NASA and the Space Industry

From the early 1960s more than 90 percent of the NASA budget has gone to the private sector through contracts and grants. Throughout the history of the agency, therefore, some $300 billion has been dispensed through this process. Despite this no historian until the publication of this book has made a concerted effort to understand the complexity of these public/private relations. Joan Lisa Bromberg, a senior historian of science and technology, undertook this study as a NASA history project under the auspices of the Chief Historian when I served in that capacity during the latter 1990s. What resulted, I think most will agree, was an important study that significantly advances our understanding of this subject. It is a brief overview, to be sure, but as an introduction to the subject and a key to future inquiries it is most valuable. Bromberg argues that historians interested in this subject have traditionally approached it from separate perspectives, that of either the history of technology or the history of business and economics. She seeks to bridge that gap, searching for the manner in which the public/private partnership contributed to innovation and technological virtuosity. She sees NASA as "a case study of the means by which a public agency has influenced the formation and sustenance of new industry" (p. 4). Taking a chronological approach, Bromberg systematically traces NASA's influence in developing the space industry through its use of contracts and other procurements. Far from comprehensive, Bromberg concentrates on the major spaceflight programs--especially the major human programs--to tease out major themes and offer suggestions for future historical exploration. For instance, some of the ideas she explores in relation to the human spaceflight programs might also be productively applied to the space sciences, Earth science, and aeronautics research programs of NASA. While Bromberg has provided a significant reconnaissance of NASA/industry relations it remains for other historians to explore individual case studies. I hope others will take up this task in the future. I am delighted that this book is available; it originated as a contract history from NASA while I served as the agency's Chief Historian and while I am not unbiased in my perspective I think most will agree that this is a valuable starting point for unraveling the history of NASA/industry relations.