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

aMerICaN SpaCefLIght hIStory’S MaSter NarratIve
aND the MeaNINg of MeMory
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nations seeking to replicate the “greatness” of america: “you really want to
impress us! bring back our flag!” 12 this statement of american exceptionalism
and triumph in relation to apollo, while it has a form of jingoism at its
center, expresses a core truth about how these eforts have been embraced
and celebrated in the united States. While Kinison’s challenge symbolized
for many americans national superiority—at the same time signaling the
inferiority of all others—NaSa situated its spacefight aspirations within the
arena of international prestige. If anything this trope of national exceptionalism
and triumph has only intensifed over time, clearly dominating discussion of
america’s spacefight eforts. 13
at sum, americans have usually viewed space exploration as a result of
a grand visionary concept for human exploration that may be directly traced
to the european voyages of discovery beginning in the 15th century. 14 given
this observation, these endeavors have been celebrated as an investment in
technology, science, and knowledge that would enable humanity—or at least
americans—to do more than just dip their toes in the cosmic ocean, to become
a truly spacefaring people. accordingly, americans have taken as a measure of
the majesty of this vision the length of time, complexity, and expense of the
program, and the linkage of the length of time, complexity, and expense of its
space exploration activities to earlier explorations. the Spanish exploration of
the americas proved time consuming, complex, and expensive. So did the eforts
of other european powers in the sweepstakes of exploration and imperialism
that took place over long periods made possible by these explorations. the
exploration of space was much the same only more so, and this made it special
and grand and visionary.
12. See “bush to announce goal of returning to the moon,” online at http://forums.pcper.com/
printthread.php?threadid=277513 (accessed april 19, 2004).
13. representative works include, frutkin, International Cooperation in Space; roger handberg and
Joan Johnson-freese, The Prestige Trap: A Comparative Study of the U.S., European, and Japanese
Space Programs (Dubuque, Ia: Kendall/hunt publishing Co., 1994); brian harvey, The New
Russian Space Programme: From Competition to Collaboration (Chichester, england: Wiley—
praxis, 1996); Dodd L. harvey and Linda C. Ciccoritti, U.S.-Soviet Cooperation in Space
(Miami, fL: Monographs in International afairs, Center for advance International Studies
at the university of Miami, 1974); Joan Johnson-freese, Changing Patterns of International
Cooperation in Space (Malabar, fL: orbit books, 1990); Joan Johnson-freese, “Canceling
the u.S. Solar-polar Spacecraft: Implications for International Cooperation in Space,” Space
Policy 3 (february 1987): 24-37; Joan Johnson-freese, “a Model for Multinational Space
Cooperation: the Inter-agency Consultative group,” Space Policy 5 (November 1989):
288-300; John M. Logsdon, “u.S.-Japanese Space relations at a Crossroads,” Science 255
(January 17, 1992): 294-300.
14. the best example of this is Stephen J. pyne,“Space:athird great age of Discovery,” Space Policy
4 (august 1988): 187-199.