The long space age
Subtitle: the economic origins of space exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War
By: Alexander MacDonald
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9780300219326
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Astronautics and civilization; Space tourism; United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Manned space flight; United States; Exploration; Astronautics; Cold War; Economic aspects; History
Description: An economic historian argues that privately funded space exploration is not a new development, but a trend beginning with the astronomical observatories of the nineteenth century. Over the last half-century there has been a rapid expansion in commerce off the surface of our planet. Nations and corporations have placed hundreds of satellites that provide billions of dollars' worth of communications, scientific, global positioning, and commercial services, while construction has been completed on humanity's ninth and largest space station. On the planet itself, government agencies, corporations, and individuals plan for the expansion of economic development to the lunar surface, asteroids, and Mars. The future of space exploration seems likely to include a mix of large government funded missions as well as independent private-sector missions. The Long Space Age examines the economic history of American space exploration and spaceflight, from early astronomical observatories to the International Space Station, and argues that the contemporary rise of private-sector efforts is the re-emergence of a long-run trend not a new phenomenon.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-246) and index.
Table of contents: title: Piety, pioneers, and patriots : the first American observatories; title: Public spirit and patronage : American observatories; title: Spaceflight, millionaires, and national defense : Robert Goddard's fund-raising program; title: In the eyes of the world : the signaling value of space exploration; title: The next space patrons.