Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age

by Greg Klerkx

The daring, revolutionary NASA that sent Neil Armstrong to the moon has lost its meteoric vision, says journalist and space enthusiast Greg Klerkx. NASA, he contends, has devolved from a pioneer of space exploration into a factionalized bureaucracy focused primarily on its own survival. And as a result, humans haven’t ventured beyond Earth orbit for three decades. Klerkx argues that after its wildly successful Apollo program, NASA clung fiercely to the spotlight by creating a government-sheltered monopoly with a few Big Aerospace companies. Although committed in theory to supporting commercial spaceflight, in practice it smothered vital private-sector innovation. In striking descriptions of space milestones spanning the golden 1960s Space Age and the 2003 Columbia tragedy, Klerkx exposes the “real” NASA and envisions exciting public-private cooperation that could send humans back to the moon and beyond.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Space, Science, Nonfiction, History, Politics

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Mr Zebedee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good background on the politics of NASA versus commercial space. I knew the shuttle was a basketcase but this book informed me of how bad the ISS was. Unfortunately the book barely mentions Musk and Bezos, admittedly Blue Origin was in stealth mode for ages but at the time of publishing SpaceX had been around for over a year.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

What happened to the promising Space Age of 30 years ago? Klerkx offers a compelling if biased critique of NASA and its benefactors in Lost in Space. He delves into insider politics, showing how NASA bows to its major suppliers and congressional contributors. The result? Instead of Klerkx's claimed colonies on Mars, we have an unfinished, increasingly costly space station. The narrative generally flows well, even with some confusing acronyms, heavy financial issues, and erroneous history. The bigger issue is Klerkx's bias. Although he researched NASA's competitors and focused on two private endeavors, he did not interview NASA officials, weakening his indictment of the agency. Still, he's largely correct about the direction of our current Space Age efforts: spend your down payment on that Mars home elsewhere.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Brian Maicke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book discussing the changes that NASA has gone through since its inception. While there is nothing earth shattering here, you can see why general public support for space has been flagging since the days of the Apollo missions. Being involved in the aerospace industry, I already knew a lot of what was presented here, but for an amateur space enthusiast or anyone interested in why we have actually regressed in our space capabilities, this book gives most of the reasons why.

[David R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a powerful statement. However it is a little too strong and just a little too bitter. After a few chapters it becomes repetitive. I'm not sure I accept Klerkx' bureaucratic conspiracy. Nevertheless it is a thought provoker.

[Think-On-It]

If you'd like to know what I thought of this book, please contact me directly and I'd be happy to discuss it with you.

All the best,

- TB

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit repetitive, Lost in Space will change the way you think about NASA, the Space Shuttle and any romantic notions about the current status-quo of space exploration.

Recommended.