Can Democracies Fly in Space?: The Challenge of Revitalizing the U.S. Space Program Kay, W. D.

Over the last two decades, the image of the U.S. space program has become seriously tarnished. Its problems have ranged from massive cost overruns to serious program delays to catastrophic mission failures. The space program, once the most prominent symbol of American scientific and technological preeminence, now seems but one more example of government bumbling, extravagance, and waste. In this study, Kay examines the recent problems of the space program and finds that NASA's failures, like its earlier successes, are ultimately traceable to the way the American political system operates. Asking "can democracies fly in space?," the author suggests that the traditional workings of democratic politics actually exacerbates those very features of space projects--size, expense, and complexity--that make their development so difficult in the first place.

DOI: 10.1336/0275952541 Mouse over the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to learn more about this book or related books published by Greenwood Publishing Group. Visit the Greenwood Publishing Group page for this title: http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C5254.aspx

Can Democracies Fly in Space?: The Challenge of Revitalizing the U.S. Space Program Hardback, 256 pages, $119.95 Copyright ©1995, Praeger Publishers ISBN: 0-275-95254-1 DOI: 10.1336/0275952541

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