ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the NASA's birth, its glory years, capped by the Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969, and the agency's stagnation thereafter. It considers President George W. Bush's vision for returning to the Moon and the 2004 report of the president's Aldridge Commission. NASA devised Project Gemini as a precursor to the historic Apollo program. Then came Project Apollo, the most dramatic and historic American space development to date and the largest nonmilitary technological project ever undertaken by the United States. Without a doubt, the Apollo 11 lunar landing represented the crowning glory of the American space program and the fulfillment of President Kennedy's vision. The Aldridge Commission saw a continued, prominent role in the US space program for the public sector and NASA. The Aldridge Commission report rejected the traditional approach to private industry that had long ruled NASA. The Aldridge Commission envisioned a wide open playing field for the US space program.
