THE RETURN OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY TO CREWED SPACEFLIGHT - HYPERSONIC AND OTHER VISIONS

Citation
R. Handberg et J. Johnsonfreese, THE RETURN OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY TO CREWED SPACEFLIGHT - HYPERSONIC AND OTHER VISIONS, Space policy, 13(4), 1997, pp. 295-304
Citations number
33
Journal title
ISSN journal
02659646
Volume
13
Issue
4
Year of publication
1997
Pages
295 - 304
Database
ISI
SICI code
0265-9646(1997)13:4<295:TROTAM>2.0.ZU;2-W
Abstract
Since the 1950s, crewed spaceflight has been the province of NASA, a d ecision reaffirmed in the 1960s with the cancellation of all military projects which might have competed. That understanding has driven Amer ican space policy since that time despite the fact that the military h as not given up its dream of crewed spaceflight. Over the past decade, that division of labor has begun to break down in part due to the mil itary's heightened awareness of the usefulness of space as operational location. The Air Force, the service most committed to this vision of military space, has in its planning for the next generation returned to the concept of military space activities across the spectrum. In es sence, the implied social contract which drove American crewed spacefl ight since the sixties is now undergoing revision and possible reversa l. Given the political climate, NASA may be particularly vulnerable to such challenges. The impact of such a change upon the world wide huma n spaceflight effort is unknown but likely to be extremely disruptive as military considerations move to the fore. The debate is ongoing, th e major limitation remains budget so that any agreed upon changes are likely to be slow to occur. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.