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

152 reMeMBerING the SpaCe aGe
In another sense, NaSa has learned, but two highly visible disasters were
needed in order for the agency to do so. One result of the 1986 Challenger
explosion was the superb investigation by sociologist Diane vaughan, who
pinpointed the sociocultural factors that contributed to the Shuttle’s loss. 71
Seventeen years later, when Columbia disintegrated on reentry, the investigation
board had John Logsdon as a member and Dwayne Day as an investigator, while
consulting with henry Lambright, roger Launius, and howard McCurdy—all
outstanding scholars of the nation’s space eforts.
In addition to preserving and studying the past, the NaSa history Ofce has
tried to be accessible to policymakers and managers and to produce products aimed
at them. While most of these eforts are reactive (e.g., responding to questions and
requests), some are proactive or more than the mere delivery of information. the
history Ofce has held annual conferences, of which this is the third, addressing
large themes and trying to reach larger audiences beyond academia.
attention to history has informed some recent and current policy. the
developers of president George W. Bush’s vision for Space exploration sought
historical analysis (and analogies) of the ill-fated Space exploration Initiative on
which to base their work. 72 In a 2007 presentation on systems of lunar governance,
William S. Marshall of the ames research Center suggested including “the use
of historical checks to prevent society from repeating its mistakes.” 73
Judged by its ambitious objectives, the aaaS project failed. Institutionally,
NaSa has no Ofce of Impact stafed by social scientists and historians
earnestly working away to chart and guide the secondary consequences of space
exploration and exploitation. predicting and shaping frst-order—let alone
second-order—consequences has proven far more challenging than Bauer
and his colleagues anticipated, refecting the problems of applying systems
management to that unruly aggregate we call society.
viewed by discipline, historians and social scientists continue to
communicate poorly with policymakers and the public, since most neither
know how or care to write or “package” (to use a more jarring but useful word)
relevant history for policymakers. Institutional mechanisms for encouraging
such eforts are greatly lacking, and I suspect many historians would fee if
ofered the chance to contribute to the shaping of policy.
administrator’s Symposium. September 26-29, 2004. Naval postgraduate School. Monterey,
California (Washington, DC: NaSa, 2005).
71. Diane vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision. Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA
(Chicago: University of Chicago press, 1996).
72. thor hogan, “the Space exploration Initiative: historical Background and Lessons Learned,”
rand pM-1594-0Stp (Santa Monica, Ca: raND, September 2003). this was part of
hogan’s larger Mars Wars. The Rise and Fall of the Space Exploration Initiative (Washington, DC:
NaSa, august 2007).
73. padma tata, “Jury duty on the Moon? http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/ October 3, 2007
(downloaded October 8, 2007).