The Spaceflight Narrative

ENDORSEMENTS

“The tight feedback loop between science fiction and actual scientific achievement is nowhere better illustrated than in this fine account and analysis of the early tales of fantastic off-planet voyages that eventually inspired the pioneering work of getting humans into space. MacDonald has excavated a prehistory as entertaining and illuminating as the stories he has gathered into focus.”
—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future

“Humans have been storytellers since our earliest origins. In The Spaceflight Narrative, Alexander MacDonald shows us how the stories we tell about spaceflight today may help shape humanity’s future.”
—Scott Solomon, Teaching Professor of BioSciences at Rice University; author of Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds

“A fascinating look into not just the origins of spaceflight, but the philosophy and culture that has come with it. This book helped me discover the long-forgotten ideas that originally emboldened and inspired me to turn myself into an astronaut.”
—Colonel Chris Hadfield, astronaut, author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here, The Darkest Dark, The Apollo Murders, The Defector, and Final Orbit

“A must-read for all who look up and out: Humans imagined space exploration, wrote stories about it, and finally made it real. MacDonald’s tour de force shows where our stories might lead us next.”
—Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Director of the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory and Lead of the NASA Psyche mission; author of A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman: A Memoir and Mission Ready: How to Build Teams That Perform Under Pressure

“Compelling and beautifully crafted, The Spaceflight Narrative reveals how centuries of literary imagination animated humanity’s journey into the cosmos. An insightful exploration of the power of stories to shape our history and our future.”
—Teasel Muir-Harmony, Curator of the Apollo Collection, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; author of Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo

Alexander MacDonald served as NASA’s first chief economist. In this role, he helped to establish NASA’s Moon to Mars strategy and Artemis and served as the program executive for the International Space Station National Laboratory. He is the author of The Long Space Age. He was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2024.

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