Read Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Online
Authors: Neil deGrasse Tyson,Avis Lang
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Adapted from “Paths to Discovery,” chapter 19 in Richard W. Bulliet, ed.,
The Columbia History of the 20th Century
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).
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Adapted from “To Fly,”
Natural History,
April 1998.
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Adapted from “Going Ballistic,”
Natural History
, November 2002.
*
Adapted from “Fellow Traveler,”
Natural History
, October 2007.
*
Adapted from “2001, for Real,” Op-Ed,
The New York Times
, January 1, 2001.
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Adapted from “Launching the Right Stuff,”
Natural History
, April 2004.
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Adapted from unpublished op-ed by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith, September 2004.
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Adapted from “For the Love of Hubble,”
Parade
, June 22, 2008.
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Adapted from Master of Ceremonies remarks, fortieth anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, July 20, 2009.
*
Adapted from “Fueling Up,”
Natural History
, June 2005.
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Adapted from “Heading Out,”
Natural History
, July–August 2005.
*
Adapted from “The Five Points of Lagrange,”
Natural History
, April 2002.
*
Adapted from “The Science of Trek,” in Stephen Reddicliffe, ed.,
TV Guide—Star Trek 35th Anniversary Tribute: A Timeless Guide to the Trek Universe,
2002.
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Adapted from Q&A segment of “Cosmic Quandaries, with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson,” St. Petersburg College and WEDU, St. Petersburg, Florida, March 26, 2008.
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Adapted from an interview with Stephen Colbert,
The Colbert Report
, Comedy Central, April 8, 2010,
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/270038/april-08-2010/neil-degrasse-tyson
.
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Adapted from “Space: You Can’t Get There from Here,”
Natural History
, September 1998.
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Before 1968 both US and Soviet astronauts relied on pencils; it was the Fisher Pen Company, not NASA, that identified the need for a “space pen,” in part because of the zero-G environment but also because of the flammability of the pencil’s wood and lead in the pure oxygen atmosphere of the capsule. Fisher did not bill NASA for the development costs. Nevertheless, as the truth-seeking website Snopes.com opines in “The Write Stuff,” the lesson of this tale is valid, even though the example is fabricated.
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Adapted from “Reaching for the Stars,”
Natural History
, April 2003.
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Adapted from the keynote speech for the 48th Annual Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner, National Space Club, Washington, DC, April 1, 2005.
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Adapted from “Delusions of Space Enthusiasts,”
Natural History
, November 2006.
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Adapted from the keynote speech for the Space Technology Hall of Fame dinner, 23rd National Space Symposium, April 12, 2007, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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Adapted from the keynote speech for the Space Technology Hall of Fame dinner, 24th National Space Symposium, April 10, 2008, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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Adapted from an unpublished ode written in 1986. E
DITOR’S
N
OTE
: The ode invokes words related to the names of all five space shuttles that existed in 1986—Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, Enterprise.
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Adapted from “Spacecraft Behaving Badly,”
Natural History
, April 2008.
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Adapted from Q&A, University of Buffalo Distinguished Speaker Series, March 31, 2010.
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Adapted from “The Cosmic Perspective,”
Natural History,
April 2007.
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Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Sources: Office of Management and Budget Historical Tables 1.1 (for federal government outlays) and 4.1 (for NASA outlays 1962–2010), as of April 2011;
NASA Historical Data Book 1958–1968: Volume I, NASA Resources
(for NASA outlays 1959–1961); Bureau of Economic Analysis (for GDP data).
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Source:
The Space Report 2011
, © The Space Foundation, used with permission.
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Source:
The Space Report 2011
, © The Space Foundation, used with permission.
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Source:
The Space Report 2011
, © The Space Foundation, used with permission.