To See Far: Conflict and Cooperation on the Space Frontier

"We go into space to see far."

The Cold War's half-century nuclear standoff left Jim Van Laak, a fighter pilot standing alert on the US's northern frontline, aching for a vision of a better future with the nation's great strategic rival, Russia. He did not know that two great misfortunes of his youth, a low draft number and a dangerous airplane accident, had already set him on a course to not only see such a vision but to help bring it to fruition.

In To See Far, Van Laak takes readers along on his improbable journey from being a shy but gifted youth with a burning desire to fly to running manned spaceflight operations for the whole planet.

Van Laak's early brush with death made him determined to manage the dangers of flying by understanding its principles and machinery. In the wake of NASA's 1986 Challenger disaster, he seized an opportunity to apply his insights to the problems of spaceflight. He soon found himself untangling the complex issues of Ronald Reagan's envisioned Space Station Freedom.

When political changes redirected Freedom's development into an international project with Russia as a major player, Van Laak was tasked with managing the risks of Russia's participation. His later charge to lead the integration of the two nations' programs put him at odds with people in both countries who would have preferred to see cooperation fail.

Van Laak's efforts during the crises with American astronauts on Russia's Mir space station developed the techniques and relationships he needed to lead spaceflight operation during the International Space Station's critical, early construction. Managing its innumerable technical and human challenges brought him the long view of how rivals could work together.

In our time of seemingly intractable conflicts, To See Far brings a gentle, sensible vision that reaches beyond space enthusiasts to touch a deep cord in the human soul.

Jim Van Laak grew up in the old industrial city of Schenectady, New York. During the Apollo program of the 1960s, he became enthralled by the space program that dominated the world stage. Entranced by aviation, he got his pilot's license at age seventeen and soon thereafter survived a mechanical failure-induced accident. Inspired to learn what he could about these machines, he worked for an airplane mechanic while also attending college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A low draft number led him to join Air Force ROTC and later become a pilot and maintenance officer in the 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. After leaving the air force, his deep knowledge of aircraft systems won him a role at NASA Headquarters, where he expanded his expertise to space shuttle systems. He then transferred to the Johnson Space Center to lead maintenance and logistics planning for Space Station Freedom. Having found a weakness in Freedom, he was tasked to ensure the International Space Station (ISS) program would not suffer the same vulnerability. For ISS, he helped integrate the US and Russian space programs, creating a comprehensive risk management process to ensure success. Later, he became deputy director of the Shuttle-Mir program that sent American astronauts to Russia's aging Mir space station. His response to critical events developed the expertise and respect needed to manage spaceflight operations during ISS's critical start-up phase. He became the focus of conflicts between the US and Russian approaches to spaceflight, as well as between the existing Space Shuttle and the emerging space station programs. This allowed him to guide the programs through several critical tests of cooperation that could have destroyed the program. Van Laak later became a senior manager at NASA's Langley Research Center, served as the FAA's deputy associate administrator for commercial space, and assisted in the launch and activation of the James Webb Space Telescope.