The Myths of Spaceflight History
Aug 26, 2025
Most people think the Apollo missions had overwhelming public support, but that's a myth. In reality, polls never showed more than 50% approval, and even JFK himself admitted he wasn't that interested in space. This video details some common misconceptions and myths of spaceflight history, along with my personal story of disillusionment and a sort of redemption.
My 5150 story is on Substack: Grippy Socks.
Books
- Neufeld, Michael J. Spaceflight: A Concise History (2018), MIT Press
- McDougall, Walter A. The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age, Basic Books (1985)
- Geppert, Alexander C. T. (ed.) Limiting Outer Space: Astroculture After Apollo, Palgrave Macmillan (2018)
- Siddiqi, Asif A. Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974, NASA History Division (2000)
- Kraemer, Robert S. Beyond the Moon: A Golden Age of Planetary Exploration, 1971–1978 (2000)
- Brzezinski, Matthew. Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age, Times Books (2007)
- Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History, The Penguin Press (2005)
- Pyle, Rod. Interplanetary Robots: True Stories of Space Exploration, Prometheus Books (2019)
- Billings, Linda (ed.) 50 Years of Solar System Exploration: Historical Perspectives, NASA SP-2021-4705
- Siddiqi, Asif A. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016, NASA SP-2018-4041
Articles and papers
- "Public Opinion Polls and Perceptions of US Human Spaceflight"
- "Space policy responsiveness: the relationship between public opinion and NASA funding"
- Wells, H. G. "The Things that Live on Mars", Cosmopolitan (1908)
- The Journal of Astrosociology
- The quest for life on Venus, The Planetary Society
- "Venus Says No", The New York Times (1963)
- Americans' views of space, Pew Research Center (2023)
- "Influencing Public Opinion of Space Policy: Programmatic Effects Versus Education Effects"
- "What is the public's role in 'space' policymaking?"