Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America's Final Frontier

305 Pages·2019·6.725 MB·English

by  Catherine L. Newell

Destined for the Stars

Sta rs
Destined

for the
FAITH, THE FUTURE, AND AMERICA’S FINAL FRONTIER
C A T H E R I N E L . N E W E L L
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PRESS
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260
Copyright © 2019, University of Pittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 13: 978-0-8229-4556-7
ISBN 10: 0-8229-4556-8
Cover art: Chesley Bonestell, Mars Seen from Deimos
Cover design: Alex Wolfe
For Mom and Dad—thank you for your faith in me.
And for Justin—this is your book, too.

Contents
Acknowledgments * ix
Introduction * 1
CHAPTER 1 * The Painting That Launched a Thousand Careers * 13
CHAPTER 2 * Solar System * 33
CHAPTER 3 * The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone * 65
CHAPTER 4 * Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel * 95
CHAPTER 5 * The Conquest of Space * 121
* Color plates follow page 140 *
CHAPTER 6 * Destination Moon * 157
CHAPTER 7 * Physics of the Upper Atmosphere * 177
CHAPTER 8 * Crossing the Last Frontier * 205
CHAPTER 9 * Man in Space * 221
Conclusion * 243
Notes * 253
Bibliography * 273
Index * 283

Acknowledgments
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I love reading acknowledgments pages. Often, in academic books, they’re a kind
of gossipy trip through various departments and programs, a who’s who of one
scholar’s past. It’s probable that my acknowledgments will not be of interest to
most readers, but they are heartfelt just the same.
I was fortunate to receive several research fellowships to help me com-
plete this book. My first stop was the Air Force Academy Library in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, where I had received a Clark-Yudkin Research Fellowship
from the Friends of the Air Force Academy Library. With the help of the mar-
velous librarians at the USAFA, I spent a blissful week exploring the Aeronau-
tical History Collection of Colonel Richard Gimbel. There I sorted through the
huge assortment of books, papers, and ephemera dedicated to the history of
flight—from depictions of the moon hoax to prints of French hot air balloons to
contemporary reflections on the Saturn V. I got to hold a priceless first edition
of Kepler’s Somnium, read Richard A. Proctor uninterrupted, and stare at the
frontispiece of Bishop John Wilkins’s The Discovery of a World in the Moone. I
am very grateful to Dr. Mary Elizabeth Ruwell and her team for their help, rec-
ommendations, and suggestion that I take time out of my research to watch the
arrival of the new cadets on campus, an experience I’m not likely to forget (and
neither, I’m sure, will the cadets).
I also had the pleasure of receiving a visiting scholar fellowship to the Au-
try National Center of the American West in Los Angeles, California. With the
help of library and archive director Marva Felchlin, I was able to create a more
coherent and nuanced understanding of both the history of the American West
and its mythologizing in literature, images, and—eventually—Hollywood. Cu-
rator Dr. Amy Scott was especially helpful in guiding me visually through the
museum’s Hudson River School paintings—including Thomas Moran’s Moun-
tain of the Holy Cross—and the considerable art history literature about Moran
and other artists. Having the opportunity to hold both the historical past and its
ix