Exploring the Unknown; Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program: Volume VI: Space and Earth Science, NASA SP-2004-4407

VOLUME VI ONLY. xxxiv, 746 pages. 25 cm. Illustrations. Footnotes. List of Acronyms. Biographical Appendix. Index. Slight wear and soiling to DJ. Includes essays on Solar Physics, Space Physics, Life Sciences in Space, and The Evolution of Earth Science Research from Space. This is part of the NASA History Series. John M. Logsdon is Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum; From 1987 to mid-2008, Logsdon was Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, where he is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs. Dr. Logsdon's research interests focus on the policy and historical aspects of U.S. and international space activities. Dr. Logsdon is the author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest and is general editor of the eight-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. He has written numerous articles and reports on space policy and history. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues. This volume is the fifth in a series that had its origins in the 1990s. The individuals involved in initiating the series and producing the first two volumes have been acknowledged in those volumes. An exception must be made for NASA Chief Historian Roger D. Launius, who has become not only a strong supporter of this series but also an essential collaborator in its implementation. The documents selected for inclusion in this volume are presented in four major sections, each covering a particular aspect of the origins, evolution, and execution of the U.S. space and Earth science program. Section I deals with the scientific study of the Sun. Section II discusses the study of the physical characteristics of space, including both interactions between the Sun and Earth, and other areas of investigation. Section III deals with NASA's fundamental research in life sciences—space biology. (Issues associated with the study of the reactions of the human body to the space environment and the health of astronauts will be covered in the next two volumes.) Section IV discusses the most recent area of science to which space observations contribute—that intend to advance understanding of the Earth as a planetary system. An overview essay introduces each section in the present volume. These essays are intended to introduce and complement the documents in the section, and to place them in a chronological and substantive context. Each essay contains references to the documents in the section it introduces, and may also contain references to documents in other sections of the collection.…