The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age

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Summary: A Pulitzer Prize-winning Explanation of the Space Race
Review: Although there were notable forerunners, spaceflight historiography came of age with the 1985 publication this book by Walter McDougall. It received Pulitzer Prize and a host of other well-deserved awards with its analysis of the origins and conduct of the space race. This book explores the Cold War rivalry in race with the preparations for and launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, through the race to the Moon in the 1960s. The author argues that the mandate to complete Apollo on Kennedy's schedule prompted the space program to become identified almost exclusively with high-profile, expensive, human spaceflight projects. This was because Apollo became a race against the Soviet Union for recognition as the world leader in science and technology and by extension in other fields as well.

McDougall juxtaposes the American effort of Apollo with the Soviet space program and the dreams of such designers as Sergei P. Korolev to land a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. The author recognizes Apollo as a significant engineering achievement but concludes that it was also enormously costly both in terms of resources and the direction to be taken in state support of science and technology. In the end, NASA had to stress engineering over science, competition over cooperation, civilian over military management, and international prestige over practical applications. Not all agree with McDougall's arguments, but since the publication of "the Heavens and the Earth..." historians have been striving to equal its scintillating analysis, stellar writing, and scope of discussion.

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Summary: Recommended Bargain
Review: I`ll have to congratulate Mr McDougall with an excellent effort in capturing the essence cold war from the point of view of the space programs of the superpowers. It is somewhat difficult for me to review a book that I regard so much as this one, so please forgive me when I only give my unconditional praise to the book in question.

However, I got the inspiration for my nick from this book.

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Summary: ?
Review: My, what a little cat fight we have hear. Hissssss

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Summary: a compelling political analysis of the space program
Review: The political history of the space age in _...The_Heavens_and_the_Earth_ provides a fascinating glimpse of the considerations taken within the Eisenhower administration and the Khrushchev regime regarding the orbital realm. Unlike other authors issuing paeans to Kennedy for his expensive though successful challenge of a manned lunar program, Professor McDougall renders a more sympathetic assessment of Eisenhower's reluctance to commit federal resources to open-ended and prestige-focused stunts. The hesitance in launching the first orbital satellite, although politically disastrous, was prudently based on concerns that foreign countries might object to orbital overflights by potential reconnaissance vehicles. With the Soviet Union launching the first satellite _Sputnik_, such criticism would be rendered moot, although this triumph enabled Khrushchev to persuasively promote Soviet hegemony and stoke American fears of missile delivery for nuclear explosives.

Most Americans have forgotten that Eisenhower advocated "open skies" to reduce the potential of overreacting to a perceived threat due to insufficient or faulty mobilization information, as well as reduce military expenditures (comparatively higher than today). Khrushchev, hoping to obscure both intentions and especially the capabilities of Soviet military power projection for preserving options in diplomatic and domestic intimidation. The United States wanted more open information so as to avoid a future "Pearl Harbor" and the Russians wanted to maintain their eastern-European gains without obligation to show their economic weakness and armed force limitations. Although sharing the information with the citizenry was an ultimate preference (now available thanks to LandSat, SPOT and other orbiting cameras), Eisenhower directed the first reconnaissance satellites as the Discovery series to look behind the Iron Curtain.

Kennedy responded to Khrushchev's overtures by upping the stakes, federalizing research towards attention-grabbing endeavors with an eye towards employing technological problem-solving ultimately to social engineering against poverty and racism. Neither Kennedy nor Johnson appeared to realize that engineering solutions and welfare statism address not only different problem categories, but their agents differ -- engineers tend to focus on the measurable and quantitative, whereas social workers (unless flaking for larger budgets) appeal to a more ethereal empathy with their charges. Professor McDougall shows the underlying hubris behind these policies, and how this was integrated into the manned (and unmanned) programs for NASA.