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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Advocates of space exploration have advanced throughout the twentieth century a fantastic vision of the future-cavernous space stations, extensive lunar bases, sophisticated spacecraft, colonies on Mars, and extraterretrial life. In movies, television shows, magazine articles, and theme parks, Americans have been exposed to the belief, promulgated by science fiction writers, scientists, and political leaders, that the conquest of space would soon be achieved. Such confidence stoked imaginations and fired expectations for a vigorous, all-conquering space program.

Examining popular images that have helped motivate the most ambitious civil space program in the world, Howard E. McCurdy argues that the spacefaring dream tapped into several of American's most deeply rooted cultural ideals: the limitless frontier, the heroic explorer, the romance of aviation, and progress through technology. He also shows how space advocates, playing on the public's Cold War fears, convinced politicians that control of space meant control of the earth. Their campaign helps to explain why President Kennedy approved the expensive Project Apollo, leading to the space program's most visible success, the 1969 moon landing.

Forty years after the launch of the first orbiting satellites, U.S. achievements in space have fallen far short of the hopeful visions encouraged by Chesley Bonestell's paintings in Collier's magazine and television shows such as Star Trek. In Space and the American Imagination, McCurdy contends that the gap between expectations and reality led to waning public support for the space program and argues that such gaps typically arise when public policy debates are obliged to entertain as well as inform.

(Extracted from the dust jacket).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-List of Illustrations.

-Acknowledgments.

-Introduction: The Vision.

-1. Prelude: The Exploration Ideal.

-2. Making Space Flight Seem Real.

-3. The Cold War.

-4. Apollo: The Aura of Competence.

-5. Mysteries of Life.

-6. The Extraterrestrial Frontier.

-7. Stations in Space.

-8. Spacecraft.

-9. Life on Earth.

-Conclusion: Imagination and the Policy Agenda.

-Notes.

-Index.