Lost in Space; The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age
New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. [8], 392 pages. Illustrations. References Notes. Index. The author has written that "I began my career as a journalist in California, where I won awards for feature, commentary and investigative writing. I have written journalism and essays consistently since then and have also published two books, Lost in Space and The Emissary. In the past few years, I’ve taken my journalism and essayist work in a new direction through organizational ‘impact’ writing: positioning ideas, projects, research and people in the public eye through writing. To date, I’ve done impact writing for the London School of Economics and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and this is an area of work I’m keen to develop further. Derived from a Kirkus review: Anyone can ask the questions Klerkx raises: Why haven’t we been back to the moon in more than 30 years? Whatever happened to the idea of a human expedition to Mars? The answer is that NASA is far more concerned about perpetuating its grip on the US space program than it is about exploring space. Klerkx points out, NASA once submitted a “realistic” plan to Congress for landing a base station on Mars in 1978, followed by human exploration in 1981. However, the agency put all its eggs into selling the concept of a “reusable” space shuttle. He thus dates the end of the original Space Age to the Challenger disaster and sees public reaction to the loss of Columbia as further retarding human space-exploration efforts. The author’s only heroes are people like “space tourist” Dennis Tito, who shelled out personal millions to pay his own way for a few days aboard the International Space Station via a Russian Soyuz. Klerkx’s indictment provides a bracing new perspective. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: NASA, Apollo Space Program, Aerospace, Challenger Space Shuttle, Bob Citron, Columbia Space Shuttle, Baikonur, Energia, Daniel Goldin, International Space Station, Kistler, Manber, Pascal Lee, Mir, Gerard O'Neill, Sean O'Keefe, Human Spaceflight, Spa
ISBN: 9780375421501
[Book #60026]
Price: $37.50