space has been accompanied by a high degree of
self-awareness of its historical significance. Few large scale
activities have been as extensively chronicled so closely to the
time they actually occurred. Many of those who were directly
involved were quite conscious that they were making history, and
they kept full records of their activities. Because most of the
activity in outer space was carried out under government
sponsorship, it was accompanied by the documentary record required
of public institutions, and there has been a spate of official and
privately written histories of most major aspects of space
achievement to date. When top leaders considered what course of
action to pursue in space, their deliberations and decisions often
were carefully put on the record. There is, accordingly, no lack of
material for those who aspire to understand the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policies and programs. This reality forms
the rationale for this series. Precisely because there is so much
historical material available on space matters, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided in 1988 that it
would be extremely useful to have easily available to scholars and
the interested public a selective collection of many of the seminal
documents related to the evolution of the U.S. civilian space
program. While recognizing that much space activity has taken place
under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense and other
national security organizations, the U.S. private sector, and in
other countries around the world, NASA felt that there would be
lasting value in a collection of documentary material primarily
focused on the evolution of the U.S. government's civilian space
program, most of which has been carried out since 1958 under the
Agency's auspices. As a result, the NASA History Division
contracted with the Space Policy Institute of George Washington
University's Elliott School of International Affairs to prepare
such a collection. This is the seventh volume in the documentary
history series; one additional volume containing documents and
introductory essays related to post-Apollo human spaceflight will
follow. The documents selected for inclusion in this volume are
presented in two chapters: one covering the Mercury and Gemini
projects and another covering Project Apollo.
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement--why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the space age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the United States
sparked this documentary history series. The extension of human
activity into outer space has been accompanied by a high degree of
self-awareness of its historical significance. Few large-scale
activities have been as extensively chronicled so closely to the
time they actually occurred. Many of those who were directly
involved were quite conscious that they were making history, and
they kept full records of their activities. Because most of the
activity in outer space was carried out under government
sponsorship, it was accompanied by the documentary record required
of public institutions, and there has been a spate of official and
privately written histories of most major aspects of space
achievement to date. When top leaders considered what course of
action to pursue in space, their deliberations and decisions often
were carefully put on the record. There is, accordingly, no lack of
material for those who aspire to understand the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policies and programs. This reality forms
the rationale for this series. Precisely because there is so much
historical material available on space matters, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided in 1988 that it
would be extremely useful to have easily available to scholars and
the interested public a selective collection of many of the seminal
documents related to the evolution of the U.S. civilian space
program. While recognizing that much space activity has taken place
under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense and other
national security organizations, the U.S. private sector, and in
other countries around the world, NASA felt that there would be
lasting value in a collection of documentary material primarily
focused on the evolution of the U.S. government's civilian space
program, most of which has been carried out since 1958 under the
Agency's auspices. As a result, the NASA History Office contracted
with the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University's
Elliott School of International Affairs to prepare such a
collection. This is the sixth volume in the documentary history
series; two additional ones containing documents and introductory
essays related to human space flight, including microgravity
research in Earth orbit, will follow. The documents selected for
inclusion in this volume are presented in four major sections, each
covering a particular aspect of the origins, evolution, and
execution of the U.S. space and Earth science program. Section I
deals with the scientific study of the Sun. Section II discusses
the study of the physical characteristics of space, including both
interactions between the Sun and Earth, and other areas of
investigation. Section III deals with NASA's fundamental research
in life sciences-space biology. Section IV discusses the most
recent area of science to which space observations contribute-that
intend to advance understanding of the Earth as a planetary system.
This study represents a means of highlighting the myriad of
technological developments that made possible the safe reentry and
return from space and the landing on Earth. This story extends back
at least to the work of Walter Hohmann and Eugen Sanger in Germany
in the 1920s and involved numerous aerospace engineers at the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)/NASA Langley and
the Lewis (now the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field)
and Ames Research Centers. For example, researchers such as H.
Julian Allen and Alfred J. Eggers, Jr., at Ames pioneered
blunt-body reentry techniques and ablative thermal protection
systems in the 1950s, while Francis M. Rogallo at Langley developed
creative parasail concepts that informed the development of the
recovery systems of numerous reentry vehicles. The chapters that
follow relate in a chronological manner the way in which NASA has
approached the challenge of reentering the atmosphere after a space
mission and the technologies associated with safely dealing with
the friction of this encounter and the methods used for landing
safely on Earth.
