Once the United States landed on the moon in July 1969, it was up to President Nixon to decide what to do in space after Apollo. This book chronicles the decisions he made, including ending space exploration and approving the space shuttle. Those decisions determined the character of the US human space flight program for the next forty years.

Logsdon has a nearly peerless reputation as a space historian and award-winning author Sheds new light on political activity in the Nixon White House, a period that has received little attention from historians of the space program Synthesizes an incredible amount of evidence in the form of government archives, institutional and private records, interviews, and personal papers, among others

Autorentext

John M. Logsdon is a world-recognized historian and analyst of space issues. His award winning Palgrave book, John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon (2010) received a wide range of positive reviews. Dr. Logsdon is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, and was the founder and long-time Director of GW's Space Policy Institute.

Inhalt
Introduction Overture Act I 1. Richard Nixon and Apollo 11 2. Setting the Post-Apollo Stage 3. After the Moon, Mars? 4. Space and National Priorities 5. The Nixon Space Doctrine 6. The End of the Apollo Era Intermission Act II 7. A New Cast of Characters 8. The Space Shuttle Takes Center Stage 9. National Security Requirements Drive Shuttle Design 10. A Time of Transitions 11. A Confused Path Forward 12. Debating a Shuttle Decision 13. Which Shuttle to Approve? 14. A 'Space Clipper' Finale 15. Richard Nixon and the American Space Program