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Apollo's Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landings Hardcover – May 14, 2019
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In Apollo's Legacy, space historian Roger D. Launius explores the many-faceted stories told about the meaning of the Apollo program and how it forever altered American society. The Apollo missions marked the first time human beings left Earth's orbit and visited another world, and thus they loom large in our collective memory. Many have detailed the exciting events of the Apollo program, but Launius offers unique insight into its legacy as seen through multiple perspectives. He surveys a wide range of viewpoints and narratives, both positive and negative, surrounding the program. These include the argument that Apollo epitomizes American technological--and political--progress; technological and scientific advances garnered from the program; critiques from both sides of the political spectrum about the program's expenses; and even conspiracy theories and denials of the program's very existence. Throughout the book, Launius weaves in stories from important moments in Apollo's history to draw readers into his analysis. Apollo's Legacy is a must-read for space buffs interested in new angles on a beloved cultural moment and those seeking a historic perspective on the Apollo program.
- Print length264 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSmithsonian Books
- Publication dateMay 14, 2019
- Reading age14 - 17 years
- Dimensions6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
- ISBN-101588346498
- ISBN-13978-1588346490
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—American Scientist
"Space Age aficionados, political junkies, and general readers will find both the unexpected and the fascinating in Launius’s scrupulously researched account."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The book also provides extensive background material on the space program, both from within NASA and from outside observers, as well as a useful annotated bibliography for those who want to do their own research. A valuable summary of an important piece of modern history and its effects and a must-read for space enthusiasts."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Launius' insightful cultural analysis of all that Apollo has signified helps celebrate the first lunar landing's 50th anniversary."
—Booklist
"How do we understand a transformative event like the Apollo missions to the moon? Many present it as proof of American ingenuity and success, but there's much more to the story. In Apollo's Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landings, space historian Roger Launius probes the impacts Apollo had technologically, scientifically and politically, as well as analyzing what we can draw from it to understand the country's modern space program. The slim volume is written as a scholarly text, but it's accessible to anybody with an interest in space history and the circumstances that spawned Apollo."
—Space.com
"Roger D. Launius’s Apollo’s Legacy is a masterly written and impeccably researched overview of the Cold War space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nobody knows NASA history with the insight and exactitude of Launius. Every page brims with fresh insights. Highly recommended!"
—Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History, Rice University and author of American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
"An incredibly inspiring and well-researched story of the origins and accomplishments of the Apollo program, Launius’s Apollo’s Legacy is a superb tutorial for all of us who consider ourselves to be strong proponents of human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Replete with previously untold background stories of the battles to gain approval for Apollo and to manage its execution, this book is instructive on the contemporary challenges—political and societal—that we face in trying to maintain momentum for the continued pursuit of human journeys and settlement beyond low Earth orbit."
—Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr. (US Marine Corps–Ret.), 12th NASA Administrator
"With the perspective of half a century lived in the afterglow of the Apollo project, historian Launius provides a trenchant three-dimensional analysis, plotting Apollo’s legacy over time against the axes of political left and right, and of legitimate triumph versus hoax-mongering. He brings to life the idealism that in unusual coalition joined innovation and geopolitics, as 'all the cosmic tumblers clicked into place to make possible successful Moon landings.'"
—Don Eyles, Apollo engineer and author of Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir
"That complex, critical perspective makes Apollo’s Legacy stand out amid all the books that simply celebrate that glorious and revered event."
—The Space Review
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Smithsonian Books (May 14, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 264 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1588346498
- ISBN-13 : 978-1588346490
- Reading age : 14 - 17 years
- Item Weight : 0.035 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #947,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #352 in Astronautics & Space Flight
- #869 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books)
- #1,371 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Roger D. Launius is a senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A graduate of Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, he received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1982 and worked as a civilian historian with the United States Air Force until 1990.
He has written or edited more than twenty books on aerospace history, among others including "Smithsonian Atlas of Space Exploration" (HarperCollins, 2009); "Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008); "Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars" (Smithsonian Books, 2003; 2nd ed. 2009), which received the AIAA's history manuscript prize; "Flight: A Celebration of 100 Years in Art and Literature" (Welcome Books, 2003); "Reconsidering a Century of Flight" (University of North Carolina Press, 2003); "To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles" (University Press of Kentucky, 2002); "Imagining Space: Achievements, Possibilities, Projections, 1950-2050" (Chronicle Books, 2001); "Innovation and the Development of Flight" (Texas A&M University Press, 1999); "NASA & the Exploration of Space" (Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1998); "Frontiers of Space Exploration" (Greenwood Press, 1998, rev. ed. 2004); "Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership" (University of Illinois Press, 1997); and "NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program" (Krieger Publishing Co., 1994, rev. ed. 2001).
He is also involved in other historical studies. His book, "Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet" (University of Illinois Press, 1988), won the prestigious Evans Award for biography. He has also published "Differing Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1994), "Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois" (Utah State University Press, 1995), "Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited: Nauvoo in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1996), and several others. "Alexander William Doniphan: Portrait of a Missouri Moderate" (University of Missouri Press, 1997), discusses the role of the vital center in American politics during the Mexican-American War and sectional conflict.
More recently he has been studying the relationship of baseball to American culture and has published, "Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman" (Walker and Co., 2010), and "Seasons in the Sun: The Story of Big League Baseball in Missouri" (University of Missouri Press, 2002).
He served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and presented the prestigious Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History at the United States Air Force Academy in 2006. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Astronautical Society, and Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues, and has been a guest commentator on National Public Radio and all the major television networks.
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First, the triumphalist recollection. This was a celebration of the fact that it took the United States—not the Soviet Union or any other collectivized society—to overcome the technological challenges of a Moon landing and demonstrate the psychological strength necessary to survive the endeavor.
The common belief is that the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, by the Soviet Union, woke us up. Then there was no stopping us.
There were three ideological critiques that competed with this jingoistic approach.
The critique from the left was that the Apollo program was a waste of money while American society needed to be rebuilt from rural areas to the inner cities. This complaint was expressed at the time and you still hear it today.
The right wing resented the huge state apparatus created by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations which spent tax money on the space program.
What used to be called the lunatic fringe launched their own conspiracy theories: that the Moon landings never happened, that there were alien autopsies done out in the Nevada desert, and that the government was conspiring with aliens to take over the world.
Roger D. Launius takes us through all four belief systems and shows how the facts, opinions, and popular culture surrounding the Apollo landings has influenced American society up to today.
Among other things, according to Launius, the space program was a type of soft power that allowed the United States to influence the Third World. But it's also clear that Apollo and the technological achievements surrounding it were part of the Cold War, and therefore part of America's imperialist past. John F. Kennedy said America was going to conquer space and other planets to preempt being conquered by anyone else.
One of the positive fruits of the race to the Moon was the photograph Earthrise, taken by astronaut Bill Anders in 1968, which still may be the most evocative pictures of any subject ever. Earthrise reminds us that while Americans (and the American military at that) walked on the Moon, it wasn't just America that put it's footprints on the lunar surface, it was humanity.