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NASA Spaceflight

A History of Innovation

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Editors:
  1. Roger D. Launius

    1. Auburn, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Howard E. McCurdy

    1. American University, Washington, D.C., USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Provides the first-ever comprehensive history of NASA innovation
  • Features leading experts on aerospace history, the history of technology, and space policy
  • Offers numerous case studies showing how NASA has used partnerships, competition, and cost-sharing to encourage innovation and restrain costs
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
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  2. Introduction: Partnerships for Innovation

    • Roger D. Launius, Howard E. McCurdy
    Pages 1-32

  3. The Origins and Flagship Project of NASA’s International Program: The Ariel Case Study

    • Angelina Long Callahan
    Pages 33-55

  4. Global Instantaneous Telecommunications and the Development of Satellite Technology

    • Roger D. Launius
    Pages 57-87

  5. The Other Side of Moore’s Law: The Apollo Guidance Computer, the Integrated Circuit, and the Microelectronics Revolution, 1962–1975

    • Paul E. Ceruzzi
    Pages 89-127

  6. NASA’s Mission Control Center: The Space Program’s Capitol as Innovative Capital

    • Layne Karafantis
    Pages 129-154

  7. Lessons of Landsat: From Experimental Program to Commercial Land Imaging, 1969–1989

    • Brian Jirout
    Pages 155-183

  8. Selling the Space Shuttle: Early Developments

    • John M. Logsdon
    Pages 185-214

  9. Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Repurposing NASA’s Spacecraft

    • Matthew H. Hersch
    Pages 215-235

  10. Encouraging New Space Firms

    • John M. Logsdon
    Pages 237-265

  11. The Discovery Program: Competition, Innovation, and Risk in Planetary Exploration

    • Michael J. Neufeld
    Pages 267-290

  12. Partnerships for Innovation: The X-33/VentureStar

    • Howard E. McCurdy
    Pages 291-319

  13. Microgravity, Macro Investment: Overcoming International Space Station Utilization Challenges Through Managerial Innovation

    • Emily A. Margolis
    Pages 321-348

  14. NASA, Industry, and the Commercial Crew Development Program: The Politics of Partnership

    • W. Henry Lambright
    Pages 349-377

  15. Conclusion: What Matters?

    • Roger D. Launius, Howard E. McCurdy
    Pages 379-395

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 397-402
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Reviews

“This book offers an amazingly comprehensive, exquisitely detailed history of our space program, told in a series of programmatic vignettes. Launius and McCrudy have done a masterful job of pulling together a narrative that touches on technology milestones and decision points that shaped our nation’s past and pending future in space. It is especially noteworthy in that key technology developments are discussed in the broader context of national policy, highlighting not only the engineering considerations, but also the sometimes larger-than-life personalities behind some of our space program’s greatest accomplishments. It should be required reading for all students of aerospace history and space policy.” (Mark J. Lewis, Director of the Science and Technology Policy Institute, Institute for Defense Analyses, USA)

“This book is a virtual singularity. Launius and McCurdy are the gold standard of space history and space policy scholarship, and they have assembled a notable group of historians and policy analysts to trace NASA’s role in the development of high technology. They offer fascinating commentary on what has been done to date, as well as an indispensable reference for managers, administrators, and practitioners planning the next stage in America’s space enterprise. Pointing to future trends in aerospace policy and scholarship, it will be an authority for decades to come.” (Richard P. Hallion, Florida Polytechnic University, USA)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Auburn, USA

    Roger D. Launius

  • American University, Washington, D.C., USA

    Howard E. McCurdy

About the editors

Roger D. Launius has written or edited more than thirty books on aerospace history, most recently Historical Analogs for the Stimulation of Space Commerce (2014), and Space Shuttle Legacy: How We Did It and What We Learned (2013).


Howard E. McCurdy is Professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University, USA. He is the author of numerous works on the national space program, including Inside NASA (1993), Faster, Better, Cheaper (2001), and Space and the American Imagination (rev. ed. 2011).



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: NASA Spaceflight

  • Book Subtitle: A History of Innovation

  • Editors: Roger D. Launius, Howard E. McCurdy

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60113-7

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-60112-0Published: 23 October 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-86781-6Published: 23 August 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-60113-7Published: 11 October 2017

  • Series ISSN: 2730-972X

  • Series E-ISSN: 2730-9738

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIII, 402

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 b/w illustrations, 33 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: History of Science, US History, Public Policy, US Politics, Economic Policy

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