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E-book
Author Westwick, Peter J

Title Into the black : JPL and the American space program, 1976-2004 / Peter J. Westwick
Published New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, ©2007

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 392 pages) : illustrations
Contents Preface -- Acknowledgments -- List of abbreviations -- 1. The inheritance -- pt. 1. Acclaim and agitation : the Murray years, 1976-1982 -- 2. Planetary exploration triumphant -- 3. Planetary exploration in extremis -- 4. External relations and the internal environment -- 5. Diversification -- 6. Return to the military -- 7. Space technology -- pt. 2. Restoration : the Allen years, 1982-1991 -- 8. The rise and decline of defense programs -- 9. The dividends of defense programs -- 10. Space and earth science -- 11. JPL under Allen -- 12. Recovery of flight projects -- 13. Voyager redux, Galileo, and Magellan -- pt. 3. Beyond the Cold War : the stone years, 1991-2001 -- 14. Faster, better, cheaper -- 15. Reengineering JPL -- 16. The tilting triangle and commercialization -- 17. A break in the storm -- 18. Annus miserabilis -- 19. Epilogue, 2001-2004 -- 20. Conclusion -- Notes -- Index
Summary In the decades since the mid-1970s, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has led the quest to explore the farthest reaches of the solar system. JPL spacecraft, including Voyager, Magellan, Galileo, and the Mars rovers, have brought the planets into close view. JPL satellites and instruments also shed new light on the structure and dynamics of earth itself, while their orbiting observatories opened new vistas on the cosmos. This comprehensive book recounts the extraordinary story of the lab's accomplishments, failures, and evolution from 1976 to the present day. This history of JPL encompasses far more than the story of the events and individuals that have shaped the institution. It also engages wider questions about relations between civilian and military space programmes, the place of science and technology in American politics, and the impact of the work at JPL on the way we imagine the place of humankind in the universe
Analysis JSTOR-DDA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.) History
Astronautics United States History
Multi-User
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-381) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.) -- History
SUBJECT Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.) fast
Subject Astronautics -- United States -- History
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Aeronautics & Astronautics.
HISTORY -- General.
Astronautics
United States
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780300134582
0300134584