"The Birth of NASA-The Diary of T. Keith Glennan" tells the story
of the critical formative months of the new agency. The
Introduction describes the background of T. Keith Glennan, the
first NASA Administrator. After the Introduction, the book
continues with Glennan's recollections of NASA from his appointment
until the end of 1959. The 13 chapters are written in a diary
format covering month-by-months his activities until he left the
position in 1961. A Postscript, written in 1963, gives his views on
the space program after he left office. A Biographical Appendix
gives short sketches of about 400 individuals active in the space
program during this period. Throughout the diary numerous
explanatory footnotes by the editor clarify events an provide
references for further details. Although Glennan's stay at NASA was
short, his contributions are most significant, as he built the
organization that would men to the moon and serve the nation to the
present time. By T. Keith Glennan: "When I first began keeping this
journal or diary, I never thought that it might, one day, be
published. When I was appointed as the first Administrator of the
newly authorized National Aeronautics and Space Administration on
19 August 1958, I started to keep a hand-written diary of sorts but
soon found that my time was all too limited for that task. When I
went back to Cleveland for the year-end holidays in 1959, I found
that my four children had become much interested in knowing more
about my job. They were also developing an interest in national and
international affairs that intrigued me. I resolved to record my
activities using my daily appointment cards to remind me of the
important meetings that had become a daily way of life. I had a
small, battery-operated recording machine called a dictette, and I
usually dictated a summary of the day's happenings before I turned
off the light each night. I sent the tapes back to my office at
Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland where my secretary,
Barbara Helberg, transcribed and stored them. I never saw them
until I returned to Case in early 1961. Nor did I or anyone else
edit them until NASA's chief historian, Dr. Roger D. Launius, and
Dr. J. D. Hunley of the NASA History Office undertook the task. I
did retain all of the daily appointment record cards, however. In
1963 my wife and I decided to take a long holiday in Europe, and I
took the dictette and appointment cards with me, intending to
record the events of the days between 19 August 1958 and 1 January
1960. I soon found that my memory was a bit hazy; I therefore chose
to provide the kids with synopses of relationships with individuals
or groups rather than the hour-by-hour recitation mode I had used
to record the events after 1 January 1960. Throughout, I had
embellished the unfolding story with bits of personal feelings or
philosophy when stimulated by significant meetings or events. I do
regret that I did not record the full diary when I started in the
new post. When I completed the diary proper in 1963, I decided to
voice my concern over the "crash" nature of the Apollo program,
although I recognize that my conservative nature certainly clouded
my vision at the time. When the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the
moon on 20 July 1969, I was glued to a television screen at the
Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco and was as thrilled and
emotionally moved as anyone could be. The management of that
program by Jim Webb, Hugh Dryden, Tom Paine, Bob Seamans and Bob
Gilruth was in the best tradition of the great undertakings that
have periodically marked our nation's history."
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement- why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the space age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the U.S. sparked this
documentary history. The extension of human activity into outer
space has been accompanied by a high degree of self-awareness of
its historical significance. Few large-scale activities have been
as extensively chronicled so closely to the time they actually
occurred. Many of those who were directly involved were quite
conscious that they were making history, and they kept full records
of their activities. Because most of the activity in outer space
was carried out under government sponsorship, it was accompanied by
the documentary record required of public institutions, and there
has been a spate of official and privately written histories of
most major aspects of space achievement to date. When top leaders
considered what course of action to pursue in space, their
deliberations and decisions often were carefully put on the record.
There is no lack of material for those who aspire to understand the
origins and early evolution of U.S. space policies and programs.
