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

168 reMeMBerINg the SpaCe age
a race and fnally found triumphant resolution in the nationalistic pageants that
celebrated the dangers and successes of america’s astronauts. 29
NaSa’s public afairs ofcers provided regular interaction with the
media and carefully nurtured certain images and narratives. they controlled
the media’s access to astronauts and coached its people on making public
appearances, regularly drawing up talking points for such occasions. they
sponsored high-profle events that would attract media and developed close ties
with congressional supporters. One study has concluded that NaSa shaped its
messages around the themes of nationalism (national pride, prestige, strength,
and security), romanticism (heroism, individualism, glamour, frontier heritage),
and pragmatism (economic, educational, scientifc returns on investment). In its
sophisticated public relations techniques and its central messages, NaSa both
exemplifed and helped shape the new media strategies of the Space age. 30
NaSa crafted an image that united individual heroism with a competence
arising from teamwork. Certainly there were plenty of failures, but the successes,
especially of alan Shepard in May 1961 and of John glenn in February 1962,
became spectacular national dramas that celebrated both individual bravery
and group accomplishment. Both the intangibles of strong character and the
practicalities of seemingly fawless engineering were on display. the media
coverage of space in the early 1960s was all in the superlative, and when articles
critical of the costs of manned fight began to appear after late 1963, NaSa
redoubled its eforts to put out positive news. 31
astrofuturists had attracted a devoted but limited following in the mid­
1950s, but by the early 1960s the popularity of space themes had expanded
into a broad-based cultural obsession. Kennedy’s telegenic presence, exhorting
americans to reach the Moon, fused together politics and media culture and
helped place the Space age at the center of american life. reported UFO
sightings jumped sharply, and the new awareness of space permeated all kinds
of cultural discussions and representational forms. 32
Life magazine, the famously image-laden staple of american living rooms,
lavished attention on space themes and developed an especially close relationship
29. dickson, Sputnik, pp. 22-27, summarizes press reaction based on a collection of press clippings at
the NaSa history
Ofce in Washington, dC, and also summarizes public opinion polls. Writer
for Newsweek, edwin diamond, The Rise and Fall of the Space Age (garden City, NY: doubleday,
1964) discusses the media’s manipulative coverage. Jay Barbree, “Live from Cape Canaveral”:
Covering the Space Race from Sputnik to Today (New York, NY: Collins, 2007) presents another
frsthand account from a reporter.
30. Kaufman, Selling Outer Space; Byrnes, Politics and Space.
31. McCurdy, Space, pp. 89-92; Kaufman, Selling Outer Space, pp. 50-66.
32. Carl Sagan and thornton page, eds., UFOs: A Scientifc Debate (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
press, 1972), and Curtis peebles, Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth (Washington,
dC: Smithsonian Institution press, 1994) examine the debate over visits by extraterrestrials. See
also McCurdy, Space, p. 74, and dickson, Sputnik, pp.164-167.