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Apollo in the Age of Aquarius / Neil M. Maher.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2018]Copyright date: ©2017Edition: Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries onlyDescription: 1 online resource (368 p.) : 42 halftonesContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780674977808
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 629.45/4 23
LOC classification:
  • TL789
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Launching the Sixties -- 1. Spaceship Earth: Civil Rights and NASA’s War on Poverty -- 2. Shooting (from) the Moon: NASA, Nature, and the New Left during the Vietnam War Era -- 3. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Cape Canaveral and Whole Earth Environmentalism -- 4. Heavenly Bodies: “Manned Spaceflight” and the Women's Movement -- 5. The New Right’s Stuff: The Hippie Counterculture and the Rise of the Conservative Crescent -- Conclusion: Grounding the Space Race -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Illustration Credits -- Index
Summary: The summer of 1969 saw astronauts land on the moon for the first time and hippie hordes descend on Woodstock for a legendary music festival. For Neil M. Maher, the conjunction of these two era-defining events is not entirely coincidental. Apollo in the Age of Aquarius shows how the celestial aspirations of NASA’s Apollo space program were tethered to terrestrial concerns, from the civil rights struggle and the antiwar movement to environmentalism, feminism, and the counterculture. With its lavishly funded mandate to send a man to the moon, Apollo became a litmus test in the 1960s culture wars. Many people believed it would reinvigorate a country that had lost its way, while for others it represented a colossal waste of resources needed to solve pressing problems at home. Yet Maher also discovers synergies between the space program and political movements of the era. Photographs of “Whole Earth” as a bright blue marble heightened environmental awareness, while NASA’s space technology allowed scientists to track ecological changes globally. The space agency’s exclusively male personnel sparked feminist debates about opportunities for women. Activists pressured NASA to apply its technical know-how to ending the Vietnam War and helping African Americans by reducing energy costs in urban housing projects. Particularly during the 1970s, as public interest in NASA waned, the two sides became dependent on one another for political support. Against a backdrop of Saturn V moonshots and Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind, Apollo in the Age of Aquarius brings the cultural politics of the space race back down to planet Earth.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780674977808

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Launching the Sixties -- 1. Spaceship Earth: Civil Rights and NASA’s War on Poverty -- 2. Shooting (from) the Moon: NASA, Nature, and the New Left during the Vietnam War Era -- 3. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Cape Canaveral and Whole Earth Environmentalism -- 4. Heavenly Bodies: “Manned Spaceflight” and the Women's Movement -- 5. The New Right’s Stuff: The Hippie Counterculture and the Rise of the Conservative Crescent -- Conclusion: Grounding the Space Race -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Illustration Credits -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The summer of 1969 saw astronauts land on the moon for the first time and hippie hordes descend on Woodstock for a legendary music festival. For Neil M. Maher, the conjunction of these two era-defining events is not entirely coincidental. Apollo in the Age of Aquarius shows how the celestial aspirations of NASA’s Apollo space program were tethered to terrestrial concerns, from the civil rights struggle and the antiwar movement to environmentalism, feminism, and the counterculture. With its lavishly funded mandate to send a man to the moon, Apollo became a litmus test in the 1960s culture wars. Many people believed it would reinvigorate a country that had lost its way, while for others it represented a colossal waste of resources needed to solve pressing problems at home. Yet Maher also discovers synergies between the space program and political movements of the era. Photographs of “Whole Earth” as a bright blue marble heightened environmental awareness, while NASA’s space technology allowed scientists to track ecological changes globally. The space agency’s exclusively male personnel sparked feminist debates about opportunities for women. Activists pressured NASA to apply its technical know-how to ending the Vietnam War and helping African Americans by reducing energy costs in urban housing projects. Particularly during the 1970s, as public interest in NASA waned, the two sides became dependent on one another for political support. Against a backdrop of Saturn V moonshots and Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind, Apollo in the Age of Aquarius brings the cultural politics of the space race back down to planet Earth.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021)

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