This book presents the first comprehensive history of innovation at NASA, bringing together experts in the field to illuminate how public-private and international partnerships have fueled new ways of exploring space since the beginning of space travel itself.
This book presents the first comprehensive history of innovation at NASA, bringing together experts in the field to illuminate how public-private and international partnerships have fueled new ways of exploring space since the beginning of space travel itself. Twelve case studies trace the messy, risky history of such partnerships, exploring the role of AT&T in the early development of satellite technology, the connections between the Apollo program and Silicon Valley, the rise of SpaceX, and more. Some of these projects have succeeded, and some have failed; all have challenged conventional methods of doing the publics business in space. Together, these essays offer new insights into how innovation happens, with invaluable lessons for policymakers, investors, economists, and members of the space community.
1. Introduction: Partnerships for Innovation.-
2. The Origins and
Flagship Project of NASA's International ProgramThe Ariel Case Study.-
3.
Global Instantaneous Telecommunications and the Development of Satellite
Technology.-
4. The Other Side of Moore's LawThe Apollo Guidance Computer,
the Integrated Circuit, and the Mircoelectronics Revolution, 19621975.-
5.
NASA's Mission Control CenterThe Space Program's Capitol as Innovative
Capital.-
6. Lessons of LandsatFrom Experimental Program to Commercial Land
Imaging, 19691989.-
7. Selling the Space ShuttleEarly Developments.-
8.
Something Borrowed, Something BlueRe-purposing NASA's Spacecraft.-
9.
Encouraging New Space Firms.-
10. The Discovery ProgramCompetition,
Innovation, and Risk in Planetary Exploration.-
11. Partnerships for
InnovationThe X-33/VentureStar.-
12. Microgravity, Macro
InvestmentOvercoming International Space Station Utilization Challenges
through Managerial Innovation.-
12. NASA, Industry, and the CommercialCrew
Development ProgramThe Politics of Partnership.-
13. ConclusionWhat Matters?
Roger D. Launius has written or edited more than thirty books on aerospace history, most recently Historical Analogs for the Stimulation of Space Commerce (2014), and Space Shuttle Legacy: How We Did It and What We Learned (2013). Howard E. McCurdy is Professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University, USA. He is the author of numerous works on the national space program, including Inside NASA (1993), Faster, Better, Cheaper (2001), and Space and the American Imagination (rev. ed. 2011).
