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

aMerICaN SpaCefLIght hIStory’S MaSter NarratIve
aND the MeaNINg of MeMory
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reducing funding for human spacefight would translate into greater funding
for robotic missions. 33
Most recently, the NaSa administrator, Mike grifn, questioned the
human space exploration agenda of NaSa since apollo, calling the Space
Shuttle program the result of a “policy failure” that was relentlessly pursued by
NaSa for more than a generation. “It is now commonly accepted that was not
the right path,” grifn told USA Today in an interview that appeared as a page
one story on September 28, 2005. “We are now trying to change the path while
doing as little damage as we can.” When asked pointedly if the shuttle had been
a mistake the NaSa administrator responded, “My opinion is that it was . . . It
was a design which was extremely aggressive and just barely possible.” 34
a subtext in all of this is that conservative political decisions, especially
richard Nixon’s decision to approve only the Space Shuttle in the aftermath
of apollo, set course down a wasteful, useless road when it might have been
possible to reach other decisions and pursue much more productive paths. all
of these criticisms about the place of space exploration in modern america
have become part of a larger counter to the master narrative that questions the
dominant story of american exceptionalism. at some level, as political scientist
howard e. McCurdy remarked, space exploration “was to america what the
pyramids were to egypt. It’s one of our great accomplishments . . . . but when
you go back and look, there were people, at the time who are expressing public
misgivings. and in private—where you can get those kinds of conversations—
[they] are pulling their hair out about this program.” 35
this theme has been played out repeatedly in the american left since the
beginning of the Space age. for example, NaSa came under congressional fre
even as it tried to pursue new space exploration initiatives at the beginning of
the 1970s. faced with domestic unrest, urban problems, and escalating military
spending in vietnam, Congress was eager to cut whatever programs it could,
and NaSa presented an appealing target. as New york Congressman ed Koch
mused, “I just for the life of me can’t see voting for monies to fnd out whether
or not there is some microbe on Mars, when in fact I know there are rats in the
harlem apartments.” even some pro-space legislators questioned the necessity
of further space exploration after apollo and wondered if NaSa had fully
considered its options. Congressman Joseph Karth led the opposition because
of what he considered NaSa’s hubris. “NaSa must consider the members of
33. See Daniel S. goldin, speech at California Institute of technology, December 4, 1992, NaSa
historical reference Collection, NaSa history Division,Washington, DC.
34. traci Watson, “NaSa administrator says Space Shuttle was a Mistake,” USA Today, September
28, 2005, p. 1a.
35. “transcript:Washington goes to the Moon, part 1: Washington,We Have A Problem,” aired May
25, 2001, WaMu fM, transcript available online at http://wamu.org/d/programs/special/moon/
opp_show.txt (accessed october 17, 2007).