Since the dawn of spaceflight, advocates of a robust space effort have argued that human activity beyond Earth makes a significant difference in everyday life. Assertions abound about the “impact” of spaceflight on society and its relationship to the larger contours of human existence.

Fifty years after the Space Age began, it is time to examine the effects of spaceflight on society in a historically rigorous way. Has the Space Age indeed had a significant effect on society? If so, what are those influences? What do we mean by an “impact” on society? And what parts of society? Conversely, has society had any effect on spaceflight? What would be different had there been no Space Age? The purpose of this volume is to examine these and related questions through scholarly research, making use especially of the tools of the historian and the broader social sciences and humanities. Herein a stellar array of scholars does just that, and arrives at sometimes surprising conclusions.

Once contemplated, the subject is broad, rich and stimulating. Spaceflight has commercial and economic dimensions, as well as social, cultural, and ideological ramifications. It touches on enduring American values of pioneering, progress, enterprise, and rugged individualism. Worldwide it encompasses international cooperation and competition, and affects foreign policies, national security, and questions of the global environment. Viewing Earth from space, and space from the vicinity of Earth, alters world views, conceptions of self and others, and understandings of our place and purpose in the universe.

Steven J. Dick is the Chief Historian for NASA. He worked as an astronomer and historian of science at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, for 24 years before coming to NASA Headquarters in 2003. Among his most recent books are Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight (2006, edited with Roger Launius), Risk and Exploration: Earth, Sea and the Stars (2005, edited with Keith Cowing), The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology (2004), and Sky and Ocean Joined: The U.S. Naval Observatory, 1830–2000 (2003). He is the recipient of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Medal and the NASA Group Achievement Award, and he is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Astronomical Union.

Roger D. Launius is a member of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Between 1990 and 2002, he served as Chief Historian of NASA. He has written or edited more than 20 books on aerospace history, including Space: A Journey to Our Future (2004), Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars (2003), and Flight: A Celebration of 100 Years in Art and Literature (2003). His research interests encompass all areas of U.S. and space history and policy history, especially cultural aspects of the subject and the role of executive decision-makers and their efforts to define space exploration.

On the cover: Top: This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the Moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn in December, 1968. Although the photo is commonly viewed as situated here, with Earth about five degrees off the horizon, the astronauts saw it as they rounded the moon with Earth to the left. Bottom: Many humans thrill to the spectacle and the promise of spaceflight.

On the back cover: Eagle Nebula—The picture was taken on April 1, 1995 with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The color image is constructed from three separate images taken in the light of emission from different types of atoms. Red shows emission from singly-ionized sulfur atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen. Blue shows light emitted by doubly-ionized oxygen atoms.

Download Societal Impact of Spaceflight, Part 1

PDF format, 4.7MB, 281Pages. NASA History.

Download Societal Impact of Spaceflight, Part 2

PDF format, 4.2MB, 416Pages. NASA History.

Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius Editors

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA History Division
Office of External Relations
Washington, DC 2007
NASA SP-2007-4801

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