Defining NASA: The Historical Debate Over the Agency's Mission

by W. D. Kay and W.D. Kay

W. D. Kay is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and the author of Can Democracies Fly in Space? The Challenge of Revitalizing the U.S. Space Program.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791463826
• ISBN13: 9780791463826
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

It's the Vision Thing

NASA really began it's days in the sun with the space race with the Soviet Union. In October 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting earth satellite. This was before the United States was even scheduled to launch their first one. Then the Soviet Sputnik was so big. Then the Vanguard rocket NASA was using lifted off, went up beautifully for a few feet then beautifully went back down for several feet before blowing up. Then John Kennedy gave NASA a mission - to take a man to the moon and return him saftly to the earth. It was a beautiful time. The country was filled with pride as one accomplishment after another took us to the moon. Since then it almost seems as if NASA has been floundering. The big question has been between unmanned equipment and sending men up. Another argument centers around the entire concept of a big agency like NASA. For a cost in the $20 million range, Burt Rutan (www.scaled.com) built Space Ship One and successfully flew it into space. NASA couldn't even write a proposal to buy such a ship for $20 million. This book talks about the trouble NASA has had in defining a mission and makes a few guesses about the future.