1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780036603321

Autore

Johnson Stephen B. <1959->

Titolo

The secret of Apollo : systems management in American and European space programs / / Stephen B. Johnson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Baltimore, : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002

ISBN

0-8018-7618-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvii, 290 pages) : illustrations

Collana

New series in NASA history

Disciplina

629.4/0973

Soggetti

Astronautics, Military - United States - Management

Astronautics - United States - Management

Astronautics, Military - Europe - Management

Astronautics - Europe - Management

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Illustrations; Preface and Acknowledgments; Abbreviations and Acronyms; Introduction: Management and the Control of Research and Development; Chapter 1 -  Social and Technical Issues of Spaceflight; Chapter 2 -  Creating Concurrency; Chapter 3 -  From Concurrency to Systems Management; Chapter 4 -  JPL's Journey from Missiles to Space; Chapter 5 -  Organizing the Manned Space Program; Chapter 6 -  Organizing ELDO for Failure; Chapter 7 -  ESRO's American Bridge across the Management Gap; Chapter 8 -  Coordination and Control of High-Tech Research and Development; Notes

Essay on Sources Index

Sommario/riassunto

How does one go about organizing something as complicated as a strategic-missile or space-exploration program? Stephen B. Johnson here explores the answer -- systems management -- in a groundbreaking study that involves Air Force planners, scientists, technical specialists, and, eventually, bureaucrats. Taking a comparative approach, Johnson focuses on the theory, or intellectual history, of "systems engineering" as such, its origins in the Air Force's Cold War ICBM efforts, and its migration to not only NASA but the European Space Agency. Exploring the history and politics of aerospace development and weapons procurement, Johnson examines how



scientists and engineers created the systems management process to coordinate large-scale technology development, and how managers and military officers gained control of that process. "Those funding the race demanded results," Johnson explains. "In response, development organizations created what few expected and what even fewer wanted -- a bureaucracy for innovation. To begin to understand this apparent contradiction in terms, we must first understand the exacting nature of space technologies and the concerns of those who create them."