This reality forms the rationale for this compilation. Precisely
because there is so much historical material available on space
matters, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided
in 1988 that it would be extremely useful to have easily available
to scholars and the interested public a selective collection of
many of the seminal documents related to the evolution of the U.S.
civilian space program up to that time. While recognizing that much
space activity has taken place under the sponsorship of the
Department of Defense and other national security organizations,
the U.S. private sector, and in other countries around the world,
NASA felt that there would be lasting value in a collection of
documentary material primarily focused on the evolution of the U.S.
government's civilian space program, most of which has been carried
out since 1958 under the agency's auspices. As a result, the NASA
History Office contracted with the Space Policy Institute of George
Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs to
prepare such a collection. This volume and two additional ones
detailing programmatic developments and relations with other
organizations that will follow are the result. Copies of more than
2,000 documents in their original form collected during this
project, as well as a data base that provides a guide to their
contents, have been deposited in the NASA Historical Reference
Collection. Another complete set of project materials is located at
the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. The
documents selected for inclusion in this volume are presented in
three chapters, each covering a particular aspect of the evolution
of U.S. space exploration. These chapters address (1) the relations
between the civilian space program of the United States and the
space activities of other countries, (2) the relations between the
US. civilian space pro- gram and the space efforts of national
security organizations and the military, and (3) NASA's relations
with industry and academic institutions. Volume I of this series
covered the antecedents to the U.S. space program, the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policy, and NASA as an organizational
institution. Future volumes will address space science activities,
space application programs, human spaceflight, and space
transportation activities.
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement-why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the space age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the U.S. sparked this
documentary history series. The extension of human activity into
outer space has been accompanied by a high degree of self-awareness
of its historical significance. Few large-scale activities have
been as extensively chronicled so closely to the time they actually
occurred. Many of those who were directly involved were quite
conscious that they were making history, and they kept full records
of their activities. Because most of the activity in outer space
was carried out under government sponsorship, it was accompanied by
the documentary record required of public institutions, and there
has been a spate of official and privately written histories of
most major aspects of space achievement to date. There is no lack
of material for those who aspire to understand the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policies and programs. This reality forms
the rationale for this series. Precisely because there is so much
historical material available on space matters, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration decided in 1988 that it would
be extremely useful to have available to scholars and the
interested public a selective collection of many of the seminal
documents related to the evolution of the U.S. civilian space
program. While recognizing that much space activity has taken place
under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense and other
national security organizations, within the U.S. private sector,
and in other countries around the world, NASA felt that there would
be lasting value in a collection of documentary material primarily
focused on the evolution of the U.S. government's civilian space
program, most of which has been carried out since 1958 under the
Agency's auspices. As a result, the NASA History Office contracted
with the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University's
Elliott School of International Affairs to prepare such a
collection. This is the fifth volume in the documentary history
series; three additional ones detailing programmatic developments
with respect to aspects of space science not covered in the current
volume, and to human spaceflight, will follow. The documents in
this volume are presented in three major sections, each covering a
particular aspect of the origins, evolution, and execution of the
U.S. space science program. Chapter 1 deals with the origins,
evolution, and organization of the space science program. Chapter 2
deals with solar system exploration. Chapter 3 deals with NASA's
astronomy and astrophysics efforts. Vol. I covered the antecedents
to the U. S. space program, as well as the origins and evolution of
U.S. space policy and of NASA as an institution. Vol. II dealt with
the relations between the civilian space program of the U.S. and
the space activities of other countries, the relationship between
the U. S. civilian and national security space and military
efforts, and NASA's relations with industry and academic
institutions. Vol. III provided documents on satellite
communications, remote sensing, and the economics of space
applications. Vol. IV covered various forms of space
transportation. Future volumes will cover solar and space physics,
earth science, and life and microgravity science, and human
spaceflight.
This is a volume consisting of scholarship on the current state of
the discipline of space history presented in a joint NASA and NASM
conference in 2005. The essays presented in the book explore such
issues as the motivations for spaceflight, and relative merits of
human and robotic space exploration.
Early in the morning of 4 October 1957, T. Keith Glennan went to
work, just as he had for more than a decade, at the president's
office of the Case Institution of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio.
This work is his summary of his work.
