History 387 — History of the Space Age

Spring 2026 • In Person

Course Description

This course surveys the history of the Space Age over the past century, focusing on:

  • Rockets and ballistic missiles
  • Origins and challenges of space exploration
  • Cold War competition among the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People’s Republic of China
  • Scientific, technological, political, and cultural forces shaping the first human ventures into space

Students will examine:

  • The Nazi rocket program
  • The Sputnik crisis
  • Astronauts and cosmonauts
  • Apollo and Moon missions
  • Space disasters
  • Space stations
  • The US Space Shuttle
  • The Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”)
  • “New Space” entrepreneurship
  • Human adaptation and “enhancement” technologies in space

This course satisfies Purdue University's Science, Technology, and Society core curriculum requirement.

Required Readings

Main Text

  • Michael G. Smith, The Spacefaring Earth: A History of the Space Age (Routledge, 2025)

Additional Readings

Available via Brightspace. Examples include:

  • Michael Neufeld, “Wernher von Braun, the SS, and Concentration Camp Labor,” German Studies Review 25/1 (2002): 57–78
  • Stephen Johnson, “Organizing the Manned Space Program,” in The Secret of Apollo (2002), 115–153
  • Paul Edwards, “Thinking Globally,” in A Vast Machine (2010), 1–25

Additional articles will be listed in the weekly schedule.

Grading

Your final grade is the average of the six handwritten, in‑class assignments:

  • 3 in‑class essays
  • 3 in‑class examinations

These assessments draw directly from class lectures, discussions, multimedia materials, and readings.
To succeed:

  • Attend and engage actively
  • Take careful notes
  • Read closely and critically
  • Write clearly, precisely, and persuasively

Course Structure and Learning Goals

The course is divided into three major parts.

Part I: Early Spaceflight and Cultural Foundations

Students will:

  • Explore how invention occurs within social and cultural systems
  • Identify national contexts influencing early astronautics
  • Evaluate early scientific and technological developments
  • Assess costs and benefits of emerging space technologies

Class sessions integrate:

  • Songs and film clips
  • Art, poetry
  • Propaganda and advertising
  • Discussion of emerging technological aesthetics

Students develop:

  • Listening skills
  • Critical reading
  • In‑class writing abilities
  • Comparative analytical methods

Part II: The Cold War in Space

Focus:

  • US–USSR competition in the Space Race
  • Developments in space technology for peace and war
  • Human costs and moral implications of rockets (as both weapons and launch vehicles)

Students will:

  • Distinguish research and development contexts
  • Evaluate dual‑use technologies
  • Compare aesthetic patterns in spaceflight cultures
  • Build on skills from Part I to improve written work

Part III: Modern Space Technologies and Human Futures

Topics include:

  • Orbital technologies
  • Interplanetary craft
  • Space station programs (US, Russian, Chinese)
  • Space Shuttle
  • Commercial “New Space” ventures
  • Human adaptation and transhumanism in space
  • Ethical implications of cybernetics and enhancement technologies

Students will:

  • Evaluate benefits and risks of space technologies
  • Identify historical patterns and departures
  • Critically assess how space technologies shape life on Earth

Course Success Tips

To excel in this course:

  • Look, listen, and remember.
  • Take thorough notes—lecture content matters greatly for exams.
  • Be attentive to patterns, themes, and aesthetic materials presented in class.
  • Apply instructor feedback carefully to improve written assignments.