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Overview"Behind the glories and tragedies that make headlines and move the nation, the story of the space shuttle is inextricably bound to the lesser-known but no less engrossing drama of the search for a reusable single-stage-to-orbit rocket. In this book, Andrew J. Butrica tells this story, going back to the first glimmerings of the idea in the 1920s, when it was dismissed as technically unfeasible, and following it to its fruition in the midst of the Cold War as a very real government programme and operational flight vehicle. This is not, however, the story of a single idea, but rather the history of a vision that brought together a few pioneers of space technology and several concepts, new and old. To the first and oldest idea - that of the reusable rocket-powered single-stage-to-orbit vehicle - were added the concepts of ""aircraft-like"" operations, of using an ""X"", or experimental, vehicle, and of running a programme with a ""faster, cheaper, smaller"" managerial approach. Butrica describes how these ideas came together in the heart of what President Eisenhower dubbed the military-industrial complex. He traces the interplay of technology and politics that served the conservative space agenda and that ultimately triumphed in a realization of the vision of space commercialization and militarization resting on a foundation of inexpensive, reliable space transport." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Andrew J. Butrica (Historical Consultant)Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Imprint: Johns Hopkins University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.544kg ISBN: 9780801873386ISBN 10: 080187338 Pages: 288 Publication Date: 21 January 2004 Recommended Age: From 17 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Chronology Introduction Part I: The Conservative Agenda for Space 1. The Reagan Revolution 2. Commerce on the High Frontier 3. Space Warriors Part II: The Quest 4. X-30: The Cold War SSTO 5. Space Visionaries Part III: The Space Ship Experimental 6. Launching the SSX 7. The SDIO SSTO Program Part IV: Spaceship Wars 8. W(h)ither SSTO? 9. The Disorder of Things 10. The Clipper Graham Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliographic Essay IndexReviews<p>A history of one particular aspect of US space history -- the attempt to develop a single-stage-to-orbit launcher... it is a story of muddle and waste... Butrica provides a competent and readable account of this debacle, which concentrates on the small research vehicle, DC-X.--D. M. Ashford Times Literary Supplement (01/01/0001) <p> A history of one particular aspect of US space history -- the attempt to develop a single-stage-to-orbit launcher... it is a story of muddle and waste... Butrica provides a competent and readable account of this debacle, which concentrates on the small research vehicle, DC-X. -- D. M. Ashford, Times Literary Supplement Author InformationAndrew J. Butrica, a historical consultant, is the author of, among other works, To See the Unseen: A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy, which won the 1998 Richard W. Leopold Prize awarded by the Organization of American Historians. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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