Into the Unknown Together. The DOD, NASA, and Early Spaceflight, September 2005

Background

Between the 4 October 1957 launching by the Soviet Union of the first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik I, and the successful American landing and return from the moon in July 1969, the United States sponsored five human-spaceflight programs. The author examines the NASA-DOD relationship in human-spaceflight programs by looking at three issues. — First, what was the attitude of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson toward the use of space exploration as a tool to secure international prestige and national pride as part of the Cold War struggle? — Second, what institutional relationship existed between NASA and the DOD, the level of support, coordination, and rivalry during each president’s term(s)? What specific instances and programs illustrate these dynamics? How did NASA achieve greater independence by lessening its reliance on the DOD over those 12 years? — The third examination will focus on the actual projects themselves: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Dynasoar, and MOL. What was each designed to accomplish and why?

Document Archive

Into the Unknown Together. The DOD, NASA, and Early Spaceflight, September 2005 [683 Pages, 3.2MB]

 

 

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media: