“The Most Hazardous and Dangerous and Greatest Adventure on Which Man Has Ever Embarked”
“The Most Hazardous and Dangerous and Greatest Adventure on Which Man Has Ever Embarked”: The Frontier in Presidential Pro-Space Discourse, 1957-1963 By Amy Beth Leyerzapf Submitted to the graduate degree program in Communication Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Beth Innocenti, Ph.D. ________________________________ Dr. Scott Harris, Ph.D. ________________________________ Dr. Robert Rowland, Ph.D. ________________________________ Dr. Dave Tell, Ph.D. ________________________________ Dr. Paul Reddin, Ph.D. ________________________________ Dr. Jerry Bailey, Ed.D. Date Defended: September 1, 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Amy Beth Leyerzapf certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: “The Most Hazardous and Dangerous and Greatest Adventure on Which Man Has Ever Embarked”: The Frontier in Presidential Pro-Space Discourse, 1957-1963 ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Beth Innocenti, Ph.D. Date approved: September 1, 2011 ii ABSTRACT Since the inception of the US Space Program, space exploration has been linked in public discourse to the cluster of ideas and images constituting “the frontier.” In the seven years between 1957 and 1963, Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy moved the nation from Sputnik-stunned to burgeoning space pioneers, linking the language of scientific and technological advancement to American exceptionalism and the romance and adventure of the frontier. Thus, the nation‟s conception of the space program, as a significant feature in the US-Soviet agon, was initially encouraged by early Presidential space discourse. The image endured well beyond the early years of the space program, to the turn of the century and the completion of the nation‟s shuttle program.
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