Category: Nonfiction
Reviewed by: Douglas G. Adler
Title: The People’s Spaceship: NASA, the Shuttle Era, and Public Engagement after Apollo
Author: Amy Paige Kaminski
Format: Hardcover/Kindle
Pages: 336
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Date: May, 2024
Retail price: $60.00/$57.00
ISBN: 978-0822947660
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An enormous number of magazine articles and books have been written about NASA’s Space Transportation System a.k.a., the Space Shuttle. The shuttle, over many years, has been analyzed from so many angles (by its designers, by its critics, by the astronauts who flew aboard it) that one might think there is nothing new to say about it anymore.
In this book, Amy Paige Kaminski brings to print her take on the Space Shuttle, focusing on its development and the technological, political, and cultural environments in which the program was born, lived, and ultimately died. The book is very broad in its scope and covers each of these topics in great detail.
Much attention is paid to the social and cultural impact of the Shuttle program, including the introduction of women and minorities to the astronaut corps during the 1980s. Kaminski portrays NASA as misogynist when it came to women, which is somewhat at odds with other recent books that focus on this era including Loren Grush’s The Six and Meridith Bagby’s The New Guys which are less critical of NASA’s culture as a whole.
Also included in the book are discussion of the political implications of the high costs of operating the orbiters and how this affected the private space sector, with its need for satellite launches at affordable prices. Tensions between NASA administrators and the White House and Congress regarding funding, cost overruns, and the failure of the Shuttle to live up to its promises when it came to costs, reusability, and the frequency of flights are covered in detail.
As one might expect, the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and their aftermath, are covered extensively. There is significant focus on how NASA reacted to and handled the two different disasters with regards to the press, the American public, and the investigations that ensued given that the loss of not one but two Space Shuttles threatened not just the entire program but the survival of NASA itself.
Finally, the book explores the legacy of the Space Shuttle program, discussing the ultimate fate of the remaining orbiters in museums around the USA and how the program is looked back upon by people of all walks of life. Noting that many Americans questioned if the program was worth the money, Kaminski does highlight the fact that the program was still overall held in high regard and was a symbol of American pride and progress.
Kaminski has written an interesting book that may struggle to find its niche in the space book market. Casual readers who know little about the Space Shuttle might be hesitant because of the length and cost of this book, whereas dedicated readers who avidly consume such material might not feel that there is enough new material here to justify the purchase given how many other books on the program already exist. The cover, featuring rainbows and a somewhat cartoonish drawing of a Space Shuttle with the title in a lighthearted font, was a questionable choice by the publisher because it does not well convey the contents of this long and detail-oriented book.
Overall, Kaminski should be commended for writing a serious and thoughtful work about one of the most important spaceflight endeavors (pun intended) that NASA has ever embarked on.
© 2024 Douglas G. Adler
