Review
“This meticulously researched work will inform scholars and engineers interested in the history of technology and innovation and those specializing in the history of spaceflight. . . There is much to praise and little to criticize in these two fine volumes on the history of U.S. rocket technology.”-Quest (Quest 20080201)�It fills what is unquestionably a tremendous gap in the literature of space access . . . does a superb job of tracing the main lines of development of the major rocket technologies. . . This work is a benchmark in the process of the invention of spaceflight and its evolution over time.�–Roger Launius, Smithsonian Institution; Chair, Division of Space History, NASA (Roger Launius, Smithsonian Institution; Chair, Division of Space History, NASA )
In this definitive study, J. D. Hunley traces the program’s development from Goddard’s early rockets (and the German V-2 missile) through the Titan IVA and the Space Shuttle, wit…
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In the October 2008 issue of _Technology and Culture_, Yasuchi Sato wrote about this book: “The first two chapters provide a reliable and balanced account of the development of all major space-launch vehicles, military and civilian, flown up to 1991.” He adds: “The rest of the book goes into details of the evolution of specific propulsion technologies. . . . This book,” Sato concludes, “is based on Hunley’s total mastery of the literature in relevant fields. Both primary and secondary sources are so vast that integrating and synthesizing them is no small feat. Moreover, as Hunley points out, the sources are often inconsistent. Thanks to Hunley’s critical examination of the sources, this book will be a valuable reference for historians of American space programs.”
Every few years a benchmark study appears on some aspect of space history that reinterprets our understanding of the subject. J.D. Hunley, whom I freely admit is a longtime friend and colleague, has published–along with two additional volumes on the history of rocket technology in the United States, “Preludes to U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology: Goddard to Minuteman III” and “U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology: Viking to Space Shuttle”–a major study of the history of U.S. rocketry. “The Development of Propulsion Technology for U.S. Space-Launch Vehicles, 1926-1991″ is Hunley’s magnum opus and will hereafter provide the starting point for studying this subject.
This book accomplishes three critically important tasks exceptionally well. First, it fills what is unquestionably a tremendous gap in the literature of space launch. There is no single book or even a small collection of books where anyone may find a comprehensive history of rocket technology. Most of what is available is superficial, such as Frank Winter’s “Rockets into Space” (Harvard, 1990), or concentrates on specific launch systems, such as David Stumpf’s excellent book, “Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program” (Arkansas, 2000). Hunley’s work is a cohesive whole that analyzes that story much more even-handedly and effectively. It will undoubtedly become the standard resource on this subject.
Second, it does a superb job of tracing the main lines of development of the major rocket technologies. Much of the existing literature overemphasizes the contributions of the German rocketeers under Wernher von Braun, and while they were clearly important, almost as important were influences coming out of Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, often through the Aerojet Corporation, along with many other companies, institutions, and universities.
Third, Hunley explores in some detail the process of innovation. We know too little about the origins of these launch technologies, coming as they do from large, anonymous organizations. But he illuminates decisions and direction in technological development that have never been explored before. His work is a benchmark in the process of the invention of spaceflight and its evolution over time. He employs the concept of “engineering science” to the subject of rocket technology, noting that at least until very late in the development of American rocketry, there was fundamentally no body of theory that would allow engineers to predict how new technologies would function in the harsh environment of launch and operations in space. Engineers would design a rocket and encounter problems in static or flight-testing (or both) and then had to undertake cut-and-try methods to correct problems. This happened repeatedly, and the various shuttle accidents, as Hunley demonstrates, points up the magnitude of the problem. In this way what engineers did was hardly science in the sense that they developed a body of knowledge that would allow prediction of how these machines would operate.
There is much to praise and little to criticize in this fine volume on the history of U.S. rocket technology. I am proud that this fine work appeared in the “Centennial of Flight Series” at Texas A&M University Press which I have edited since its inception.