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When future generations review the history of the twentieth century, they will undoubtedly judge humanity's movement into space, with both machines and people, as one of its seminal developments. Even at
this juncture, the complex nature of spaceflight and the activity that it has engendered on the part of many peoples and governments make the U.S. civil space program a significant area of investigation. People from all
avenues of experience and levels of education share an interest in the drama of spaceflight. This book is the most up-to-date synthesis of the American civil space program available. Written by NASA's chief historian,
it describes the history of this effort from its earliest origins to the early 1990s and offers a powerful analysis of the space program that merges political, economic, technological, scientific, and foreign affairs
into a meaningful whole. It has both a sound historical narrative and a set of key documents which suggest other aspects of the story. |
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$I"This is a gem of a book. Roger Launius...has compressed the history of the U.S. civil space program into 132 pages...followed by another 132 pages of documents selected to illustrate that
history...the reader can see the context of each and the way they contribute to the story...sound, clear, concise institutional history at its best."$I -- Alex Roland, Duke University. $I"Roger Launius and the
NASA History Office are to be commended for introducing to students a more robust understanding of NASA's history and the workings of modern government".$I -- Martin J. Collins, $IThe Public Historian$I.
$I"...an entertainingly-written, honest and well-produced monograph about one of the most daring and achievement-oriented bureaucracies of modern times."$I -- Jeff Kingwell, $ISpace Policy$I, August 1996. |
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