The History and Future of NASA and Space Travel: Neil deGrasse Tyson - Space Chronicles (2012)
Space Chronicles: Facing the
Ultimate Frontier is the
2012 anthology by
Neil deGrasse Tyson covering his various writings relating to the history and future of
NASA and space travel in general.
Tyson intended the book's original title to be,
Failure to Launch:
The Dreams and
Delusions of
Space Enthusiasts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Chronicles:_Facing_the_Ultimate_Frontier
Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy and stellar formation. He has held numerous positions at institutions including
University of Maryland,
Princeton University, the
American Museum of Natural History, and
Hayden Planetarium.
Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In
1995, he began to write the "
Universe" column for
Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for the magazine in
2002, Tyson coined the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with the cross streets of the street grid in
Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets. Tyson's column also influenced his work as a professor with
The Great Courses.[10]
In
2001,
US President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the
Commission on the
Future of the
United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the
President's Commission on Implementation of United States
Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "
Moon,
Mars, and Beyond" commission.
Soon afterward he was awarded the
NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by NASA.[11]
In 2004, he hosted the four-part
Origins miniseries of
PBS's
Nova,[12] and, with
Donald Goldsmith, co-authored the companion volume for this series, Origins:
Fourteen Billion Years Of
Cosmic Evolution.[13] He again collaborated with Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary
400 Years of the Telescope which premiered on PBS in
April 2009.
As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep
Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on
The Colbert Report,
The Daily Show, and
BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.[14] In
2006, the
International Astronomical Union (
IAU) confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the dwarf planet classification.
Daniel Simone wrote of the interview with Tyson describing his frustration. "
For a while, we were not very popular here at the Hayden Planetarium."
Tyson recounted the heated on-line debate on the
Cambridge Conference Network (CCNet), a "widely read, UK-based
Internet chat group" following
Benny Peiser's renewed call for reclassification of Pluto's status.[15]
Peiser's entry, in which he posted articles from the AP and
Boston Globe spawned from the
New York Times's article entitled 'Pluto's Not a
Planet?
Only in New York'.[16][17]
Tyson has been vice-president, president, and chairman of the board of the
Planetary Society. He was also the host of the PBS program
Nova ScienceNow until
2011.[18] He attended and was a speaker at the
Beyond Belief:
Science,
Religion,
Reason and
Survival symposium on
November 2006. In
2007, Tyson, who is known for his vibrant character, cheerful demeanor, and awe of the vastness of the universe itself, was chosen to be a regular on
The History Channel's popular series
The Universe.
In May 2009, he launched a one-hour radio talk show called StarTalk, which he co-hosted with comedienne
Lynne Koplitz. The show was syndicated on Sunday afternoons on
KTLK AM in
Los Angeles and
WHFS in
Washington DC. The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in
December 2010 and then, co-hosted with comedians
Chuck Nice and
Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz. Guests range from colleagues in science to celebrities such as Gza,
Wil Wheaton,
Sarah Silverman, and
Bill Maher. The show is also available via the internet through a live stream or in the form of a podcast.[19]
In
April 2011, Tyson was the keynote speaker at the 93rd
International Convention of the
Phi Theta Kappa International
Honor Society of the Two-year
School. He and
James Randi delivered a lecture entitled
Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of
Information:
Power,
Peril, and
Promise.[20] In 2012, Tyson announced that he would appear in a YouTube series based on his radio show StarTalk. A premiere date for the show has not been announced, but it will be distributed on the
Nerdist YouTube Channel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson