Machine generated contents note: -- 1. Richard Nixon and Apollo 11 -- 2. Setting the Post-Apollo Stage -- 3. After the Moon, Mars? -- 4. Space and National Priorities -- 5. The Nixon Space Doctrine -- 6. The End of the Apollo Era -- 7. A New Cast of Characters -- 8. The Space Shuttle Takes Center Stage -- 9. National Security Requirements Drive Shuttle Design -- 10. A Time of Transitions -- 11. A Confused Path Forward -- 12. Debating a Shuttle Decision -- 13. Which Shuttle to Approve? -- 14. A 'Space Clipper' -- 15. Richard Nixon and the American Space Program.
Summary:
"On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took 'one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.' The success of the Apollo 11 mission satisfied the goal that had been set by President John F. Kennedy just over eight years earlier - 'before this decade is out, landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.' It also raised the question 'What do you do next, after landing on the Moon?'It fell to President Richard M. Nixon to answer this question. After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program traces in detail how Nixon and his associates went about developing their response. The decisions made then have defined the U.S. program of human space flight well into the twenty-first century. Those choices have thus had a much more lasting impact than did John Kennedy's 1961 decision to go to the Moon. The factors leading to Kennedy's decision are well understood, but that is not the case with respect to space policy-making under President Nixon. This study provides that understanding, and thus fills in the details of a crucial period in the history of the United States space program, and particularly of its human space flight element"-- Provided by publisher.
Series:
Palgrave studies in the history of science and technology
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.