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

Greg Klerkx (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0375421505 | ISBN-13: 978-0375421501 | Publication Date: January 13, 2004 | Edition: 1

In Lost in Space, Greg Klerkx argues that ever since the last human left the moon in 1972, the Space Age has been stuck in the wrong orbit—and NASA, the organization that once fueled the world’s space-faring hopes, has been largely responsible for keeping it there. With the loss of the space shuttle Columbia, there has never been a more critical time for anyone interested in the future of space exploration to ask two questions: Whatever happened to the Space Age? And how do we get it back?

In pursuit of answers to these questions, Klerkx goes behind the scenes to reveal how NASA devolved from a pioneer of new horizons to a blundering bureaucracy concerned mainly with its own continued existence. Klerkx describes how NASA became dependent on projects geared mainly toward the needs of its budgetary allies—leading contractors in the “big aerospace” community—while drifting ever further from the public that had once cheered on its efforts to explore humankind’s last frontier. Chief among his criticisms, Klerkx makes clear the misguided and expensive folly of the space shuttle—“the Edsel of space transportation”—and chronicles NASA’s clumsy development of the money-gobbling International Space Station.

A damning, eye-opening indictment of NASA, Lost in Space is filled with fascinating perspectives on the ideas and technology behind modern space travel. But above all, Lost in Space is a story of people: some who devoted their lives to NASA and continue to believe in its promise, and others who became embittered by NASA’s failures and have struck out on their own, thereby giving rise to the “alternative” space movement that may hold the key to the future of humans in space—with or without NASA.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sprawling and sometimes polemical account, Klerkx, formerly associated with the SETI Institute, excoriates what he sees as NASA's present-day loss of vision. During the Apollo program, NASA's goal was manned space exploration. But over the last 29 years, the agency has scaled down its vision, content to send unmanned missions to the other planets and keep human beings in earth orbit with the short-lived Skylab, the troubled shuttle fleet and the "money-gobbling" International Space Station. Klerkx draws out some of the threads in the tangled web that connects the perpetually feuding NASA fiefdoms, NASA's major suppliers (and major congressional contributors), like Boeing, and the politicians who write the checks. He believes that private-sector entrepreneurs will wrest future space exploration away from the self-serving NASA bureaucracy, which too often views space in terms of military and strategic applications. Klerkx presents the nouveaux riches businessmen investing millions in space-related projects, like Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Elon Musk, founder of Paypal, as well as eccentric visionaries like Robert Zubrin and his Mars Society. The Columbia disaster hangs over Klerkx's tale like a dark shadow.. Some readers may think Klerkx is still under the spell of his boyhood dream of being an astronaut and giving short shrift to arguments against human space exploration. But readers who share Klerkx's dream will be captivated by his vision of what needs to be done to resume manned space flights and of what humankind is capable of achieving.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From 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.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (January 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375421505
• ISBN-13: 978-0375421501
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,300,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NASA - Not About Space Anymore, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age (Hardcover)

This is a decent book that presents the opposing view to NASA's perspective on space travel. It does get long winded at times and could benefit with some editing. It is corageous in that it is one of a very few books that will state that NASA is lost and has no real direction.

I was born in 1968, so I missed the interesting space missions. I remember as a kid watching the first Space Shuttle launch and being completely unimpressed. I could never really put my finger on my fascination with the Apollo program and my boerdome with the Space Shuttle until now. This book has been a real eye opener for me as a space enthusiast and a tax payer!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing antidote..., January 27, 2004

By 

Jason Miller (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age (Hardcover)

..to the usual right stuff glorification of an organization whose efforts to build on the thrill of Apollo have disappointed me and apparently also the author. The track record Klerkx puts together in this book of NASA's dealings with big contractors like Boeing is shocking, and it really throws into question whether NASA has what it takes to send people back to the moon or anywhere else. The stories of the entrepreneurs are interesting and the whole book moves along very nicely, without too much technical gobbledegook. A really interesting read, although it's pretty long, so give yourself some time!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Condemnation of NASA and a Celebration of Private Space Ventures, December 2, 2008

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age (Paperback)

Greg Klerkx, a journalist who has covered NASA at times, offers in "Lost in Space" a quirky, idiosyncratic perspective on the U.S. space effort. It is one of several works that periodically appear taking NASA to the woodshed for failures, both real and perceived, that have prevented the accomplishment of a grand vision of space exploration. Of course, that "grand vision" is highly idiosyncratic and Klerkx's vision is certainly idiosyncratic as well. For Greg Klerkx, the grand vision of space exploration should lead to a renaissance for our species as we become a multiplanetary species, but it has been subverted by the military-industrial complex, government bureaucrats, and small minded politicians.

For Greg Klerkx, NASA is little more than a poorly-run government bureaucracy more concerned with self-preservation than in extending the space frontier. He invokes conspiracies too often to explain what has happened in spaceflight since the Apollo program, and condemns the relationship between NASA and its predominant contractors. Klerkx celebrates the private space entrepreneurs who have been pursuing the X-Prize, the Mars Society's analogue for Martian habitats at Devon Island, and MirCorps' efforts to privatize the Mir space station in the 2000 time frame. Through those efforts, Klerkx believes, NASA's monopoly on space activities may end. And it cannot come too soon for the author of "Lost in Space."

"Lost in Space" represents the view of a small but vocal group of space advocates who bemoan the current state of space activities in the United States. Brought up on the promises of Apollo in the 1960s, Moon habitats and space stations where tourists could travel, and possibilities for an endless frontier beyond Earth, these folks lament what might have been. Greg Klerkx offers a voice to their distemper.

Without question, "Lost in Space" is remarkably one-sided. NASA is neither so sinister nor as self-interested as the author believes. As presented here, NASA can do essentially nothing right but Klerkx's prowse seems to celebrate the alternative space community as incapable of doing no wrong.

"Lost in Space" presents a passionate discussion, sometimes fascinating and illuminating, but also carping and repetitive. It is certainly far from balanced. I recognize that balance was not necessarily Klerkx's objective and I agree with many of his criticisms of NASA, but sometimes his zeal to indict the space agency overreaches his evidence. As a challenge to the status quo this is an eloquent addition to the literature. Just don't take it as the final word on the subject.