NASA 50th Anniversary Proceedings: NASA's First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives: NASA's First 50 Years, Historical Perspectives

765 Pages·2009·9.03 MB·English

by  Steven J. Dick

NASA 50th ANNIVERSARY PROCEEDINGS
NASA'FSI RSTY E5A0R S
HISTORPIECRASLP ECTIVES
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
NASA's first 50 years : historical perspectives / Steven J. Dick, editor
p. cm
NASA SP-2010-4704.
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration--
History. 2. Astronautics--United States--History. I. Dick, Steven J. II.
Title: NASA's first fifty years.
TL521.312.N383 2009
629.40973--dc22
2009015085
ISBN 978-0-16-084965-7 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free [phone]; DC area [phone]
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ISBN 978-0-16-084965-7
9 780160 849657
ISBN 978-0-16-084965-7 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free [phone]; DC area [phone]
9 0 0 0 0 Fax: [phone] Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001
ISBN 978-0-16-084965-7
9 780160 849657
Y E A R S
Steven J. Dick
Editor
NASA SP-2010-4704
Speakers onstage at the NASA Headquarters Auditorium during NASA’s 50th anniversary conference, 28
October 2008. Left to right: John Krige, Maura Mackowski, Michael Neufeld, Edward Goldstein, Michael
Meltzer, Joseph Tatarewicz, Stephen Johnson, Andrew Butrica, Steven Dick, Linda Billings, Richard Hallion,
John Logsdon, Tony Springer, Rob Ferguson, Erik Conway, David DeVorkin, Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, and James
Fleming. Not shown: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, Howard McCurdy, W. H. Lambright, J. D. Hunley,
and Laurence Bergreen.
To the Employees of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
During Its First 50 Years
and Their Predecessors at the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air . . .
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
“High Flight”
by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
No. 412 squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
Killed 11 December 1941 at age 19
A poem beloved by aviators and astronauts alike
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction // Steven J. Dick xiii
PART I: NASA at 50
Chapter 1 // Michael D. Griffin
NASA at 50 1
Chapter 2 // Howard E. McCurdy
Inside NASA at 50 11
PART II: Crosscutting Themes
Chapter 3 // Robert R. MacGregor
Imagining an Aerospace Agency in the Atomic Age 31
Chapter 4 // W. Henry Lambright
Leading in Space: 50 Years of NASA Administrators 49
Chapter 5 // J. D. Hunley
Space Access: NASA’s Role in Developing Core Launch-Vehicle Technologies 79
vii
NASA’s First 50 Years
Chapter 6 // John Krige
NASA’s International Relations in Space:
An Historical Overview 109
Chapter 7 // Linda Billings
Fifty Years of NASA and the Public: What NASA? What Publics? 151
PART III: Aeronautics
Chapter 8 // Anthony M. Springer
NASA Aeronautics: A Half Century of Accomplishments 183
Chapter 9 // Robert G. Ferguson
Evolution of Aeronautics Research at NASA 205
Chapter 10 // Richard P. Hallion
The NACA, NASA, and the Supersonic-Hypersonic Frontier 223
PART IV: Human Spaceflight and Life Sciences
Chapter 11 // John M. Logsdon
Fifty Years of Human Spaceflight: Why Is There Still a Controversy? 275
Chapter 12 // Stephen B. Johnson
From the Secret of Apollo to the Lessons of Failure: The Uses and
Abuses of Systems Engineering and Project Management at NASA 287
Chapter 13 // Michael J. Neufeld
The “Von Braun Paradigm” and NASA’s Long-Term Planning for
Human Spaceflight 325
Chapter 14 // Maura Phillips Mackowski
Life Sciences and Human Spaceflight 349
viii
Table of Contents
PART V: Space Science
Chapter 15 // Laurence Bergreen
Voyages to Mars 375
Chapter 16 // David DeVorkin
The Space Age and Disciplinary Change in Astronomy 389
Chapter 17 // Joseph N. Tatarewicz
Planetary Exploration in the Inner Solar System 427
Chapter 18 // Michael Meltzer
NASA’s Voyages to the Outer Solar System 453
Chapter 19 // Andrew J. Butrica
Deep Space Navigation, Planetary Science, and Astronomy:
A Synergetic Relationship 479
PART VI: Earth Science and Applications
Chapter 20 // Edward S. Goldstein
NASA’s Earth Science Program:
The Space Agency’s Mission to Our Home Planet 503
Chapter 21 // James R. Fleming
Earth Observations from Space:
Achievements, Challenges, and Realities 543
Chapter 22 // Erik Conway
Earth Science and Planetary Science:
A Symbiotic Relationship? 563
ix
NASA’s First 50 Years
PART VII: NASA’s Role in History
Chapter 23 // Steven J. Dick
Exploration, Discovery, and Culture: NASA’s Role in History 587
About the Authors 663
Acronyms and Abbreviations 677
The NASA History Series 687
Index 699
x