Astronomy on Tap Rocket City – NASA in an Age of Austerity: Between Apollo and Shuttle

Calling all space history buffs!! This month’s Astronomy on Tap features a delve into the 1970s with historians Brian Odom (NASA) and Stephen Waring (UAH).

By the late 1960s, even as Apollo approached its historic achievements, NASA faced a new era of fiscal constraint and competing national priorities. Declining budgets forced the agency to reconsider its ambitions, reshape its programs, and redefine its place in the nation’s scientific and technological agenda. Although the 1970s became a golden age for planetary science, they were also marked by institutional transformation, programmatic retrenchment, and the difficult transition from Apollo to the Space Shuttle. The choices made during this period by presidential administrations, the Congress, and agency leadership continue to shape NASA’s priorities, capabilities, and institutional culture today. Join us at Innerspace Brewing on November 17 at 6 pm for beers, pizza, and some history!