Beyond the Moon: A Golden Age of Planetary Exploration, 1971-1978

By Robert S. Kraemer

During the 1970s, Americans launched twelve robot spacecraft on paths to the far corners of the solar system. Each mission was a resounding success, yielding detailed knowledge of Earth's neighboring planets and advancing human understanding of the solar system's origin and evolution. In 1971, Mariner 9 revealed a history of volcanic eruptions and flooding on Mars. Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, passed safely through the Asteroid Belt and accomplished the first successful flyby of Jupiter. The 1977 Voyager "grand tour" flybys of four of the outer planets revealed satellites that featured active volcanoes, fantastically tortured terrain, and ice-spewing geysers.

Providing an insider's view of what has been called a golden era in space pioneering, Robert S. Kraemer describes the financial, political, and technical hurdles facing each mission. As NASA's director of planetary programs during those years, he witnessed rivalries between scientists, worked to ensure that projects remained in NASA and federal budgets, and reshaped missions to meet changing priorities, schedules, and vehicle configurations. The book also chronicles the technical problems that sometimes jeopardized missions and describes such successes as the first landings on Mars in 1976.

Addressing many of the central themes that have affected space science during the past fifty years, Beyond the Moon documents the efforts of those who contributed to a burst of planetary exploration that laid the foundation for even more extraordinary voyages of discovery. Dozens of full color and black and white illustrations enhance the appeal for any space enthusiast.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560989548
• ISBN13: 9781560989547
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Were the 1970s a Golden Age for Space Science?

According to author Robery S. Kraemer they certainly were. He points to several key missions as demonstrations of this fact: Pioneers 10 and 11, Vikings 1 and 2, and Voyagers 1 and 2, as well as a host of other projects begun during the decade. This important recollection explores many of the central themes affecting space science during the latter half of the twentieth century. It describes and analyzes the conduct of NASA's planetary science program throughout the 1970s, enhancing our understanding of the NASA missions to all of the planets of the Solar System save Pluto. Not so much a part of the "new aerospace history" as it is a ringing insider account of the subject, Kraemer's discussion provides the details that only a participant would know about the progress of these important missions. It is a heroic story in Kraemer's telling, one filled with men and women of good character striving to achieve important objectives. They did not always agree with each other, and competed ferociously for their respective positions, but they all respected each other. The result was astonishing and that alone may have given rise to the belief that the planetary missions executed during the 1970s were the "golden age" of the program. Although the case may be well made for this assessment at present, and Kraemer makes it well, will that be the conclusion of those one hundred years hence? Will probes sent to the planets serve, something like Columbus did with the Americas, as vanguards of sustained exploration and settlement? Or will they prove to be more like Leif Erickson's voyages, stillborn in the public conception of new lands? No one knows at present but books such as this make a subtle case for many additional voyages of discovery.In the 1960s Kraemer worked for Ford Motor Co., serving as chief engineer for its Space Systems Division and as a manager of its Lunar and Planetary Programs. In this capacity he learned firsthand of the challenges inherent in planetary science programs. Charting the delicate course between the requirements of the scientists for their instruments and the rigid confines of technological systems managed by engineers, he worked on some of NASA most significant missions of the decade. Kraemer moved to NASA Headquarters in 1967 to work on Mars exploration planning efforts, and throughout the first third of the decade of the 1970s he was Director of Planetary Programs. During this period he shepherded to launch many of the illustrious planetary missions that have given rise to the belief that the 1970s was the "golden age" of planetary science. Because of this deep background, Kraemer's insider account of planetary science in the 1970s is a welcome addition to the history of space exploration. It compares well to other books relating experiences in space science. That is the reason that I agreed to write an introduction for this book. I recommend it as an engrossing account of an important episode in space exploration history writt

An entertaining, informative read

This book provides an insider look at the trials, tribulations, successes and failures involved in unmanned space exploration during the 1970s. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in space, project management, policy, technology and history. Kraemer, the former director of NASA's plantary exploration program, has an easy-reading style, but he doesn't skimp on details. The book is well-organized, discussing each probe and its history in turn. He also provides diagrams and charts, including one very striking and effective 'balanced approach' chart that all program managers should study and modify for their own use. The center section of the hardcover version also includes some beautiful color plates of some of the planets and their moons.This book will give you an appreciation of the extreme technical, social and political difficulties that need to be overcome to study our solar system in depth. If you liked Donna Shirley's "Managing Martians," you'll like this book as well.

The Triumphs of the Planetary Space Missions of the 1970's

During the period from 1971 through 1978, NASA launched twelve space probes to explore the planets and the sun and achieved many firsts, such as, the first planetary orbiter, the first planetary lander, the first spacecraft to visit the outer planets and the first spacecraft to use the gravity assist. While a good portion of these stories is presented in the first person, such as the budget battles the author had to fight, this is not his autobiography.The book is divided into chapters covering each planetary or solar probe and also includes an introductory and closing chapter. Each chapter presents the organization of the spacecraft management team, the determination the science objects, hardware development problems, the budget (and sometimes budget problems), the problems encountered from launch to the arrival, and finally a summary of the important discoveries of each planetary encounter. Each chapter also presents a detailed drawing or two of the spacecraft and a few photographs. Detailed findings from each mission are presented, since these would be books in themselves.One of the most interesting chapters covers the joint German-US solar probe Helios. This was the first major joint space project. This spacecraft orbited the sun at a distance of less than 30 million miles, which closer to the sun than the planet Mercury and returned valuable data on the nature of the sun.While I found all the chapters in this book very interesting, I think the final chapter of the book was by far and away the best. The author summarizes what he learned over his many years in the upper management of NASA and his dealings with Congress. In this position, he learned two things. 1) Do not let politics dictate technical decisions and, 2) Do not lie to Congress. These are two concepts that our current NASA administrator should embrace. If he did, I believe more of our country's space projects would funded and succeed.