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement-why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the space age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the United States
sparked this documentary history series. The extension of human
activity into outer space has been accompanied by a high degree of
self-awareness of its historical significance. Few large-scale
activities have been as extensively chronicled so closely to the
time they actually occurred. Many of those who were directly
involved were quite conscious that they were making history, and
they kept full records of their activities. Because most of the
activity in outer space was carried out under government
sponsorship, it was accompanied by the documentary record required
of public institutions, and there has been a spate of official and
privately written histories of most major aspects of space
achievement to date. When top leaders considered what course of
action to pursue in space, their deliberations and decisions often
were carefully put on the record. There is, accordingly, no lack of
material for those who aspire to understand the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policies and programs. This reality forms
the rationale for this series. Precisely because there is so much
historical material available on space matters, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided in 1988 that it
would be extremely useful to have a selective collection of many of
the seminal documents related to the evolution of the U.S. civilian
space program that was easily available to scholars and the
interested public. While recognizing that much space activity has
taken place under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense and
other national security organizations, the U.S. private sector, and
other countries around the world, NASA felt that there would be
lasting value in a collection of documentary material primarily
focused on the evolution of the U.S. government's civilian space
program, most of which has been carried out under the agency's
auspices since 1958. As a result, the NASA History Office
contracted with the Space Policy Institute of George Washington
University's Elliott School of International Affairs to prepare
such a collection. This is the third volume in the documentary
history series; three additional ones detailing programmatic
developments with respect to space transportation, space science,
and human spaceflight will follow. The documents selected for
inclusion in this volume are presented in three major chapters,
each covering a particular aspect of the utilization of space
capabilities and the unique characteristics of the space
environment. These chapters address: (1) communicating via
satellite; (2) observing the Earth from space for practical
purposes (Earth science will be covered in a later volume); and (3)
the various ways in which space activities have had economic
impacts. Volume I in this series covered the antecedents to the
U.S. space program, as well as the origins and evolution of U.S.
space policy and of NASA as an organizational institution. Volume
II addressed the relationship between the civilian space program of
the United States and the space activities of other countries, the
relationship between the U.S. civilian and national security space
and military efforts, and NASA's relationship with industry and
academic institutions. As mentioned above, future volumes will
cover space transportation, space science, and human spaceflight.
One of the most important developments of the twentieth century has
been the movement of humanity into space with machines and people.
The underpinnings of that movement-why it took the shape it did;
which individuals and organizations were involved; what factors
drove a particular choice of scientific objectives and technologies
to be used; and the political, economic, managerial, and
international contexts in which the events of the space age
unfolded-are all important ingredients of this epoch transition
from an Earthbound to a spacefaring people. This desire to
understand the development of spaceflight in the United States
sparked this documentary history series. The extension of human
activity into outer space has been accompanied by a high degree of
self-awareness of its historical significance. Few large-scale
activities have been as extensively chronicled so closely to the
time they actually occurred. Many of those who were directly
involved were quite conscious that they were making history, and
they kept full records of their activities. Because most of the
activity in outer space was carried out under government
sponsorship, it was accompanied by the documentary record required
of public institutions, and there has been a spate of official and
privately written histories of most major aspects of space
achievement to date. When top leaders considered what course of
action to pursue in space, their deliberations and decisions often
were carefully put on the record. There is, accordingly, no lack of
material for those who aspire to understand the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policies and programs. This reality forms
the rationale for this series. Precisely because there is so much
historical material available on space matters, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided in 1988 that it
would be extremely useful to have a selective collection of many of
the seminal documents related to the evolution of the U.S. civilian
space program that was easily available to scholars and the
interested public. While recognizing that much space activity has
taken place under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense and
other national security organizations, within the U.S. private
sector, and in other countries around the world, NASA felt that
there would be lasting value in a collection of documentary
material primarily focused on the evolution of the U.S.
government's civil space program, most of which has been carried
out since 1958 under the agency's auspices. As a result, the NASA
History Office contracted with the Space Policy Institute of George
Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs to
prepare such a collection. This is the fourth volume in the
documentary history series; two additional ones detailing
programmatic developments with respect to space science and human
spaceflight will follow. The documents selected for inclusion in
this volume are presented in four major chapters, each covering a
particular aspect of access to space and the manner in which it has
developed over time. These chapters focus on the evolution toward
the giant Saturn V rocket, the development of the Space Shuttle,
space transportation commercialization, and future space
transportation possibilities. Volume I in this series covered the
antecedents to the U.S. space program, as well as the origins and
evolution of U.S. space policy and of NASA as an institution.
Volume II addressed the relations between the U.S. civil space
program and the space activities of other countries, between the
U.S. civil program and national security space and military
efforts, and between NASA and industry and academic institutions.
Volume III provided documents on satellite communications, remote
sensing, and the economic of space applications. As mentioned
above, the remaining two volumes of the series will cover space
science and human spaceflight.
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