Spaceflight in the shuttle era and beyond : redefining humanity's purpose in space / Valerie Neal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neal, Valerie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Space flights.

Space shuttles.

Physical Description:

xiii, 270 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2017]

Summary:

An exploration of the changing conceptions of the iconic Space Shuttle and a call for a new vision of spaceflight The thirty years of Space Shuttle flights saw contrary changes in American visions of space. Valerie Neal, who has spent much of her career examining the Space Shuttle program, uses this iconic vehicle to question over four decades' worth of thinking about, and struggling with, the meaning of human spaceflight. She examines the ideas, images, and icons that emerged as NASA, Congress, journalists, and others sought to communicate rationales for, or critiques of, the Space Shuttle missions. At times concurrently, the Space Shuttle was billed as delivery truck and orbiting science lab, near-Earth station and space explorer, costly disaster and pinnacle of engineering success. The book's multidisciplinary approach reveals these competing depictions to examine the meaning of the spaceflight enterprise. Given the end of the Space Shuttle flights in 2011, Neal makes an appeal to reframe spaceflight once again to propel humanity forward.

Contents:

Spaceflight: Discerning Its Meaning

Space Shuttle: Going to Work in Space

Astronauts: Reinventing the Right Stuff

Science: Doing Research in Space

Space Station: Campaigning for a Permanent Human Presence in Space

Plans: Envisioning the Future in Space

Memory: Preserving Meaning.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0300206518

9780300206517

OCLC:

961308357