Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

“the ‘rIGht’ StUFF: the reaGaN revOLUtION
aND the U.S. SpaCe prOGraM”
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and direction of the enterprise, particularly the emphasis placed on human
spacefight initiatives as opposed to scientifc objectives.” 7
according to Launius and McCurdy, during the 1950s conservatives
endorsed a limited civilian space program focused on scientifc research.
With the launch of Sputnik, liberals clamored for an aggressive space program
featuring human spacefight with sizable federal expenditures and management
in the form of NaSa. Liberals also pushed the need to garner national prestige—
something eschewed by conservatives—by taking on the Soviet Union in a
space race. these ideological divisions began to shift as richard Nixon entered
the White house. By approving the Space Shuttle project, Nixon accepted the
liberal space agenda of expensive spacefight; however, he and his cabinet also
saw the Shuttle’s potential for conducting various military missions consistent
with the conservative agenda. 8
In addition, I argue, conservatives during the frst years of the reagan
presidency envisioned the Shuttle as the principal technology for realizing their
goals in space, namely, the commercialization and militarization of space. In
many ways, it was tailor-made for their purposes. the Shuttle’s technological
limitations as an earth-orbiting vehicle suited it ideally for an agenda that
emphasized exploiting space rather than exploring it, especially regarding space
applications (business and defense) in near-earth space. all of the conservative
space policy initiatives focused more on space applications than on exploration.
Furthermore, the decision to place military and intelligence payloads on the
Shuttle blurred the line between civilian and military missions, raising the
question as to whether NaSa—after a brief hiatus in fulfllment of Nixon’s
strategy of détente—was again in the service of the Cold War.
as conservative support shifted toward the space program, Launius and
McCurdy explain, liberal support moved away from it. this “sea change in
ideological attitudes toward space . . . drew its strength from the confuence of
. . . the changing nature of american liberalism and the conservative embrace
of frontier mythology.” president John Kennedy made liberal use of the frontier
analogy in his speeches, especially as a rationale for the ambitious apollo project
and the space race with the Soviet Union. 9 Once liberal interest in the Cold War
7.
Launius and McCurdy, “epilogue,” in Launius and McCurdy, eds., Spacefight and the Myth of
Presidential Leadership (Urbana: University of Illinois press, 1997), p. 235. James a. M. Muncy
also made the point that, while space has been a partisan issue, “space has always risen and fallen
on the waves of ideology.” Muncy, “after the Deluge: What the GOp takeover Could Mean for
Space,” Space News 4, 51 (December 19-25, 1994): 4.
8. Launius and McCurdy, “epilogue,” pp. 235-238.
9. One must not forget, too, the extensive references to “frontiers” and pioneering in Kennedy’s
July 15, 1960, acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention in Los angeles.
the “New Frontier” slogan morphed into a label for his administration’s domestic and
foreign programs. “address of Senator John F. Kennedy accepting the Democratic party
Nomination for the presidency of the United States,” Memorial Coliseum, Los angeles, July