Spies and Shuttles ─ NASA's Secret Relationships with the DoD and CIA

“Reveals the long, complicated, and fascinating relationship between NASA, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community.”—Jeffrey T. Richelson, author of Defusing Armageddon

“A pioneering work. David has performed a herculean task by pulling together for the first time hundreds of formerly classified documents to tell the fascinating story of NASA’s intimate and extremely sensitive relations with the CIA and other branches of the intelligence community over the past fifty-plus years.”—Matthew M. Aid, author of Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror

“Casts light on a hitherto deeply shadowed portion of America’s spaceflight history.”—Rick W. Sturdevant, deputy director of history, USAF Space Command at Peterson AFB

In this real life spy saga, James E. David reveals the extensive and largely hidden interactions between NASA and U.S. defense and intelligence departments. The story begins with the establishment of NASA in 1958 and follows the agency through its growth, not only in scope but also in complexity.

In Spies and Shuttles, David digs through newly declassified documents to ultimately reveal how NASA became a strange bedfellow to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He tracks NASA’s early cooperation—supplying cover stories for covert missions, analyzing the Soviet space program, providing weather and other scientific data from its satellites, and monitoring missile tests—that eventually devolved into NASA’s reliance on DoD for political and financial support for the Shuttle. David also examines the restrictions imposed on such activities as photographing Earth from space and the intrusive review mechanisms created to ensure compliance.

The ties between NASA and the intelligence community have historically remained unexplored, and David’s riveting book is the first to investigate the twists and turns of this labyrinthine relationship.

James E. David is curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.