MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 03614cam 2200445 a 4500
001 9923980590001661
005 20150423150706.0
008 131114s2013 mdua b 001 0 eng
010 $a2012017651
020 $a9781421407883 (hbk. : acid-free paper)
020 $a1421407884 (hbk. : acid-free paper)
020 $a9781421408347 (electronic)
020 $a1421408341 (electronic)
035 $a(OCoLC)794227950
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn794227950
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$dIG#$dYDXCP$dBTCTA$dOCLCO$dBWX$dCDX$dBDX$dKEC$dSGB
042 $apcc
043 $an-us---
049 $aCNUM
050 00 $aTL789.8.U5$bO39 2013
082 00 $a629.40973/09046$223
100 1 $aOliver, Kendrick,$d1971-
245 10 $aTo touch the face of God :$bthe sacred, the profane and the American space program, 1957-1975 /$cKendrick Oliver.
260 $aBaltimore :$bJohns Hopkins University Press,$cc2013.
300 $axiii, 229 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
490 1 $aNew series in NASA history
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $aIntroduction: The blasphemy of going up -- A power greater than any of us : religion and secularity in the formation of the American space program -- Signals of transcendence : the rise and fall of space-age theology -- Into the other world : anticipations of spaceflight as religious experience -- Perhaps a meaning to us : the Apollo missions as religious experience -- Evil triumphs when good men do nothing : religious Americans and NASA in the autumn of the space age -- Epilogue.
520 $a"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." In 1968 the world watched as Earth rose over the moonscape, televised from the orbiting Apollo 8 mission capsule. Radioing back to Houston on Christmas Eve, astronauts recited the first ten verses from the book of Genesis. In fact, many of the astronauts found space flight to be a religious experience. To Touch the Face of God is the first book-length historical study of the relationship between religion and the U.S. space program. Kendrick Oliver explores the role played by religious motivations in the formation of the space program and discusses the responses of religious thinkers such as Paul Tillich and C. S. Lewis. Examining the attitudes of religious Americans, Oliver finds that the space program was a source of anxiety as well as inspiration. It was not always easy for them to tell whether it was a godly or godless venture. Grounded in original archival research and the study of participant testimonies, this book also explores one of the largest petition campaigns of the post-war era. Between 1969 and 1975, more than eight million Americans wrote to NASA expressing support for prayer and bible-reading in space. Oliver's study is rigorous and detailed but also contemplative in its approach, examining the larger meanings of mankind's first adventures in "the heavens." - Publisher.
610 10 $aUnited States.$bNational Aeronautics and Space Administration$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0 $aAstronautics$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0 $aReligion and science$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0 $aAstronautics$xPolitical aspects$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0 $aChristianity and politics$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century.
651 0 $aUnited States$xReligion$y20th century.
651 0 $aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y1945-1989.
830 0 $aNew series in NASA history.
947 $fSETM$hBOOK$p$34.36$q1
949 $aTL789.8.U5 O39 2013$i31786102958219
994 $a92$bCNU