SPACE TECHNOLOGY & PLANETARY ASTRONOMY/Tatarewicz/NASA /NEW/HB/DJ/Free Shipping

Description: Description: An important and well-written history of NASA’s development of missions to the planets, by a curator at the Air and Space Museum in Washington. From the Publisher’s Description:” As the United States struggled to respond to the success of Sputnik, one area of great interest to the government was exploration of the solar system. Yet when planners at the newly formed space agency NASA went looking for expertise on the moon and the planets, they discovered that astronomers had long since turned their telescopes away from the planets and toward the stars. Where would NASA find the people who knew what they were doing? The answer, as this important study shows, was that NASA had to create them. In effect, the government conjured into being an entire scientific and technological system of sophisticated instruments and the highly trained and motivated people to use them. From an obscure backwater of astronomy, the study of the planets became a tool to be used for state ends, and at the same time state programs were used by planetary enthusiasts to pursue their own ends. NASA constructed observatories, provided telescopes and instruments, funded research programs, and supported a host of other activities, all aimed at increasing the fund of ground-based knowledge. Then it embarked on an ambitious and highly successful program of planetary exploration. In a sense, NASA did its job too well, and when budgets became tight during the late 1970s, scientists who had staked their careers to the support of a single patron were confronted with a harsh reality. By 1981 the same agency that had begged scientists to enter the "new" field of study was telling them that their programs were to be drastically curtailed, in many cases completely stopped. What had happened? The story of the precipitous rise and decline of planetary astronomy is a fascinating case study of science in an age of state-managed research and development. It demonstrates that the lines between science, technology, politics, and society are anything but fixed and impermeable.” About the Author: Joseph N. Tatarewicz is Curator, Department of Space History, at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. VISIT MY EBAY STORE FOR OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST(Click This Link) Please inquire about discounts for purchases of multiple items. Shipping: Free media rate shipping in US. International shipping as appropriate (See Shipping and Payments Tab on this listing page for further details). We make every attempt to describe items clearly and completely. Please read our listings carefully, inspect posted images of the item, and let us know if you have any questions before you bid. All buyers must pay according to Ebay policies. If you have any questions about this, please email me. International bidders should contact me for a quote on shipping before bidding. Whenever possible, international shipping will be in Priority flat rate envelopes. Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

Price: 10 USD

Location: Riverside, Rhode Island

End Time: 2025-01-09T18:34:19.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD