Life in Space
Subtitle
NASA Life Sciences Research During the Late Twentieth Century
"Life in Space" explores the many aspects and outcomes of NASA's research in life sciences, a little-understood endeavor that has often been overlooked in histories of the space agency. It details NASA's work in this field, from spectacular promises made during the Reagan era to the optimistic planning for human space exploration and post-Cold War collaboration during the 1990s, to the major new directions set by George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration in 2004. It highlights significant achievements and innovations, such as advances in space radiation research, the Neurolab Spacelab Mission and the International Space Station, but also reveals the lost opportunities, stagnation and dead ends that frustrated advances in this essential aspect of space exploration. As U.S. space activities evolve to include privatization and competition with foreign space agencies, NASA's past should inform the future.
Bio
Maura Phillips Mackowski is a research historian with a PhD in U.S. history from ASU (2002). She is also the author of "Testing the Limits: Aviation Medicine and the Origins of Manned Space Flight."
Praise for this book
Sheds new light on how one of NASA's significant research efforts succeeded in breaking new ground even as those efforts struggled to find support both within and outside the agency. Offers a clear-eyed analysis of a highly complex and multi-part institution drawn from close primary research and interviews with participants.
Margaret A. Weitekamp curator and chair of the Space History Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Mackowski's research is exhaustive, her analysis is spot-on and her conclusions give us pause as we consider when and if to send our fellow humans deeper into space on longer missions with greater risk and less support from Mission Control than ever before.
John B. Charles retired chief scientist, NASA's Human Research Program
