Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.1644
I love listening to and reading the views of Neil deGrasse Tyson. His comprehensive knowledge of physics, passion for space and science education, sense of humor, and the ease with which he gets to the heart of difficult technical matters make him one of the world’s most highly regarded communicators of science and technology. For those reasons, I was eager to read Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier—a compilation of his past space-exploration writings, loosely broken into three sections: Why, How, and Why Not.
Tyson had me at the dedication: “To all those who have not forgotten how to dream about tomorrow.” Indeed, space advocates, the physics community, and the public will find much to like about this book.
I particularly enjoyed his description of why space exploration is important to society and why the US must continue to explore. His thought-provoking discussion of the economic and national security benefits of the nation’s space program is enlightening, and his use of historical analogues is vivid and compelling. I found myself agreeing with him on the importance of seeking breakthrough innovations: developing new space technologies and industries to provide lasting societal benefit and to serve as a catalyst to the US high-tech economy. I believe his thesis that reaching for grand technological challenges is the best way to move our society forward and inspire the next generation into science and technology fields.
In chapter 32, “Perchance to Dream,” Tyson poses an interesting question. We’ve improved on the brick-sized cell phone, the eight-track tape, the car with a mechanical crank starter, and the airplane that looked like a cloth-wrapped insect. So why do we stare with awe and reverence at the Saturn V rocket? Why have we not yet surpassed this legendary first-of-a-kind system? Why does the space community try over and over again to repeat the Apollo program?
Space Chronicles is an excellent read, but I believe Tyson’s text misses the mark in two areas: In its farsighted focus on the future, it misses the excitement of the present, and its recommendations for NASA funding are oversimplified.
The book offers surprisingly little discussion of the space advancements actually being made today, many of which are revolutionary. I had hoped Tyson would enlighten me, in his own unique way, on the search for Earth-like planets by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, discoveries anticipated from the Mars Curiosity rover, missions planned to the outer planets, and the way we will view the universe and ourselves when first data from the James Webb Space Telescope are analyzed.
Tyson fails to adequately recognize the dramatic and revolutionary commercial competition for cargo and crew transport services to low Earth orbit. Indeed, the SpaceX Dragon’s successful berthing at and return from the International Space Station in May was one for the history books. He also fails to cover the advances NASA is making to enable humans to live and work in deep space and the scientific and technological benefits the research being conducted on the ISS is having to life on Earth.
The book provides compelling, easy-to-understand views of the NASA budget and advocates for greatly increasing—even doubling or quadrupling—the current budget. Unfortunately, Tyson’s perspective ignores the fact that NASA funding must be balanced among other science and technology agencies and across the federal government as a whole. It also contradicts Tyson’s own statements, backed by history, that only war, greed, or the celebration of power can motivate sustained federal funding of large science and technology programs.
Rather than discuss such a dramatic and, frankly, unrealistic increase in the NASA budget, I would have hoped Tyson would discuss more thoroughly what NASA can do with its approximately $18-billion budget. That amount, according to Appendix H in Space Chronicles, is 50% higher than the cumulative amount spent by the rest of the world. Tyson’s stated motive for dramatically increasing NASA’s space-exploration spending is to spur more students into science and technology careers. That goal is certainly worthy of federal action and investment, but it may be best accomplished by focusing NASA on innovation, technology, and discovery to obtain the most “dream advancement” per dollar from the agency’s far-reaching programs. As Tyson points out, a NASA that is focused on exploring deep space is much more inspiring than one going round and round in low Earth orbit.
By winning the 1960s race to the Moon, NASA made a lasting imprint on the economic, national security, and geopolitical landscape of the time. Told in a style that is a joy to read, Space Chronicles captures the challenges faced by our space program then as well as today and reminds the reader why NASA matters as much now as ever.
More about the Authors
Robert D. Braun. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
