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predictive capabilities (though even these are suspect), 

 but history certainly cannot stake out the future as its 

 domain. (Or can it? One can argue that, to the extent we 

 can creatively study the future at all, the appropriate 

 approach is not the social scientists' crude extrapolations 

 and models, but precisely the historian's imagination and 

 sense for the unexpected in human affairs.) How can the 

 historian help society to think about space technology.-' 

 And how does the advent of the Shuttle and its ancillary 

 technologies help society in turn to think about history.-' 

 The answers require imaginative, in addition to mechan- 

 ical, analogical thinking. 



D. Suinmary of Two Approaches 



There are thus two historical approaches to the 

 "Shuttle and society " question. The first approach encour- 

 ages and organizes materials for the study of space 

 technology in the pasl (i.e., to and through Sputnik and 

 up to the present). The second approach begins with the 

 Shuttle and derived technologies and seeks analogies in 

 historical time, literally firing up the imagination about 

 the types of changes made possible by space technologv 

 in the political, economic, scientific, social, and 

 philosophical/ethical life of humanity over the next 

 half century. 



II. The History of the Space Age 

 A. Justification 



The writing and teaching of the history of the space 

 age (conventionally dated from 1957) must assume 

 increasing importance as the impact and promise of space 

 technologies grow and as young people become increas- 

 ingly removed from our space heritage. Consider that 

 current undergraduates were born a//er JFK urged us 

 to go to the Moon (iMav 25, 1961 ) and barely recall 

 Apollo 11. 



The history of the space age possesses great value for 

 contemporary college students, because it requires a basic 

 awareness of the fundamental origins of our own techno- 

 logical and international environment. To understand the 

 evolution of space policy and technology, the student 

 must become familiar with the roots and course of the 

 Cold War. the origins and nature of nuclear weapons and 

 strategic missiles, the logic of the arms race and the 

 interplay of international rivalry and technological 

 progress, the policymaking process in the U.S. and the 

 U.S.S.R.. the values and style of government that make 

 the U.S. distinctive, and the exceedingly great power of 

 the modern state to change society — for better or 

 worse- by force-feeding science and technology. Tradi- 

 tional history courses (regardless of sub-discipline) do not 

 necessarily inform the contemporary college student about 

 how the world got to lie as it is. But seminars or lecture 

 series focusing on the dawn and development of the 

 space age educate students in precisely the areas of knowl- 

 edge that equip them to think effectively and analytically 

 about the contemporary world. 



B. Themes and Issues 



The history of American and world space policies 

 embraces a number of themes that are critically impor- 

 tant in this age of perpetual technological revolution, 

 including: 



( 1 ) Couperalion vs. compelilion among nations in 

 space. Space seemed a natural arena for international 

 cooperation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, yet the 

 space race was born of Cold War military rivalry. 

 Throughout the space age, the dream of a united 

 humanity in space has confronted the reality of competi- 

 tion for security and prosperity -and the blunt facts that 

 competition breeds funding and that technology develops 

 most efficiently when in the hands of coherent national 

 teams. 



( 2 ) Regulations vs. laissez-faire. Soon after the launch 

 of Sputnik, the United Nations formed a standing 

 committee to regulate space activities and/or draw up 

 principles of behavior. Many observers hoped for an inter- 

 national space agency and a detailed Magna Charta for 

 space law, but the politics of the U.N. and of great- 

 power technology investment weigh against such close 

 regulation. Space law negotiations formulated some laud- 

 able principles and some pragmatic agreements on lesser 

 issues, but the great powers understandably have opposed 

 U.N. control of their technologies. 



(3) Military vs. civilian control. During the past 

 twenty-five years, space technology has been applied to 

 military and civilian uses. An important issue is which 

 government agencies should control development and/or 

 use of the technology. The Soviets never have made false 

 distinctions, but the more sensitive Americans have, with 

 some complicated results. To understand the likely impact 

 of the Shuttle, one must thoroughly study the history of 

 bureaucratic and interservice rivalry for control of missile 

 and space technologies. 



(4) Science vs. engineering. The world's space pro- 

 grams began as scientific and military enterprises, but 

 soon the engineers predominated over the pure scientists, 

 and space science has been a stepchild ever since. The 

 contrasting attitudes and mindsets of scientists and engi- 

 neers and their impact on policy constitute an important 

 element of space history. ' 



(5) Prestige vs. applications. What are the motives for 

 large investments in space technology, and do they 

 conflict with each other.-' What does the history of various 

 space policies suggest about the societies and political 

 cultures that produced them.^ Whether applications 

 satellites, military systems, or scientific ventures, prac- 

 tical space programs often are less able to command 

 funds than technological projects designed to serve pres- 

 tige or political purposes, be it Apollo or the Chinese 

 "East is Red" satellite. 



(6) 'l'LLhn(il<}gical determination vs. political choice. 

 Wow can societies control the evolution of space tech- 

 nology in the last analysis.-' Is there a deterministic 

 element in space exploration, and if so. what is its 

 origin — international competition, the innate human 

 desire to explore, the patterns of growth produced bv 



