3/17/2023 0 Comments Nasa space shuttle endeavour route![]() This approach to exploring the history of human spaceflight offers a different and useful frame of understanding that broadens basic conceptions about this aspect of the human past. This article examines religious conceptions as a means of analyzing what might be termed a ‘‘space gospel.’’ I lay out here the proposition that human spaceflight may be viewed as a religion with similar attributes to those present in mainstream religious denominations. What if we viewed the history of human spaceflight somewhat less through the lens of Cold War politics, which admittedly was central to the race to the Moon, but more as an expression of what might be called a religion of spaceflight? There seems to be a deeply religious quality to advocacy for the investment in and support for human space exploration, lending to the endeavor of a ‘‘higher purpose’’ that helps to explain both the generous nature of the actual investment and the ultimate unwillingness of Americans to eviscerate space budgets despite less than full support for space exploration. However, a fifth operational Space Shuttle was not originally anticipated. NASA would decide to build a fifth operational Space Shuttle, Endeavour (OV-105), specifically to replace Challenger, which was lost on January 28, 1986. I call for a historical and reflexive understanding of The Overview Effect to factor into how the idea will influence future space craft design, crew selection, and mission planning. NASA anticipated that its full fleet of four Space Shuttles would be in complete operation by 1984. The Overview Effect isn't a natural phenomenon, but rather just one of many possible ways of experiencing the view of the earth from outer-space. Against White's static concept, I argue that human perceptions of natural spaces are deeply cultural, and always undergoing change. Third, I return to an idea from the 1950s called "The Break-Off Phenomenon", where pilots looking down at the earth from very-high altitudes reported feeling depressed, anxious, disconnected, and physically separated from the planet below. Secondly, because the main ingredients for White's concept of The Overview Effect are astronaut stories, I examine deep historical tensions between astronauts and psychologists, which I argue has resulted in a 'lie to fly' culture, an insidious sociological problem affecting astronaut self-reporting, and White's evidence. Buckminster Fuller's concept of "Space Ship Earth", and the "Blue Marble" photograph of the earth surrounded by the void of space captured by Apollo 17 in 1972. First, I examine the cold war military origins of two ideas and one image upon which White builds his grand vision: James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis's Gaia Hypothesis, R. This paper offers three historical perspectives that complicate American author Frank White's concept of "The Overview Effect", the idea that recurring astronaut tales about experiencing a "positive mental shift" when viewing the earth from outer-space constitutes a sign from the universe encouraging human colonization of the galaxy.
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