Chapter VI // Space Program

We Forgot How to Fly

The most expensive amnesia in human history

We Forgot How to Fly

The Impossibility of Forgetting

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Six more missions followed. Twelve humans left footprints in lunar dust. Then, in December 1972, Apollo 17 lifted off from the lunar surface, and humanity never went back. [1]

That was over 50 years ago.

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We Forgot How to Fly

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Source Appendix // Chapter VI

[1]

Apollo Program Summary Report

NASA (1975) government record

Official NASA record of all Apollo missions

[2]

The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology

NASA History Division (1975) government record

Official program cost accounting in original and inflation-adjusted dollars

[3]

NASA Inspector General Report on Artemis

NASA Office of Inspector General (2021) government record

Comprehensive audit of Artemis costs and schedule delays

[4]

NASA Admits Apollo 11 Tapes Got Erased

Reuters (2009) article

Reuters report on NASA admitting the original tapes were lost

[5]

The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2009) government record

NASA's official report on the search for and fate of Apollo telemetry tapes

[6]

Goddard Statement on Apollo 11 Tape Search

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2019) government record

Official NASA statement on tape erasure

[7]

Saturn V Technical Documentation

Paul Shawcross / NASA (2009) government record

Discussion of missing Saturn V technical specifications

[8]

The Saturn V: A History of the Rocket That Took Us to the Moon

Roger Bilstein (1980) book

NASA history documenting the industrial base and knowledge loss

[9]

Can We Rebuild the Saturn V?

Amy Shira Teitel (2017) article

Engineering analysis of why rebuilding Saturn V is not straightforward

[10]

Van Allen Radiation Belts

NASA Science (2023) government record

Official NASA description of the Van Allen belts

[11]

Apollo Radiation Exposure Analysis

NASA Johnson Space Center (1997) government record

Technical analysis of Apollo crew radiation doses

[12]

Orion: Trial by Fire (NASA Video)

NASA (2014) video

NASA video discussing Van Allen belt challenges for Orion spacecraft

[13]

Orion Spacecraft Radiation Shielding

NASA / Lockheed Martin (2020) government record

Explanation of modern electronics vulnerability vs Apollo-era equipment

[14]

NASA SLS Cost Per Launch Analysis

NASA Office of Inspector General (2022) government record

Audit finding that each SLS launch costs approximately $4.1 billion

[15]

Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment

NASA Science (2023) government record

Ongoing verification of Apollo retroreflectors on the lunar surface