The Dictionary of Space Technology 2nd edition

Between the Vietnam war, domestic turmoil and the Challenger disaster, the dream almost died. What a contrast with the heady days of the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Apollo missions (and others, not forgetting the Russian space effort which was the initial stimulus to the Kennedy administration) had us glued to our televisions and watching science fiction become fact. We chose to ignore the killjoys who told us that a greater scientific harvest could be had for much less investment in unmanned spacecraft. What has happened is that while manned spaceflight has slipped in US government priorities to...