The People's Spaceship: NASA, the Shuttle Era, and Public Engagement after Apollo

When the Apollo 11 astronauts returned from humanity’s first voyage to the moon in 1969, NASA officials advocated for more ambitious missions. But with the civil rights movement, environmental concerns, the Vietnam War, and other social crises taking up much of the public’s attention, they lacked the support to make those ambitions a reality. Instead, the space agency had to think more modestly and pragmatically, crafting a program that could leverage the excitement of Apollo while promising relevance for average Americans. The resulting initiative, the space shuttle, would become the centerpiece of NASA human space flight activity for forty years, opening opportunities for the public to engage with and participate in space projects in new ways. The People’s Spaceship traces how and why NASA painstakingly connected the vehicle to so many segments of society. Underscoring the successes and challenges endured in the process, Amy Paige Kaminski shares the story of how the space shuttle became an American technological icon.

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