New Moon Rising: The Making of America's New Space Vision and the Remaking of NASA: Apogee Books Space Series 42 [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

I warily recommend this book as a very interesting and informative read, but one that is pretending to be something other than it is. In the Authors' Note at the beginning of the book the writing duo strenuously claim strict impartiality, saying of their central characters, Bush and O'Keefe, "The authors make no attempt to judge their actions as being good, bad or indifferent to the nation's interest."

This supposed impartiality is quickly shown to be an utter charade. Within a few pages, former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin is described as being in charge of a "nuthouse," a "Machiavelli" who is "dripping with ego and suspicion." Throughout the book he is described as demonic and incompetent in his personal and professional life. Others such as Bill Nelson suffer similar treatment, and even peripheral characters just as John Kerry are hauled into the fray to be swiped at and sniped at.

It is certainly an opinion, and the authors are entitled to it. However, to pretend that this book is not anything but heavily judgmental and biased is, frankly, laughable. A more accurate title for it would have been "Goldin Bad, O'Keefe Good." I am sure Sean O'Keefe loves every word in this book, but even he would not pretend it is impartial and must cringe at some of the more venomous attacks on his predecessor.

It's a great shame, as it is actually a pretty good book. The bureaucratic foibles of the Goldin era are in many cases reported very accurately, once you set aside the poisonous delivery. It's also very well written, in an engaging style that keeps you turning the pages through what could have been some rather dry bureaucratic deliberations. The authors' white knight on a charger, Sean O'Keefe, is thankfully shown to be human also at times. Once the rather fawning justification of his every action is skimmed over, there are some very insightful descriptions of the confusion in his inner circle on the day of the shuttle disaster, and other very illuminating glimpses at some key moments of recent NASA history. It's hard to know what to trust, however, when the book is so heavily slanted, and the authors do not admit their biases.

One of the authors, Keith Cowing, ran a website for many years called 'NASA Watch' which did a very important, in fact a vital job in pointing out many of the sillier bureaucratic decisions during the Goldin era. It appears that, with a change of administration, any critical thinking skills he had vanished, and he has now become the kind of apologist he once criticized. The book supports many of O'Keefe's decisions - such as the writing off of the Space Station when it was almost complete and finally ready to begin what it was designed for, and the ludicrous decision to abandon the Hubble space telescope - decisions that I suspect this book would have spent whole chapters criticizing if another administrator had taken such weak backward steps.

The long-term value of this book will only be known in a year or two. At the present time, it glorifies an event which so far has been a press conference with no real results. I support the aspirations of the authors for a reinvigorated NASA, but I suspect this book will turn out to be no more than a one-sided chronicling of another bureaucratic backwater in history.

What could have been a fascinating insight into White House politics on the space program is marred by the vehement one-sidedness of the authors' point of view. I wouldn't mind if the author had admitted this - but this book advertises itself as a true behind-the-scenes account. Instead, it puffs up the story when it suits the authors, omits crucial details that don't suit the politics of the authors, and demonizes those who hold opposing viewpoints. It's a wasted opportunity and a sadly shallow book compared to what it could have been. I am surprised that Apogee Books, who have an excellent reputation in the field, chose to take on this poisoned chalice.

I find this book to stand in stark contrast to excellent accounts elsewhere - most notably the new epilogue in the paperback edition of Walter Cunningham's "The All-American Boys." Cunningham manages to state in 29 pages a compelling case of the good and bad points of NASA's reaction to the Columbia disaster, something which these two authors fail to do over an entire book. Cunningham is as politically partisan as they come, and yet his account of NASA's inner workings is far more fair, detailed and objectively critical than this extremely blinkered book. I'd recommend saving your money and not buying this book - or, better still, buy a better book, such as Cunningham's.