Spies and Shuttles - by James E David (Paperback)

About the Book

In this real life spy saga, James E. David reveals the extensive and
largely hidden interactions between NASA and U.S. defense and
intelligence departments.

Book Synopsis

Revealing the connections between NASA and the United States defense community

In this real life spy saga, James David digs through newly declassified documents to ultimately reveal how NASA became a strange bedfellow to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Central Intelligence Agency. Beginning with the establishment of NASA in 1958, he follows the agency through its growth, not only in scope but also in complexity, exposing the ties between spaceflight and the intelligence community that have historically remained unexplored.

David tracks NASA's early cooperation--supplying cover stories for covert missions, analyzing the Soviet space program, providing weather and other scientific data from its satellites, and monitoring missile tests--and reveals how these extensive interactions eventually devolved into NASA's reliance on DoD for political and financial support for the Shuttle. This riveting book aptly demonstrates that the hidden connections between these entities were far greater and deeper than previously known.

Review Quotes

"Provides
a valuable window into the workings of NASA and the impact that defense and
intelligence efforts have on civilian science. . . . A must read for those
interested in space history, Cold War security issues, and twentieth-century
science and technology."--H-Net

"Offers
one of the best analyses to date of the long, and often difficult, history of
interaction between NASA and the national security community."--Space
Review

"Explains
the long history of NASA's tangled relationships with the Department of Defense
and Central Intelligence Agency--both their secret successes and some of their
more public failures."--Technology and Culture