Organizing for Space: High-Risk Management in the US Space Program

Article

“Organizing for Space: High-Risk Management in the US Space Program” by Howard McCurdy and I-Lin Lin
Published in Quest Volume: 31 #4 (2024)

Abstract

We are examining the processes by which NASA organized its early spaceflight missions, concentrating on the Apollo program. We will review the way Program Managers and Flight Controllers linked large- scale systems management to the test pilot tradition. The creation of Mission Control Centers provided a solution to the normal accident problem that holds that space travel will remain excessively dangerous because of the contradictory administrative principles involved. The article relies on a valuable collection of 25-year-old interviews with the people involved and available on-line.

Citation

McCurdy, Howard and Lin, I-Lin. “Organizing for Space: High-Risk Management in the US Space Program.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 31, no. 4 (2024): 39-47.